Hasta La Ideas

One filmmaking team’s global mission to bring camel milk to a store near you

When a mutual friend connected me with filmmaker Sebastian Lindstrom, he mentioned something about camel milk. A little research brought up several amusing web domains, including a site about camels, BeTheCheese.org, and one about where Lindstrom sleeps, WhatAreWeDoingNowThatWeAreHere.com. But when I met Lindstrom in Manhattan recently and he pulled a bottle of pasteurized camel milk from Kenya from his suitcase, nothing had quite prepared me for the experience.

Heavy and with a taste that transported me to a farm far from the tall city buildings, the beverage is the subject of the Swedish director’s latest project as part of the organization he cofounded What Took You So Long. The Nairobi, Kenya-based team’s mission is to raise questions and awareness about unnoticed issues around the world by telling those stories through documentaries, having already covered thousands of miles in their pursuits. Led by Lindstrom, who’s former Swedish Special Forces, the grassroots bunch crossed the African continent on local transport and trekked through Papua New Guinea.

The camel cheese (and milk) project started in Africa, but has taken the team to 18 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Currently being edited into a feature film, “Hot Chocolate for Bedouins,” portions have also been used to spark discussion and debate in local communities around the world.

Why camel milk you may ask? Even drinkable for lactose-intolerant people, the drink is also allegedly extremely healthy, boosting peoples’ immune systems to help fight the effects of many diseases like diabetes, anemia, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. With the help of WTYSL, the word is spreading, more advocates are popping up around the world for our humped-back friends, and you might just find camel milk next to the two-percent someday soon.

Check out the above exclusive clip for a taste, or Londoners can see “Hot Chocolate for Bedouins”, a 30-minute preview of the forthcoming documentary, at the School for Oriental and African Studies’ Camel Conference. RSVP for free here.

To follow Lindstrom’s team, check their Facebook Page and Twitter updates.

Foster + Partners have completed two modular headquarters for Moroccan bank BMCE in Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco.

The design comprises a concrete frame enclosed by glazed panels, covered by screens made of cut and curved sheet steel.

The double-height entrance hall of each building features a bank of seating connected to the domed roof by a swooping ribbon of concrete.

Offices and meeting rooms are arranged on two floors in the remainder of the building.

Each branch is organised on a modular grid, to be repeated and adapted according to location.

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Photographs are by Nigel Young, courtesy Foster + Partners.

Here are some more details from Foster + Partners:

Foster + Partners completes first project in Africa with BMCE branches in Morocco

The first regional headquarters branches for Moroccan bank, BMCE (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur) have opened in Rabat and Casablanca, with a further branch in Fez due to complete shortly – they are the first buildings by Foster + Partners to be completed in Africa.

The banks’ contemporary interior is wrapped by a traditional, energy efficient envelope and their design is based on a modular system, which utilises local materials and craftsmanship to create a striking new emblem for BMCE.

The design follows a ‘kit-of-parts’ approach, with variations in colour and scale according to the bank’s location. Each building comprises a concrete frame, with an entrance colonnade and a series of bays repeated on a modular grid.

The bays are enclosed by glazed panels and 200mm-deep screens, which provide shade and security.

The screens are cut from sheets of stainless steel – a special low-iron mixture that does not heat up in the sun – which are curved to create a geometric design, based on traditional Islamic patterns.

The branches are designed to be highly energy efficient and use locally-sourced materials, such as black granite and grey limestone.

All BMCE flagship branches feature an ‘earth tube’, an electricity-free cooling system: fresh air is drawn into an empty pipe that encircles the building underground, where it is naturally cooled by the earth and released into the branch.

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The dome, a recurrent element in each bank, is a reference to the design of a number of new schools in Morocco, which have received philanthropic support from BMCE Bank Foundation.

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The interior of the dome is rendered in tadelakt, a local plaster technique, while the exterior is clad in zellige, traditional ceramic tiles.

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The dome form sweeps down into the banking hall to create a sculptural curved bench.

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Lord Foster commented:

“The BMCE flagship branches – our first completed buildings in Africa – reinterpret elements of traditional Moroccan architecture, combining these with a contemporary interior that reflects the Bank’s progressive approach to its customers.

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This blend of ancient principles and modern technology is also reflected in an energy efficient design. The result is a series of buildings that are sustainable and each one, uniquely, of its place.”

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BMCE Bank Branches
Morocco 2007 – 2011
Foster + Partners Team: Norman Foster, David Nelson, Stefan Behling, Michael Jones, Kate Murphy, Ingrid Solken, Tommaso Franchi, Charles Di Piazza, Lara Thresher, Giuseppe Giacoppo, Rana Mezher, Susana Sousa, Benedicte Artault, Judith Kernt, Ben Cowd
Client: BMCE Bank (Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur)
Collaborating Architects: Amine Mekouar, Karim Rouissi-Empreinte d’Architecte
Main Contractor: TGCC
Cost/Project Managers: Cap Advise
Structural Engineers: Buro Happold, Ateba
Mechanical Engineers: Buro Happold
Landscape Architect: Michel Desvigne
Lighting Consultant: George Sexton Associates

See also:

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Zayed National Museum by Foster + Partners	Masdar Institute campus by Foster + Partners	Sperone Westwater gallery by Foster + Partners

The African diaspora’s style magazine launches its second issue

Following a debut issue that was warmly received in the press and beyond in 2010, Pop’Africana, a publication “dedicated to delivering a rejuvenated image of Africans,” is rolling out its next edition with features on the likes of fashion designer Duro Olowu, chef Marcus Samuelsson and model Nina Keita. The New York City-based art and fashion glossy strives to break clichés that continue to corrupt thinking about the second-most populous continent.

Editorial director Oroma Elewa, who founded in 2008, is working hard to change popular thought cultural vehicle showing the vibrant contemporary side of the diaspora rarely seen or appreciated in the West.

Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, the magazine’s Nigerian-born communications director (also a recent Cool Hunting contributor), explains it as “our opportunity to share the inclusive vision we have for Africa and Africans wherever they may be,” adding “a vision that we hope will continue to engage and inspire.”

The magazine is currently available in eight cities in five countries. Copies can be pre-ordered online, but only until 20 January 2011 for $15 each.

With much of her art focused on African diaspora and the female form, Kenyan-born, Brooklyn-based artist Wangechi Mutu transformed the Deutsche Guggenheim into a cocoon-like setting to aptly display the new works in her upcoming solo show, “My Dirty Little Heaven.” Named “Artist of the Year 2010” by the Deutsche Bank Global Art Advisory Council, Mutu’s works are often as complex as the themes that surround them.

Mutu’s background as a trained sculptor is apparent—her bold collages and poignant site-specific installations are layered with found photos blended together to create body parts, flowers, cars, glitter, fur, and paint. Using duct tape and gray felt blankets she created a backdrop for the exhibit that feels both protective and dilapidated, referencing the pieced-together housing found in shanty towns, places Mutu feels are extremely impoverished yet bursting with creativity. She relays that her exhibition is an homage to these towns, where the people are tenacious and are “actually quite ingenious because they’re still alive despite the conditions they live in.”

Earning an MFA from Yale University, Mutu is as insightful about cultural affairs as she is artistic techniques, making for a highly intelligent and well-composed exhibition. Her collages vary in size from large Mylar works to pieces made on a postcard, each thoroughly conceived and undoubtedly portraying her interest in creating a “human economy.”

“My Dirty Little Heaven” opens 30 April and runs through 13 June 2010.

Mauritania’s Nouadhibou Bay, the largest ship graveyard in the world, is where fishermen and captains go to abandon their dying vessels. Photographer Jan Smith spent considerable time and effort attempting to gain access, although the Mauritanian Army barred his way before he was able to convince them of his purely artistic pursuits.

The resulting sad, quietly violent gallery documents sunken hulls and rusting boats. Mostly comprised of cast-offs for insurance fraud, Nouadhibou Bay still remains a maritime mystery.

To view the complete gallery, visit Good Magazine.