Somewhere Between Harbours And Horizons This timeline is not cooked. Not yet.

In Photography, Writing
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There is plenty of resonant writing in the world—if one is willing to engage with the literature, both popular and obscure. There are amazing plays being produced—if one makes the time to see them; this is not always easy but it is possible. There are fresh sounds, original music, and strange, interesting, beautiful, and moving films on the other end of a side quest from the mainstream, from the safe harbour of the algorithm.

Somewhere Between Harbours And Horizons, Stone Town, Tanzania, 2023. © Rémy Ngamije.

Somewhere Between Harbours And Horizons, Stone Town, Tanzania, 2023. © Rémy Ngamije.

Somewhere Between Harbours And Horizons, Stone Town, Tanzania, 2023. © Rémy Ngamije.

Incredible paintings, shocking drawings, wild comics, transportive photographs, market streets that are alive with haggling and bargains, restaurants that serve rumour and whispers, galleries that still possess the ability to humble, stun, shock, and awe, and dance floors that play it fast, slow, and loose with human connection, escape, and the hazy physics of the universe—all of these things are still out there. 

Sometimes far, but sometimes nearer than one thinks.

***

Somewhere Between Harbours And Horizons, Stone Town, Tanzania, 2023. © Rémy Ngamije.

There is good and great art being made. One just has to look for it.

This timeline is not cooked. Not yet.

See you on the horizon.

POSTSCRIPT: Despite my best attempts at following many YouTube videos on how to clean, reset, and restore it to its factory settings, my trusty Mac Mini, Rivendell—which had been with me since June, 2012—hit me with John Coffey’s “I’m tired, boss!” line from The Green Mile and faded into the Great Big Sky Of Ones And Zeroes. That final unplugging was quite emotional.

I managed to salvage the hard drive and its contents, though, and decided to keep it on my bookshelf because a) it is such a remarkable piece of design and b) we had achieved so much together: the amateur attempts at film and music editing, the brave attempts at graphic and web design, the photo editing, the numerous blog posts, the short stories, the poems (O! Such terrible poems!), the novel, the music libraries that were lost and then recovered in traumatic and triumphant circumstances, and all of the other things one could ask a computer to do. Sure, I could make a cup of tea in the boot time, and some programs were slow (if they were even supported), but the machine’s ponderousness was accommodated by the adage that speed was (and is) the enemy of success.

No multitasking. No speed running. One program at a time. One task at a time. And everything just worked.

Ah, alas.

“That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.”

The comfort of keeping a computer for so long is undone by the misery of having to reacquaint oneself with new technology lingo (“Now designed for AI…”—yuck!) and figuring out how to decade-proof the next upgrade with the minimum of fuss, complaint, and financial expenditure. A challenging task at the best of times. These uncertain days between the comical dawn of Skynet and possible conscription to a frontline somewhere are hardly the best of times.

But such is life.

We move, and then we move on.

In the coming days I will be on the road for Only Stars Know The Meaning Of Space and other literary shenanigans in South Africa.

Franschhoek Literary Festival in Franschoek, South Africa:

If, dear reader, you are in the area, it would be wonderful to meet you.

READ: “The Xi Jinping School Of Journalism” by Soyonbo Borjgin (Equator) • “Beyond The Machine: Creative Agency In The AI Landscape” by Frank Chimero (personal website) • “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination Of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation Of A Wild Indian Rezervation” by Natalie Diaz (Poetry Foundation) • “The Brainfever Bird, Confused By Seasons” by Tishani Doshi (Poetry Foundation) • “Radio Nopal: Spinning Live From A Mexico City Forefront” by Ella Benson Easton (Discogs) • “Self-Potrait In Granulated Sugar” by David Hernandez • “All Praise To The Lunch Ladies” by Jennifer Justus (Bitter Southerner) • “Facing It” by Youssef Komunyakaa (Poetry Foundation) • “Da Art Of Storytelling (A Prequel)” by Kiese Lymon (Oxford American) • “I Was Lt. Uhura” by January Gill O’Neal (Poetry Foundation) • “Ring” by Youssef Rhaka (Guernica) • “Zidovudine” by Aaron Smith (Poetry Foundation) • “Fortunate Son: Returning To Vietnam With My Parents, 50 Years After The War Ended” by Tony Ho Tran (Slate) • “Sentences” by D?shawn Washington (Poetry Foundation) • “Home Is Where The Turntables Are” by Ana Yglesias (Discogs) | WATCH: Al-Jazeera: Adopted From Indonesia To The Netherlands: A Dutch Family’s Reckoning (2025), The Truth About The British Empire And Slavery: Mehdi Hasan And Nigel Biggar (2025) • Dreaming Whilst Black, season 1 and 2 (2025) • Nerd Of The Ring: The Gentleman Stationer: How To Fill A Fountain Pen (2023) • Nowness: American Sculptor Woody De Othello Explores Clay, Ancestry, And The Psychology Of Everyday Objects; Explore Lowrider Culture, Creative Obsession, And Brotherhood In New York With The Drastic Auto Club; In Kano, Kweku Yeboah Finds The Rhythm Of History And Tradition In Modern Life; On Japan’s Awashima Island, The Missing Post Office Invites Undelivered Letters And Words To Lost Ones; Photographer Christopher Payne Frames US Factories And Skilled Workers Behind Consumer Goods (2025);  Novara Media: The Plan Is To Make The Internet Worse Forever—Aaron Bastani Meets Cory Doctorow, Gaza Is Gone. It’s Gone. There’s Nothing Left—Aaron Bastani Meets Norman Finkelstein (2025) | LISTEN: “Anbessa” (featuring Manu Dibango) by Akalé Wubé • “Wrong” (featuring Deborah Caldwell) by Annie Caldwell & The Caldwells • “Prayer For Our Parents” (original and live versions) by Balimaya Project • “Mind Loaded” (featuring Caroline Polacheck, Lorde, and Mustapha) by Blood Orange • “Wena” by Bongeziwe Mabandla • “Lark” by The Diasonics • Afro-Harping by Dorthy Ashby • Whimsy by Destin Conrad • “Fallowfield Loops”, “Hopopono”, “What We Are And What We Are Meant To Be” by Gogo Penguin • “Easy Does It”, “Got You Right”, “Orange Blossoms”, Space Of The Heart” by GoldFord • “Zimbabwe” by Ife Ogunjobi • Jr. Thomas In The Erasurehood by Jr. Thomas & Eraserhood Sound • “Grass Ain’t Greener” by Konkolo Orchestra • “Daddy” by Lafawndah • “Bumayé” by Lass • “Mutt” by Leon Thomas • “Really Love” by Loaded Honey • “Bamako Love Song” (featuring Shabaka Hutchings) by Mabuta • When The World Was One by Matthew Halsall and The Gondwana Orchestra • “Sound Check” by The Muffinz • “Chasing Shadows” (featuring Fatoumata Diawara) by Nubiyan Twist • “Tell Me” (featuring Jembaa Groove) by Ohia Lehua • “Letter To Brazil” by Midan • Skyways by Misha Panfilov • “New Pyramid” by Phi-Psonics • Flirty Ghost by Rachel Kitchlew & SFJ • “South Bombay” by Tara Lily • “Fruit”, “Let Me Grow”, “Say It”, “The Light (I Need You)”, “Undo/Redo”, “What Are You Looking For”, and “Who You Think You’re Foolin’” by ThreeTwenty • “Come On Up To The House” by Tom Waits • Malik by Venna • “Brother Earl” and “Pain Becomes A Prayer And Prayer Becomes A Song” by Work Money Death • “Amami” (featuring Minami Kizuki) by Yussef Days | PLAY: with festival funding, but on single-player mode—it is you versus the world | TRY: diligently backing up your computer once a week because, man, one never learns.

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