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Screenshot of hand-painted Adinkra symbols from charity Mmofra_Ghana.  I put this question to MisBeee readers after blogging recently about the origins of Adinkra in the post: 'Adinkra - more than just a pretty face'. A dinkra is a series of ideographic symbols from Ghana and the Ivory Coast depicting age-old proverbs that incorporate aspects of Asante culture, flora and fauna. These symbols are strongly linked to religion, language, and geometry but in modern times are used widely in and outside Ghana for their aesthetic appeal. The list includes jewellery, pottery, clothing and architecture.  Below is a snapshot of some of the responses I received, feel free to add your own. All images below come from adinkra.org.  Kwame from Birmingham My favourite symbol is Gye Nyame because everything starts with God, and ends with God. God creates, sustains and destroys and generates again. It is self-germinating. The symbol of Gye Nyame looks like a circle when con...

Wood-carved face mask from Nigeria photographed by MisBeee If you didn't make it to Africa Utopia @ the South Bank Centre, check out some of the designs here . And check out my interview with one of the exhibitors who is selling accessories and T-shirts featuring this gorgeous Nigerian mask on the right. Until next year.... By Kirsty Osei-Bempong For more blogs on London cultural events, check Afrobeats star Atumpan @ African Fashion Week London 2015 August in Africa @ Covent Garden 2015   MisBeee @ Africa on the Square All comments are welcome on this page. If you are having trouble posting on the Google+ page, please share your views via Facebook  here  or tweet @MisBeee Please be aware that you may not reproduce, republish, modify or commercially exploit this content without our prior written consent. 

What is Adinkra ? I put that question to friends and family recently expecting some consistency in the response. But I was surprised by how varied the replies were and how complex and mysterious the Adinkra story is. Aya (Fern) means defiance, endurance © MisBeee Writes According to the majority of people I polled, Adinkra is the umbrella term for ideographic symbols that relate to historical events, philosophy and spiritual beliefs of the Akan people. These symbols make use of flora, fauna and shapes to depict age-old maxims and sayings. I have read diverging accounts that these symbols number 400, while others suggest the total is nearer 1,000. Robert Sutherland Rattray in 1927 formally recorded a sample of around 50 in his book 'Religion and Art in Ashanti' but since then more have emerged to incorporate modern phenomena, which scholar G.F.Kojo Arthur records in his book 'Cloth as Metaphor Re-reading the Adinkra Cloth Symbols of the Akan of Ghana'.  Alt...