Africa Writes 2016 returns

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Africa Writes 2016 returns!



Check out highlights from last year's event here.




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What's your favourite Adinkra symbol?

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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'.

Adinkra 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 connected and so it is symbolic of the circle of life.

Amartey from west Legon, Ghana My favourite sym…
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An interview with Shoobs founder Louise Broni-Mensah

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In her early 20s, Louise Broni-Mensah became the first Black female entrepreneur to secure capital from a seed fund provider in Silicon Valley to grow her fledgling business Shoobs(pronounced Shubz). The provider was Y Combinator - a company known for supporting such names as online renting service Airbnb and Genius - a lyrics and music knowledge database. Three years later (in 2017) and thanks to the funding and expertise she received, Louise's online ticketing and discovery platform is changing the way party-goers seek out, buy and engage with urban events across the UK.
Passion project Louise took the traditional route to entering the business world. She holds a Mathematical Economics BSc from Birmingham University, worked in banking and finance and had her own property all by her early 20s. But music was never far from her thoughts. “I’ve always had a passion for music but I did it this way round because my parents wouldn’t let me otherwise,” she told MisBeee Writes. “At universi…
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Being Black in Britain

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I recently attended an event with two British-Ghanaians in the media, which shone a light on how some of us second generationers (I know it's not a word...yet) have dealt with feeling foreign in the country of our birth.

The event was organised by The Media Society and Reed Smith LLP and was called Brit(ish) and Black - Growing Up in a Strange Land.

It introduced former T4 presenter June Sarpong and lawyer and journalist Afua Hirsch and was called Brit(ish) and Black - Growing Up in a Strange Land.

Both women are panellists on the Sky TV show The Pledge, both have launched new books and both have lived in Ghana at some points in their lives.

June came from a well-to-do family in Ghana, grew up during the Rawlings years and had to flee with her immediate family to Britain in the 1980s. She initially lived in council accommodation - so it was a world away from her life in Ghana.

Comparatively, Afua grew up in Wimbledon, London with her Ghanaian mum and Jewish dad and only lived in G…
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Young, Black and Brilliant

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Seun Oboite represents an emerging crop of young Black entrepreneurs that are combining talent, education and a fearlessness about entering the business world. Even though the 21-year-old has yet to finish studying or gain long-term experience in the jobs market, he has already created his own company and is beginning to employ staff. Checkmate Concevoir, the events platform, only launched in November 2016 but already Seun is carving out a name for himself in Manchester and Guildford as the go-to man for digital events services.

Digital tools Checkmate Concevoir is a small and more competitive equivalent of Ticketmaster, said Seun. It caters for companies hosting smaller events (between 50 - 1000 people) than Ticketmaster would consider and gives them tools to promote an organised event; seek sponsors and access valuable analytics and meta data through the sister brand Vivus. His decision to develop the online platform came while he was at the University of Surrey in Guildford studying ae…
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Côte d’Ivoire sculptures: unmasking the truth

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It is a rare treat for me to go to a museum showcasing African art. But when I do, facemasks, figurines and other sculptured pieces tend to be displayed as an afterthought - in my opinion. 

Sometimes artefacts with limited cultural links, apart from being from the same Continent, are huddled together in a corner. And in many cases there seems to be little acknowledgement of the sheer workmanship involved; the significant societal and cultural value the pieces hold, or the role they played and still play in shaping modern art.
Centre stage So you can imagine my surprise at learning that the Musée du quai Branly in Paris was staging the Les Maîtres de la sculpture de Côte d'Ivoire (the Master of Sculpture from the Ivory Coast). In one fell swoop I felt that this exhibition, which runs until 26 July, showcased how nuanced, complex, sophisticated and diverse sculpture from the Côte d’Ivoire truly is. And at the same time gave a long overdue hat-tip to those largely unsung champions of W…
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