Hidden histories: Jamaica's colourful legacies

By -

 If you are looking for the article  wrote called Hidden Histories: Jamaica's colourful legacies published in April 2015, Blogger has deleted it.

If you would like to read the piece, please see here.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop - the Pharaoh of Knowledge

By -
Image
I start this blog on the premise that most of us accept today that Africa is the cradle of mankind and that despite the geographical and political demarcations that separate North and Sub-Saharan Africa, all its inhabitants were originally one. But how many of us know of the Senegalese academician, scientist, philosopher and politician who popularised these concepts in the early 1950s and was widely criticised for doing so? My signed copy of the film from Mbaye ©  MisBeee Writes His name was S éex (Cheikh) Anta Diop and his research, publications and discussions made him an important figure in elevating Africans, our histories, cultures and identities on the continent and across the Diaspora. Thanks to Birkbeck University’s free airing of the Ouseman Mbaye film ‘Kemtiyu’ in London on 3 February 2017, I got to learn more about Dr Diop and understand why his arguments were so fiercely criticised by the academic elite. The film (the name of which is fittingly derived ...
Read more

What's your favourite Adinkra symbol?

By -
Image
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...
Read more

Ghanaian sitcom star leaves lasting legacy in Kwahu

By -
Image
The late Gyearbuor Asante, who famously played long-term mature student Matthew in hit British sitcom Desmond’s , was also a royal. Gyearbuor Asante: Image credit Carole Latimer He came from Tafo, Kwahu, in Ghana's Eastern Region but rather than follow tradition and become a chief, the young thespian got himself circumcised instead. The reason, according to details from charity the Friends of Tafo (Kwahu), was to rule himself out of enstoolment. He then left Ghana in the late 1960s to become an actor and the rest, as they say, is history. But life has a funny way of panning out and although Gyearbuor never became a chief, his close friend Humphrey Barclay, who incidentally was the executive producer of Desmond's , did!  "I met Gyearbuor (or Christopher as he was known in UK then) in 1972, when he was doing such shows as Crown Court and so on," he told MisBeee. "I visited Ghana many times as his guest and when he died in 2000 at the age of 58 o...
Read more

Gold Coast: a lucid look into Denmark's colonial past

By -
Image
Cape Coast Castle one of the locations for the film, image © Emmanuel Ackroh*  I had my reservations about watching Gold Coast – a film inspired by the Danes and set along Ghana’s idyllic coastlines.  The 2015 film, written and directed by Daniel Dencik, is a depiction of 19 th century life three years after the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was officially but not totally banned in 1833. Slavery was finally abolished in Danish colonies in 1848, according details from the BBC. Undoubtedly my concern was how the film, which was co-produced by Ghanaian film-maker Kwame Boadi, would portray this sensitive and brutal practi s e of African subjugation for economic gain. And I was not sure I wanted to relive that sense of horror again.   I say 'again' because as a teenager, visiting one of the very castles that formed the backdrop to the film, left a lasting and palpable impression on me. I had walked those same steps the actors walked on the Elmina C...
Read more

Côte d’Ivoire sculptures: unmasking the truth

By -
Image
Master Essankro ( Bao ulé ) © Photographed by MisBeee Writes from Musée du quai Branly 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 Cô...
Read more