MetaFilter posts tagged with WestAfrica

um miss may i have a dance with you please?

Potomac Avenue — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:34:02 -0800

S. E. Rogie: Go easy with me. Combining Calypso (Nor weigh me lek dat ) with West African rhythms and West American pickin' (I Wish I Was a Cowboy) the King of Palm Wine Guitar Music played live at the 100 Club in London in 1994 right before the release of his final album, Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana. More: Don't touch me tomato My Lovely Elizabeth Clua Koonde

Gays: Vibrating Gatekeepers to Another World

pinothefrog — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:21:11 -0800

"You take the gatekeeper and you confuse his mind. You threaten him and you throw him in the middle of nowhere. Then nobody knows where the gate is. As soon as you lose the whereabouts of the gate, then you have a culture going downhill. What keeps a village together is a handful of "gays and lesbians," as they call them in the modern world. In my village, lesbians are called witches, and gay men are known as the gatekeepers." The Dagara people of Burkina Faso. "Christianity has separated spirit from body and spirit from Earth. And earlier you talked to us about Christianity suppressing your culture. So there’s a suggestion here that suppression of homosexuality would be the way for the Christians to shut down the gateways, shut down the spirit, and shut down our connection with the Earth." Unsurprisingly, the Dagara are popular with Christian missionaries. As well as NGOs. The Dagara Cosmology. Shamanism in the gay community.

African art

nickyskye — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 14:18:15 -0800

Much of the extraordinary variety of traditional art from Africa comes from the countries in West and Central Africa, because of the availability of wood (often called exotic woods) and metal. Hamill Gallery has organized their excellent site to show the materials, including textiles, metals, beads used, as well as the names of the many tribes and categories, such as animals. The images are accompanied by information about the art. The Yale University Art Gallery also has a nice selection of African art with information. The Africa Image Library offers an archive of images, which give a little backdrop to the lives and environment of the artists and artisans in various parts of Africa. African Wood Figures / Fetishes / Dolls and Puppets Google book: African Sculpture By the late Ladislas Segy, who was a pioneer among Westerners writing about the meanings and ritual uses of West African art and gallery owner Traditional African art created before 1955 is considered "old", and usually quite costly, because many of the materials used, such as wood or barkcloth, were subject to decay by weather and bugs. [This was told to me by Merton Simpson.] African Art history resources on the web

The death of an icon for Islam in Senegal

fizzix — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:00:24 -0800

Serigne Saliou (article in French) Mbacké, the leader of the Mourides (academic link), a prominent Islamic brotherhood in Senegal (and Harlem, NY , died a week ago today. Arguably the most influential person in Senegal, he had been the the last living son of the Mouride founder Chiekh Amadou Bamba. Thousands of peoplehave traveled Touba, the Mouride capital, to pay their respects. More background information by Reuters regarding the Mourides.

“If you come back and live in my factory, you can have all the Cacao Beans you want!

chuckdarwin — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:24:03 -0800

Europeans love to bash American chocolate - especially Hershey's - almost as much as the like to bash, erm, America in general (apparently, it tastes like doggie treats). Recently, Big Chocolate have asked the FDA if they can stop using real cocoa butter in the chocolate-making process, which can only make it taste even worse. I often wonder how many so-called chocoholics know that most of the chocolate they eat was probably picked by slave labour in West Africa. Child slaves, even. Meh, they probably don't care: research indicates that chocolate is 'four times better than kissing'. Never trust a junkie.

An uncommon vacation.

The Straightener — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:06:02 -0800

Judy's tour diary (pdf, somewhat long) isn't your standard travelogue. The author is Judy Porter, a professor of sociology from Bryn Mawr Collge. Her expertise in the fields of AIDS and poverty are apparent as she paints a vivid picture of life in West Africa, and the health and social conditions that come with it. She also set up a web page that has links to a number of photo slide shows and hand shot video footage. West Africa has been extensively discussed previously.

Gotcha CT

pwedza — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 15:34:03 -0800

A step toward justice in West Africa.

Death by Chocolate

chunking express — Wed, 23 Jun 2004 08:55:39 -0800

Welcome to tropical Ivory Coast, the small African nation that is home of almost half of the world's cocoa exports! Visit the sandy beaches! Get kidnapped and disappeared by government officials!

nobody_knose — Tue, 26 Feb 2002 23:07:51 -0800

Aid workers forcing refugees to trade sex for food Over 40 aid agencies including the UNHCR were implicated, and 67 individuals - mostly local staff - named by the children. Some under-age girls said United Nations peacekeepers in the West African region were involved.