UNESCO Global Education Report 2010
This UNESCO report presents the latest education statistics from primary to tertiary levels in more than 200 countries. This edition focuses on the financing of education and provides a series of indicators to compare spending patterns across countries and levels of education.
Get a copy
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001894/189433e.pdf
Preserving and Promoting Cultural Heritage in Africa 2011
TP Training Solutions will be hosting a conference on Preserving and Promoting Cultural Heritage in Africa 2011 on the 20th-21st July at Indaba Hotel Johannesburg.
This conference will draw attention to the threats and opportunities facing cultural heritage in Africa. The event is not a matter of looking at the past but a very necessary firm, thorough and serious effort to preserve and promote the regions’ intangible cultural resources and appreciate the strategic role of museums as theatres of African history. SADC leaders need to revitalize and re-design development policies, legal and institutional frameworks to support promotions and preservations of our cultural heritage and reviewing the role that African languages have and continue to play in linguistic and socio-economic development.
- Encourage the preservation of Intangible resources in the African region.
- Review the role that African Languages have and continue to play in linguistic andsocio-economic development.
- Educate ourselves on the value of African traditional medicine.
- Influence governing bodies of education to allow African heritage studies into the formal school curriculum.
- Re-kindle awareness of the need to preserve and protect traditional heritageand accomplishments.
- Encourage multilingual literacy and foster cultural social and economic relations among SADC peoples.
- Promote the protection and preservation of Archaeological, Religious and Spiritual Heritage.
- Appreciate the strategic role of Museums as Theatres of African History.
- Promote Cultural Heritage through music and dance.
- Heritage recording and information management in Africa.
- The current state of Cultural Tourism in Africa.
- Heritage management challenges and prospects in developing countries.
- Methodology: Identifying heritage resources e.g. sites and objects of cultural significance.
- Exploring Intangible (Living) Heritage e.g.Oral history, rituals, IKS, traditions etc.
- The state of Indigenous minority languages in Africa and current efforts to protect and preserve them.
- Modern (political, academic, heritage) systems and the traditional custodian.
- African traditional medicine and Intellectual Property Rights: Are they protected?
More information
For more information and a registration form contact: info@tptraining.co.za
Swahili iPhone and iPad app
NKYEA LEARNING SYSTEMS RELEASES ITS FIRST SWAHILI IPHONE/IPAD APP
Nana Kwabena Sarpong and Isaac Ameyaw started in Nkyea Learning Systems in 2009 to develop desktop and mobile applications for learning African languages. They’ve already developed and released two Twi language applications, Nkyea Twi Primer and Nkyea Twi Phrasebook, ’My Twi Name‘ app, and ‘Adrinkra E-Cards‘ app.
The two-man Ghanaian language learning apps development team has just released Nkyea Basic Swahili, the first Swahili iPhone and iPad app from their startup, on the Apple App Store.
Nkyea Basic Swahili, which sells for $2.99, contains more than 650 essential words and phrases and has been designed to give absolute beginners a general conversational competence in Swahili.
Nkyea Basic Swahili presents the user with 18 lessons of basic grammar and vocabulary. The user can then choose a lesson, listen to the native speaker, read and record, play back and compare with the native speaker. The app also presents you with a quiz after each topic, which means users can reinforce what they learn and earn motivation badges for scoring high marks.
“This is a very user friendly language learning application, “Sarpong explains. “It’s really easy to learn Swahili with Basic Swahili.”
Nkyea Basic Swahili is targeting four primary markets: Tourists traveling to East Africa, students learning Swahili at a beginner level in school, anybody who has an East African relative or friend and lastly, language enthusiasts.
Here is the link to the app in the Apple App Store
Sarpong and Ameyaw are also working on more African language apps, which would be released in the coming weeks.
Nkyea remains a bootstrapped endeavor, wholly financed through the startup’s PC, Mac and iPhone application sales.
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If you’d like more information about Nkyea or Basic Swahili iPhone/iPad app, or to schedule an interview with Nana Sarpong, please call (233) 244153566 or send an email to nana.sarp@gmail.com
Nigerian sculptures damaged in Europe
DAMAGEÂ TO PRECIOUS NIGERIAN SCULPTURES IN EUROPE?
Guest post by Kwame Opoku
In an article entitled “European treatment harms African works?” in the Art Newspaper, (issue no.223. http://www.theartnewspaper.com)  Martin Bailey reports that: “African art specialists are questioning the recent conservation of Ife sculptures in Madrid in preparation for an international touring exhibition. They are concerned that Spanish conservators applied an inappropriate coating intended to protect the sculptures during the tour and after they are returned to Nigeria, and might even have removed ancient surface patina.â€
Leaving aside the substantive question regarding the use of certain chemicals, the allegation of damage to the Ife artworks that are on a touring exhibition raises several questions:
- Why must we learn about alleged damage to Nigeria’s national cultural treasures from a British newspaper? Are there no Nigerian sources interested in this matter and do they not feel obliged to inform the Nigerian public and the world?
- Shall we ever know which precise objects have been damaged and their value before and after the damage?
- How often have Nigerian artworks been damaged abroad? Are there any precise details on the objects, time and place of damage?
- How many Nigerian objects have been sent abroad for exhibition, repairs and conservation but never came back? Have there been attempts to recover them?
- In all the cases of damage, were there ever any insurance agreements? Â Were they invoked and with what outcome?
After 50 years of Independence, is Nigeria still dependent on European institutions for conservation and preservation of artefacts? Have any steps been taken to ensure that in future repairs, conservation and preservation can be done in Nigeria? That this situation has prevailed for so long might be considered an indication that there are interests that benefit from maintaining the status quo.
Can we accept the view that the cultural objects made by our ancestors some hundreds of years ago cannot be repaired by us today?
Answers to some of these questions will enable the public to assess how well the national treasures are being preserved and will also educate the public about the problems and complications involved in the conservation and preservation of Nigerian national treasures.
Kwame Opoku. 13 April, 2011.
Burkina Faso : Mask Performance DVD
Christopher Roy announces a new DVD he has made about mask performance in Burkina Faso.
In the spring of 2010 the masks of the village of Ouri, in central Burkina Faso, travelled ten kilometers south along the road to Oulo to attend the funeral of an elder named Illa Karfa. The mother of the deceased had come from Ouri, and had moved to Oulo when she married. When he lay on his deathbed, Illa Karfa asked that the masks of his mother’s village travel to Oulo to attend his funeral and to honor him.
The video is remarkable for the large number of ancient masks that appear to perform. These are the oldest, most sacred masks that belong to senior men, and only appear for the most important occasions. The characters that the masks represent include the bush buffalo, the very dangerous Winiama horned masks, and several complex plank masks. In one scene all of the masks perform in front of the conical earth shrine of the earthpriest of Ouri.
The DVD is available through CreateSpace.com for $24.95.
The DVD is titled “The Dance of the Spirits: A Funeral in the Winiama a village of Oulo”: https://www.createspace.com/307341
MA in Francophone Africa
There’s a new MA in Francophone Africa programme at the University of Portsmouth School of Languages and Area Studies. The focus of the course will be the history, politics, societies and cultures of Francophone Africa. The course can be taken over 2 years part-time or one year full time. French language is not a requirement for the course.
For more information, please contact Dr Natalya Vince
(natalya.vince@port.ac.uk), +44 2392846145
Dr Natalya Vince
Lecturer in French Studies
School of Languages and Area Studies
University of Portsmouth
+ 44 (0) 2392846145
NEW OFFICE Park 3.08
Office hours Semester 2 Thurs 9-11
Africa Thesis Award 2011
Every year the African Studies Centre at Leiden University together with Radio Netherlands Worldwide offer an Africa Thesis Award for a Masters Thesis. This is a great opportunity for African scholars at either African or Dutch Universities to present their work. The prize is 1000 Euros plus the thesis will be published in the ASC AFrican Studies Collection. The winner will be interviewed on the Dutch radio station RNW.
The deadline for applying for the 2011 Award is 17th June 2011.
You can find more information about the requirements and application process here
Please contact Inge Ligtvoet, secretary to the jury with any queries  ligtvoetijgc@ascleiden.nl / +31 71 527 3372)
Yale University Art Gallery African Art Photos
If you are looking for quality photos of African art you might like to look at the Yale University Art Gallery. The following notice indicates that publication quality photos can be ordered free for scholarly publications. Please contact their curator at the address below with any queries.
The Yale University Art Gallery offers access to images of its objects free of charge for scholarly publications.  The majority of the 600-plus objects in our African collection (as well as 185,000 other objects) can be viewed on our digital image database, e-Catalogue, athttp://ecatalogue.art.yale.edu/search.htm.  The order form for publication-quality images can be downloaded at http://artgallery.yale.edu/pages/info/rights.php.  As the ordering process is not yet automated, we ask that you limit requests to 25 objects.  The University will make an announcement soon that images for all publications (commercial as well as scholarly) will be available free of charge.
Kate Ezra
Nolen Curator of Education and Academic Affairs
Yale University Art Gallery
P.O. Box 208271
New Haven, CT 06520-8271
203-432-0941
The Criteria For Intervening In Countries Fighting Dictatorships
Guest Post by Denis Tither
Recent developments in North Africa, Syria and The Arabian Peninsula have taken international analysts by surprise. This could be due to a convenient ineptitude or be because they never really understood the strength of the aspirations of ordinary people, Muslim and Christian, who have had enough of life under dictatorships. A few weeks into this phenomena we can see how the icons of democracy are handling the situation, and so far it’s not to impressive, with double standards and indecision the order of the day.
For example, why did the American Administration and their European Allies turn a blind eye towards demonstrations in the biggest women’s prison camp in the world, Saudia Arabia, yet decide to use their military capabilities in Libya? If you examine the facts carefully, they show that there is little difference between the human rights record of the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Colonel Gadaffi. Degrees of eccentricity, subtly, and unproven allegations are the only really significant differences between these dictators.
Now that the gene is out of the bottle it won’t be long before people in other countries around the world decide that the time is right for their revolution. Potential hot spots in the Middle East, Far East and Sub-Saharan Africa are easy to identify, and judging by events in the last few weeks, so are the important decisions which will have to be made by politicians in the USA and Europe. Mainly, when to intervene and when to explain why they are keeping their eyes closed and looking in the other direction.
One way or another, they will have to develop a criteria for intervention which is honest, realistic, and acceptable, not only to the United Nations, but also to their own voting public. And let’s not forget the money somebody will have find for any future interventions. If the politicians assume that voters in the USA and several European Countries are going to be happy to foot the bill while countries like Germany, Russia, China and India, sit on the side lines making profit from the situation, they could be in for a big shock.
The UN Resolution 1973, humanitarian intervention in Libya, may or may not turn out to be a mistake, or eventually be blamed for creating an even more dangerous situation. Only time will tell the full story, but ordinary people still living under dictatorships will be hoping that by the time they decide to rise up the icons of democracy in the USA and Europe have learned from their mistakes and put together democratic intervention criteria which is transparent enough for everybody to see through, in all directions.
Denis Tither.
http://investigatewestafrica.webs.com
Balafon Music from Burkina Faso
I think the balafon is one of my favourite African musical instruments. This young Bobolais man, Issiaka Demebele, gives a great performance on the balafon.
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balafon guineen a bobo par issiaka dembele kunima croix
Here is the same young man, Issiaka Dembele this time playing a bass balafon.
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balafon issiaka dembele– bobo dioulasso –kunima croix
You can find out more about Bobo-Dioulasso here
You can listen to more Burkina Faso music at Last.fm
Suggested items
14-key West African Xylophone Balafon Balaphone
The Mandinka Balafon: An introduction with notation for teaching
African Traditional Education
In response to a question about African traditional education I found a couple of papers that may be of interest.
Some Papers on African Traditional Education
The first one is ‘Some key issues in African traditional education‘ McGill Journal of Education, Â Spring 2002 by Michael B Adeyemi, Augustus A Adeyinka
Here is the abstract:
Against a background discussion of the concept and general purpose of education, this article examines some key issues in African traditional education, namely its philosophical foundations, content and methods, strengths and weaknesses. The philosophical foundations of African traditional education are the five principles of preparationism, functionalism, communalism, perennialism and holisticism. We have highlighted the physical, social and spiritual content of African traditional education and the practical method of teaching and learning. The strengths and weaknesses of African traditional education are discussed and the attention of readers directed to possible areas for further study.
The second on is ‘Virtues and challenges in Traditional African Education‘ by John K Marah (pdf direct link)
This paper examines the virtues and failures of traditional African educational systems, in the context of continental Pan-Africanism, and argues that traditional African educational systems must be complemented by a Pan-African educational system that transcends confocalisms and micro-nationalisms.
Suggested books
Video : The Africa they never show you
An interesting, different view of Africa showing modern buildings.
The Africa they never show you
Here is what the film maker says about the film:
(My Love & Pride) The Africa They Never Show You.
The artist in me cannot help but create & express myself. So I decided to combine my passion for ART & MUSIC to express the love, pride and respect that I have for Mama Africa.
I hope that everyone who decides to view or share the video will also show love & respect for Africa & its awesome diversity of beautiful people.