NFBooks: a Panafrican Library
Proposed by Mermoz with support from DITC (Wada Cameroon Hub)
Proposing Team
Mermoz -
Manfo - Technical Lead @ Wada Cameroon Hub, DITC, interested in identity solutions and ownership with a deep passion for honoring traditional practices through the modernization of technology https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicienfotiomanfo1642a479/
Megan - Events and Education Lead @ Wada, passionate reader, teacher, and creative. As a teacher Megan has experience creating comprehension checks and always maintains a passion for letting students learn and express their understanding creatively. Nkalla -
Lohic - PhD specializing in Artificial Intelligence
Panafrican Ufulu Cultural Center and Library
Manfo & Mermoz in the library
Read to art: A new creative avenue
A team of artists rallied at the Panafrican library Ufulu has united into the Ufulu cultural association. They now offer the possibility for anyone to come up with a concept (be it philosophical, scientific, cultural etc.) . These concepts are explored through African lenses and artwork is produced to reflect or express it. Here is the first example of that category. A work expressing a well known local tradition consisting in pouring palm oil on the skull of a beatified ancestor to revitalize his soul or enter in communication with him to seek help for the family.
Read to Art examples from past conferences
The first artwork is a painting produced at a conference themed: How whitewashed African sciences became religious dogmas. The conference was based on the three books: Cosmogenese Kamite 1, 2 and 3) whose author Jean Philip Omotunde, is a well known expert and writer in African classic humanities. The author shows how ancient African scientific knowledge, mostly from ancient Egypt has been plagiarized and turned into dogma. The ankh (cross) on the top represents the sacred womb through which the divine recreates itself as a living being. It's the symbol of [Isis], the ancient Egyptian goddess often called Meri meaning "the loved one". Impregnated by the spirit, she gave birth to Horus. These concepts and much more are what went into the creation of the figure of the virgin Mary. The artist tried to capture this reality through art, inspired by him reading all 3 books.
Read to Art examples from past conferences
This piece was done during the conference themed: Why do Africans speak to water? based on two books: “Le Sang du Griot'' by Dibombari Mbock, another famous writer and traditional proponent, and “Water has memory by Masaru Emoto”. The painting on the t-shirt expresses the analogy Africans have between music and water. In fact in many African cultures as stated above, water and music are one in the same.