Ghanaian writer and art historian, Nana Oforiatta-Ayim, was a PhD student back in 2009, when she first conceived the idea of creating a comprehensive archive of African art and culture. “I would get completely sidetracked reading about things like the technology of kente cloth. The first volume will be an internet-based repository of historical and contemporary Ghanaian art, literature music and more, reports The New York Times. The “Cultural Encyclopedia Project” is about reclaiming African history, but it’s also about expanding knowledge of history and culture within the continent as well. “It is such an important thing, says David Adjaye, “because actually East Africans don’t know about West Africans’ culture, and West Africans don’t know about North Africans’ culture, and North Africans don’t know about Southern Africans’ culture — and I am being simplistic here — but it is very hard.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 13, 2017 22:27 UTC