It was one of these inspiring mornings in which I woke up and immediately started searching for information. I wanted to see the other side of Africa - the cultural one, the one that does not cry for help, that does not present the cruel part of the reality. The wish to delimit the people from the continent was overwhelming. I wanted to search for the eternal heritage, the cultural purity and uniqueness. It was selfish wish of mine to learn about Africa instead of pretending that me alone can help a whole continent with my knowledge only. I needed inspiration so that I can go on. And so, as from the eyes of a student, I decided that my best contribution to Africa will be to start learning and trying to understand it. In this moment of time I did forget about the importance of communication, because I started listening. I was overwhelmed by everything that I began seeing and appreciating. And I thought that everything is eternal. People aren't eternal, but African culture is...
Soon after this self - confusion stage of mine, I watched a small clip with Ethiopian dance - Eskesta. Eskesta dance is an actual result of a mixture of different cultures, rituals and traditions. The dance performance depicts certain motives and rituals like the Shepherd with his herd, religious commitment and praying, meditation and love. It is often performed in the nature by both men and women dancing in such a synchronized way in this peaceful environment. After watching these indigenous dance moves I totally converted my previous point of view - I actually saw that Africa breaths and lives because of the people living there. It cannot exist without the Africans who preserve the traditions, ideas and cultural heritages. And this was only a small example of what it actually keeps inside its core..
After these contradictory experiences of mine I understood that part of Africa's mosaic dies and suffers along with its inhabitants. Their existence is fully synchronized and balanced. Therefore I consider that analysing Africa as a whole, along with it's culture; past and present - history and contemporary problems is the right manner of doing so.
Hello Martina,
Of course does Africa change. What did Europe look like 400 years ago?
In my opinion we have to accept change (even when this means that some cultures and languages will disappear) and let’s hope that the change will be for the better.
I can imagine see from your perspective Martina! I feel the same with Latin American culture!
Indeed Africa is coloured mixture of history , geography and tribal culture.Indeed this mixture will be changed through the time.But the process of changing doesn’t means disappearing.The traditional cultural basis remains and on this base contemporary contributions are growing.But they doesn’t destroy what already exists .On the contrary - they enriched and developed the traditions which are transmitted from generation to generation . So one moment of excitement from the eternity , one achievement of knowledge and understanding also contributes to global change!!!
Now I will search to find explicit of African culture..