Dynamic Africa
Formerly, "This is Africa/fyeahAfrica".
(Profile Photo by Mama Casset)
DISCLAIMER:
I do not endorse any of the products or opinions shared on this site, nor do I claim any of the work posted here to be my own - except where stated. All posts originally made by me are credited. If no credit is given then the work is either my own/written by me or reblogged from another source.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
Student, 24
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
From Lagos, Nigeria
Want to advertise through us? Send an email to dynamicafricablog@gmail.com
(As an unemployed media student, all donations go into ensuring my survival in this cruel world and future projects I hope to embark on).
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(since Oct. 21th 2012)
Happy Independence Day to all those from Somaliland!
18 May 1991
Somaliland waits for worldwide recognition
Somaliland sits on the Gulf of Aden and is officially regarded as an autonomous region of Somalia. The two were, however, separate until 1960. During the civil war in the 1980s, 40,000 people from Somaliland were killed, and nearly half a million fled.
The region then declared independence in 1991. Since then, it has held four peaceful elections.
Ahmed Mahamoud Silany, the president, told Al Jazeera that Somaliland would like to retain its independence, despite Somalia’s calls to be united with region.
“I think I have been very clear too, that we are going to retain our independence,” he said.
“We would like to remain friends with Somalia, we would like to cooperate with them.
“But as far as our independence is concerned. It is not I who has decided, it’s not my government who has decided.
“It the people of Somaliland, and the history of Somaliland, which has decided that Somaliland is going to be, and has always been a different country.”
Islamic Daggers
- Dated: 19th Century
- Place of Origin: Ethiopia or Somalia
- Measurements: Longest dagger: 18.5in (470mm). Shortest dagger: 12.75in (325mm)
Group of daggers originating from the Horn of Africa, most likely Ethiopia or Somalia. Circa 19th Century, they have obvious Arab and Islamic influence. The hilts are made up of ivory, bone, and horn (some translucent) segments, with some small breakages to the extended pommels. All daggers have copper scabbards and steel blades, some with light chiselled designs, in good condition.
Source: © Copyright 2013 Akaal Arms
Is Islamic the right term to use here? Can someone shed light on that? Just want to be sure.
Above Photos show Somali Banana farmers in Lower Shabelle region of Somalia 1981, courtesy of burningmax.
Prior to 1991, Somalia was renowned for its thriving banana industry and was the largest exporter in East Africa. Somali banana production reached 12,000 hectares, employing over 120,000 people.
The banana business flourished: with more than two-thirds of production being of export quality, it supplied markets in Europe, especially Italy, and the Persian Gulf.
Banana production is concentrated in the south of Somalia, where an ingenious system of barrages and dams provides over 130,000 ha with access to ‘gravity irrigation’ from river water from the Ethiopian highlands.
Unlike bananas grown elsewhere in East Africa, Somali bananas suffer from no major pests or diseases and the riverine soil is rich in nutrients.
Follow us on twitter @DiscoverSomalia
Vintage postcard of a man from Eritrea.
Vintage colonial postcard of a woman from Djibouti.
Vintage photographs of Kunama people, a Nilotic ethnic group who live mostly in Eritrea and Ethiopia where they are a minority in both.
Ethiopia’s premier jazz legend Mulatu Astake brings us today’s classic tune, ‘Cha Cha’ - a deep and sultry Cuban-inspired instrumental - played together with The Heliocentrics.
Today’s classic tune comes from Somali artist Magool.
According to the Youtube description, this video is titled ‘Anna waxaan run & been’. Digging the beats to this song, as well as Magool’s beaded braids, just wish the video was better quality.
I believe she’s known popularly as ‘Magool’ but was born Halima Khaliif Omar in the city of Dhusa Mareb, the capital of the Galgaduud region in central Somalia. in 1948, and passed away in Amsterdamn in 2004. She began her singing career in 1959 after joining a Mogadishu-based band and by the 1960s had gained a significant amount of popularity in her home country.
In the 1970s, whilst Somalia was at war with Ethiopia over the Ogaden, she sang patriotic Somali songs, but by the end of the decade, she began using her music to criticize the ruling military government in Somalia at the time. Magool then left the country on a self-imposed exile which lasted until 1987. To mark her return back to Mogadishu, a concert titled “Mogadishu and Magool” was held and is, to date, the most successful concert in Somali history.
Finnish-Ethiopian singer Mirel Wagner’s latest single “Is This What Love Looks Like” carries with it the artist’s signature minimalist folk sound, coupled with haunting but soulful vocals that slowly pour out a daunting tale of the gritty hopelessness of unconditional love.
French-Somaliland (Djibouti) colonial portraits, with names, age & tribe.
Follow us on twitter: @DiscoverSomalia
can we say ‘ethnic group’ instead of tribe?
(via diasporicdecay)
Tigray women from the XIXth century
Theophile Lefebvre
Endeguena Mulu is an up-and-coming Ethiopian producer from Addis Ababa making experimental bass music that incorporates dub, dubstep, EDM, and traditional Ethiopian sounds.
Good stuff. Solid.
Healing Scroll
Date: 18th–19th century Geography: Ethiopia, Tigray region Culture: Tigray region Medium: Parchment, ink, pigments, cotton
In Ethiopia customized protective scrolls that interweave sacred imagery with textual prayers have been prescribed by traditional healers for over two thousand years. These were carried on the person of the individual to whom they were specifically dedicated to shield them from harm.
Often the customized content of a scroll is astrologically determined. In Ethiopia as in ancient Greece, each human being has a corresponding zodiac sign associated with a particular destiny and talismanic character.
The iconography of the scrolls thus alternate between talismanic “seals” and representations of saints, angels and archangels shown in the act of fighting demons.
The seals are modeled on the seal of God that was revealed to King Solomon and feature geometric patterns intertwined with stylized representations of multiple visages and eyes that indicate prayers for divine intervention.
(via 37thstate)
