10 episodes
Afro Historyscapes Horniman Museum and Gardens
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- Arts
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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Afro Historyscapes is a ten-episode podcast series that gives a fresh perspective on African history. We tell the story of African Histories through objects at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in South London.
The podcast has been developed alongside our Community Action Research project and shares the research of our curators, project team and Community Action Researchers.
The overarching theme of the series is movement with three episodes each featuring Trade, Religion and Technology. We also feature a special episode hosted by Sherry Davis, a Community Researcher, musician and filmmaker.
We tell the sorts of stories about the objects in our collections that answer questions you didn’t know who to ask. At 10-15 minutes each they are perfect to enjoy over a cup of your favourite hot drink.
The series is
Produced by: JC Niala & Tom Fearon
Co-producer: Sian Brett
Music: Edmund Jolliffe
JC Niala gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the Joint BME Events and Activities scheme administered by the Social History Society in partnership with Economic History Society, History UK, History of Education Society (UK), History Workshop Journal, Royal Historical Society, Society for the Study of Labour History and Women's History Network.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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African Headrests: Technology and design in the past and the future
Join us this week for the final episode of the Afro Historyscapes podcast series.
This week we are joined from Nairobi, Kenya by Community Researcher Yyvette Waweru. Yvette will discuss her research into African headrests - otherwise known as ‘dream machines’, an important example of African design and technology.
Not only do headrests tell us so much about their function and aesthetics but also the people who use them. Yvette will also discuss how headrests have inspired her Afrofuturist film that explores how they might be used in the future.
Objects we discuss
21.81
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/21.81/
2010.7
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2010.7
2019.63
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2019.63/
1972.119
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1972.119/
2003.599
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2003.599/
2013.156
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2013.156/
2676
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2676/
Yvettes Video
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Igbo and Nigerian Crafting Practices
In this episode, we are joined by Community Action Researcher and Maker, Chinelo L. Njaka PhD.
Chinelo will share with us her experience of carrying out research into the Horniman collections as part of the Community Action Research project. Her research takes a look at the presence - and absence - of Igbo and Nigerian craft technologies and what this can tell us about the creativity of Igbo peoples as well as colonial legacies. Chinelo used the incredible Nancy Stanfield collection held at the Horniman to help tell this story.
Objects:
28.11.66/33
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/28.11.66/33
Nancy Stanfield Collection - photographs
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/subject/subject-1388/
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African Milk Technologies
In this episode we speak to Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp, one of the Horniman's curators, about her recent interest in the colonial history of milk.
We discuss Horniman collections relating to an incredible technology developed by pastoralist communities in Kenya and elsewhere in East and North Eastern Africa, to process milk, making it safe to drink. We explore how this mobile technology contrasts with European industrial milk practices which have dominated the global expansion of dairy.
Milk offers a fascinating way into thinking about colonialism, technology and science, and who gets to decide what is useful and good for us, and what knowledge counts.
Objects we discuss
1972.106
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1972.106/
1972.82
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1972.82/
1972.128
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1972.128/
1990.544vi
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1990.544vi/
ARC/BRA/002/029/019
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/ARC/BRA/002/029/019/
Read more about Roger Brain
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/nigerian-independence-through-a-lens/
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Ifá Divination - The Travelling Religion of the Yoruba peoples
In this episode we discuss the traditional Yoruba religion know as Ifá. This religious tradition forms the bedrock of Yoruba culture and spiritual life, where people, ancestors, and spirits interact through ritual and worship.
We discuss with Community Action Researcher, Abiola Balogun, some of the main features of this religious tradition, how its rich material culture can take on a life of its own, and how it has travelled the world, inspiring music in Cuba.
Objects we discuss
23.34
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/23.34/
6.12.65/546
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/6.12.65/546/
Additional Material:
Abiola’s videos
The Nigerian Collection of the Yoruba Traditional Religion
The Journey of the Travelling Religion
Music video
Eleggua - Daymé Arocena - Cubafonía
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Another history of Christianity in Africa
The Horniman collections tell a very different story than is usually heard about Christianity in Africa.
Find out about how Christianity was practised in Africa several centuries before the arrival of European missionaries, how Africans themselves have embraced, interpreted, and transformed the faith, and when Stormzy took 100,000 people to church at Glastonbury festival.
Objects we discuss:
nn17962
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/nn17962/
1973.268
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/1973.268/
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African Islamic Worlds: Trade, Spirits, and Art with Sabrina Al Sayed
In this episode we are joined by Community Action Researcher Sabrina Al-Sayed, where we explore the influence of Islam on Saharan trade routes.
We discuss how the Kel-Tamashek peoples keep themselves safe from spirits known in Islam as Jinn, and how Islamic spirituality has been embraced and shaped by African people throughout history in the form of art.
Objects we discuss
2007.214
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2007.214/
2007.158
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/2007.158/
nn3549
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/object/nn3549/
Jean Jenkins - Album
https://open.spotify.com/album/0TtJGwXqJpNEorkymW0lSW?si=LaS9dSKYRCmYjeH11RWm9Q&dl_branch=1
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Customer Reviews
Linking Objects to Stories
This is a very interesting podcast looking at the history of Africa through the objects found in the Horniman Museum. This is a great way to link objects to stories, and museums to people. The first episodes have focused on the Swahili coast of eastern Africa but I believe they will be looking at other parts of the continent in later episodes. It is an interesting listen, and I recommend it.