Celebrating the Mothers behind Bashiri
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Celebrating the Mothers behind Bashiri

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful, supportive and inspirational mothers out there! While here in Australia we celebrate Mother’s Day, over in West Africa the tradition of mothers day is not something widely celebrated. West African culture does not have a calendar day in the year where they celebrate mothers collectively, however there is…

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Weaving: An infinite tradition in Ghana

Simon travelled 1000km north of the capital city of Accra over the weekend to visit our friends and artists in Northern Ghana. These women have been weaving their entire lives, a communal tradition that has been alive for generations. Simon was witness to a traditional thank you dance from the women after he bought a…

Dogon Dancers; Connecting the Sun and Earth

Dogon masks have become known as the most acclaimed masks amongst tribal art collections and have also influenced renowned Western 20th-century artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, as well as the Cubist movement. The masks are usually carved by those who will wear them in ritual performance. There are approximately seventy-eight standard types of…

Eight interesting facts about the Yoruba people

The Yoruba are an ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin in West Africa who share a rich history and culture. Here are eight interesting facts about the traditional Yoruba culture: 1. According to Yoruba mythology, all Yoruba people are descendants from the hero Odua or Oduduwa. 2. The language of the Yorubas, known as Yoruba,…

Four interesting West African Christmas traditions

Although the very first version of Christianity was purely western, the religion has greatly evolved to embrace African traditions giving birth to religious ceremonies with a native touch. The following African traditions have successfully taken root in the festivity culture now knocking on our doors! Yuletide Traditions in West African Although the roots of this…

How countries in West Africa celebrate Christmas

With Christmas is just around the corner, we thought we’d take a look at how different countries in West Africa celebrate the holiday. Christianity has been on the continent since the middle of the first century, and approximately 350 million Africans follow the religion. By now people have developed their own unique holiday traditions that…