Explore Geo Map

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Modern Guinea is commonly known as Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from Guinea-Bisseau and Equitorial Guinea. The name Guinea refers to the West-coastal gulf region of Africa that stretches into the Sahel. The word Guinea stems from Portugese and historically refers to a term for Black people south of Senegal.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Guinea-Conakry is set to have their presidential elections on Oct 18th 2020. After a long dictatorship under Conté, Guinea-Conakry experienced thier first democratic elections since gaining independence in 1958. The first free leader, Alpha Condé was elected in December 2010 from the national opposition party (Rally of the Guinean People) and was reelected in 2015. Alpha Condé is eligible to run for president for a third term in 2020. His opposition is Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea. In order to be elected president, the candidate is required to gain at least 51% of votes.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 18th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Alpha Condé
– Cellou Dalein Diallo

MORE INFO HERE:
Guinea Presidential Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Bolivia is a landlocked country, located in the western central part of South America. Bolivia is one of the largest countries in South America and is the largest landlocked country in South America. It is home to a significant portion of the Amazon forest and 11 million people. With a rich history, Bolivia is a multiethnic country, with a large concentration of descendants of Africa, predominately traced to West and Central Africa.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
After a postponment of elections and a recent protest against certain members of the government that resulted in an interim president to be allocated, the Bolivian Presidential Elections are on Oct 18th 2020. The president is elected by way of a popular vote. In the event that there is no absolute majority, the two leading candidates will face a run off vote.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 18th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Movement for Socialism (MAS)
– Civic Community
– Libre 21
– Juntos
– We Believe
– The Front For Victory
– National Action Party of Bolivia
– Nationalist Democratic Action

MORE INFO HERE:
– Bolivia Pre-Presidential Re-run Elections
– Presidential Candidates in Bolivia’s 2020 Special Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Tanzania is located on the East coast of Africa. It was historically a lucrative fishing and coastal maritime town. By the 8th century, Zanzibar established itself as a central trading town amongst the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Currently, Zanzibar is considered an archipelago, as part of the Tanzania region. The economic, social and religious power was mainly concentrated in a city state, called Kilwa. Kilwa controlled almost the entire Eastern coast, stretching to present day Mozambique. Kilwa remained the most powerful region of East Africa until European invasion in the 15th century.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential and Assembly Elections are on Oct 28th 2020. The current president is John Magufuli from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party. Severeal independent opponents formed an alliance to oppose the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, called Chama cha Demokracia na Maendeleo.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Assembly

DATE:
October 28th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– John Magufuli
– Tundu Lissu

MORE INFO HERE:
– Tanzania General Elections
– Tanzania: Freedoms Threatened Ahead of Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Côte d’Ivoire is located on the Northern West of Africa. Its name is derived from French and Portugese colonizers and slave traders. During colonialism and the Trans Atlantic Slave trade, the name was derived from commercial zones that were different slave and product economy regions. Present day Côte d’Ivoire was the “Coast of Ivory” where the main trade export along the coast was ivory. Historically, present day Cote d’Ivoire was regionally under the Sudanic Empire. After the decline of the Ghana Empire, the Songhai reigned over the area until European invasion.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Alassane Ouattara has been President of Côte d’Ivoire since 2010. The new candidate would need to receive majority of votes in a two-round system.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 31st 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Pascal Affi N’Guessan
– Mamadou Koulibaly

MORE INFO HERE:
– Ivory Coast General Elections
– Côte d’Ivoire Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Belize is a country located in the Carribbean. It is the indigenous home of the Mayan people. However, over history has become incredibly diverse and multilingual. This amalgamation of ethnicities and languages over time has formed a Belizean Creole culture and language, which is the most spoken language across all people.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Belizean Representative Elections are on November 2nd 2020. This general election will elect members of the country’s House of Representatives.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Representatives

DATE:
November 2nd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– UDP (United Democratic Party)
– Belize Progressive Party
– PUP (People’s United Party)

MORE INFO HERE:
– Belize Elections
– Belize Election Centre

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. Commonly referred to as the “Most Free Land in The World” or a “Superpower”, the US was discovered, stolen and built into a nation-state on slave labor.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The US Presidential & Congressional Elections are on November 3rd 2020. The Republican elect and current president is Donald Trump and the Democrat elect is Joe Biden, former Vice President from 2008 – 2016. Despite an impeachment of the current president in January 2020, the result ended in an acquittal in February and maintained his eligibility to run for a second term. The Libertarian Party is led by Jo Jorgensen. The Green Party is led by Howie Hawkins. These elections will not only determine the president of the country but also the party that will occupy congress and senate. The president is elected through a electoral college vote. In order to find out more information about voting during the pandemic, voter registeration and eligibility please see MoCADA.org/vote2020.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Congressional

DATE:
November 3rd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Joe Biden
– Donald Trump
– Jo Jorgensen
– Howie Hawkins

MORE INFO HERE:
US Elections

CANDIDATES:
Puerto Rico is a Carribean archipelego that is just south of Miami, Florida. Even though Puerto Rico is independent from the US, Puerto Ricans are considered US citizens and the country is a US commonwealth. The main island is called Puerto Rico and there are several smaller islands surrounding.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Gubernatorial Election, House of Representatives election and Referendum will all take place on November 3rd 2020 that will determine the governor of Puerto Rico, the non-voting Resident Commissioner of the United StatesHouse of Representatives and the yes or no vote for Puerto Rico to become a US state. All three of these elections will be held concurrently. The Gubernatorial Election on November 3rd 2020 will determine the governor of Puerto Rico. This election will also determine the senate, house of representatives, resident commsioner and mayors of 78 municipalities. The current governor, attached to the New Progressive Party, Wanda Vázquez Garced is eligible for a re-ecletion. However, her opponent in the same party is Pedro Pierluisi, former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, won the internal party vote and is the current president of the party who is also eligible for governorship under the New Progressive Party. The other main party that could gain governance is the Popular Democratic Party. The eligible candidate for governor from the party is Carlos Delgado Altieri. For the position of Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer González from the New Progressive Party is the incumbent commissioner and she is legible for re-election. The fellow nominees for Resident Commissioner are: Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who was the former governor from the Popular Democratic Party. Luis Roberto Piñero from the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Dr Zayira Jordán Conde from the Citizens Victory Movement and Ada Norah Henriquez from the Project Diginity Party.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Gubernatorial
– House of Representatives
– Referendum

DATE:
November 3rd 2020

BALLOT NAMES:
– Wanda Vázquez Garced
– Pedro Pierluisi
– Carlos Delgado Altieri

MORE INFO HERE:
– Puerto Rico Gubernatorial Elections
– Puerto Rico Statehood Referendum (2020)

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. The country’s name is the product of the man who led the country to independence from French colonial rule, Thomas Sankara. Prior, the country was known as Upper Volta. “Burkina” and “Faso” both stem from different languages spoken in the country: “Burkina” comes from Mossi and means “upright”, showing how the people are proud of their integrity, while “Faso” comes from the Dioula language and means “fatherland” (literally, “father’s house”). The “bè” suffix added onto “Burkina” to form the demonym “Burkinabè” comes from the Fula language and means “men or women.”

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Burkina Faso’s next election is their Presidential and Legislative Elections on Nov 22nd 2020. The current president is Roch Marc Christian Kaboré from the MPP (People’s Movement for Progress) who was elected in 2015. This means he is eligible for another term.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Legislative

DATE:
November 22nd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
– Zéphrin Diabré
– Eddie Kombogïo

MORE INFO HERE:
Burkina Faso Presidential and Legislative Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Ghana is a country in West Africa that is part of the region that was historically known as the Gulf of Guinea. Ghana translates to “Warrior King” in Mande, largely spoken by people from the tribe called Soninke. Ghana is a country with a large volume of history dating as far back to the 11th C and was ruled by several empires. The most dominant of these empire was the Kingdom of Dagbon and Kingdom of Ashanti.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Ghanian presidential elections are on Dec 7th 2020. The current president is Nana Akufo-Addo from the New Patriotic Party and his opposition is John Mahama from the National Democratic Congress. The election will be on a two-round system.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 7th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Nana Akufo-Addo
– John Mahama

MORE INFO HERE:
– Ghana General Elections
– Ghana Web
– Ghana Election 2020: “blinkards”, Technology, And Peace

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Liberia is a small country located in West Africa. Liberia was developed as an American colony settlement, gaining independence in 1847. The country was the first country to gain independence in Africa and is the oldest modern and democratic country in Africa.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Liberian Referendum and Senatorial Elections is on Dec 8th 2020. The elections are to determine the parties that will represent their senate. They have a multi party representative senate and the full list of eligible parties for public voting and more voter information can be found on the Liberian National Election Commission website.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Referendum
– Senatorial

DATE:
December 8th 2020

CANDIDATES:
Click here for the full list of eligible parties

MORE INFO HERE:
– Liberia Referendum and Senatorial Elections
– Liberia: 18 Women, 100 Men Will Vie for 15 Senate Seats in Midterm Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Chad is an African northern central landlocked country. While largely desert, above the Sahel belt, Chad is one of the archeologically evidenced earliest civilizations of humans. Population in Chad dates back to as early as 2000 BC.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Chadinian Parlimentary Elections are still set to be held on December 13th 2020. However, as of current, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is strong speculation that they will postponed therefore the embassy has refrained from delivering more information.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Parliamentary

DATE:
December 13th 2020

CANDIDATES:
To Be Reported.

MORE INFO HERE:
Chad Legislative Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
The Republic of Niger or commonly known as The Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is named after the Lake Niger.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential elections on Dec 27th 2020 on a two-round system. If in the first round there is no majority voted leader, the second round will held on 21 Feb 2021. The current presidential candidates are Mohamed Bazoum from PNDS (Nigerien for Democracy and Socialism) which is the current ruling party, Seyni Oumarou from MNSD (National Movement for the Development of Society) and Salou Djibo, an army officer who led the coup in 2010 that overthrew President Mamadou Tandja’s attempts to exceed his allowed terms of presidency.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 27th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Mohamed Bazoum
– Seyni Oumarou
– Salou Djibo

MORE INFO HERE:
– Niger Presidential and Legislative Elections
– Niger’s 2020 polls: ex-military leader contesting for president

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country located in central Africa. Present day CAR was a region that was mainly desert and slowly became populated by Central Sudanic people (descendants of people from Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Cameroon).

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential elections are on Dec 27th 2020. General elections will be held in the Central African Republic on 27 December 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly. If no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a second round of the presidential elections will take place on 14 February 2021. The current president is Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who is an independent runner and is eligible for reelection. Former president François Bozizé announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 from the KNK (Kwa Na Kwa).

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 27th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Faustin-Archange Touadéra
– François Bozizé

MORE INFO HERE:
Central African Republic General Elections

FODÉBA KEÏTA
Iconic Guinean peformer and artist, Fodéba Keïta was a profilic ballet-dance and composer. Keïta founded the first professional African theatrical group, Théâtre Africain ( later renamed Les Ballets Africains). The group toured internationally for years and ended up becoming the National dance company of Guinea. In his death, Keïta leaves a universal legacy of arts and peformance culture that is intrinsinc to Guinea-Conakry, specifically Mandé peformance traditions. See a peformance by Les Ballet Africains, composed from a poem by Keïta, here.

PASCAL GUILAO BLAISE
Pascal Guilao Blaise was an innovative Guinean visual artist. He was known for fusing his Guinean world with a magical realm in a universe of his own. He was loyal to using warm and bright colors to create these blended places that were depicted in his paintings. Prior to his death in 2009, Blaise had exhibited his works in several exhibitions around the world. Titles and years of his works are unknown.

BOLIVIA MARKA
The Bolivia Marka dance group are a multi-cultural Bolivian peformance group who draw from several local cultures and traditions to choreograph their live stage peformances. Formed in 1999, they are globally recognized and travel around the world to peform their dances in different locations. Responsible for highlighting Bolivian culture, the Bolivia Marka Dance Group have achieved a lot in being able to make Bolivian culture, especially that of the indigienous Ayamara and Afro-Bolivian, visible. See the Bolivia Marka dance group peform an Afro-Saya dance in 2015 here.

PAOLA MENACHO
Paola Menacho is a television actress who has appeared in both American TV and movies since 2005. Menacho has been able to represent Afro-Bolivians in her work and encourage more opportunities for other Afro-Bolivian women. Menacho is set to appear in an upcoming series called Mother’s Creme Diaries.
Social Media:
– Twitter: @paolamenacho
– Instagram: @paola_menacho.

EDWARD TINGATINGA
Edward Tingatinga was an influential painter and educator. Tingatinga started his career in the 1950s and worked until his death in 1972. He is best known for advancing the aesthetic identity of Tanzanian visual art through what is now called Tingatinga style. Tingatinga used various types of low-cost materials to create his artworks, creating a multi-medium type of style. His artworks typically comprised of landscapes and portraits using surrealist methods. The Tingatinga School survives him.

GEORGE LILANGA
George Lilanga was a internationally renowned artists who drew a lot of inspiration from his Makonde tradition and culture in creating his artworks. Beginning his career in 1972 by working closely with the Makonde artistic tradition of wood-carving, Lilanga created many figural artworks. He worked these figural shapes into his vibrant paintings and continued to produce work until his death in 2005.

CORNELIUS YAO AUGUSTT AZAGLO
Visual art is historically strong in Cote d’Ivoire. Cornelius Yao Augustt Azaglo was a photographer, printmaker and filmmaker. Although born in Togo, he settled and worked in Cote d’Ivoire from a young age. He is well recgonized for his expansive portraiture studio work where he captured black and white portraits of the people of Cote d’Ivoire who represented the qoutidian texture of life in Cote d’Ivoire from 1955 to 1995.

YOUSSOUF BATH
Born in 1949 in Tabou, Ivory Coast, Youssouf Bath is a leading figure in Vohou Vohou. A movement which began in the 80s that used raw and recycable materialsto create collaged works. Vohou Vohou broke away and challenged an academic appraoch towards visual arts.

PEN CAYETANO
World renowned musical and visual artist, Pen Cayetano is a self-taught artist who used his travels and cultural surroundings to feed into his musical and visual creations. He has been painting since the late 1970s and continues to create quintessentially Belizean art. A true ambassador to Belizean culture, Cayetano brought Garifuna rhythm and Afro-Carribean painting and music to an international stage. The image is a mural done by Cayetano in Dangriga, Belize. The mural depicts influential people of Belize who Cayetano believes are the embody Garifuna culture. Hear Cayetano’s music from a street peformance in Belize in 2008 on Garifuna Day here.
Social Media:
– Instagram: @pen_cayetano.

LEELAA VERNON
Leelaa Vernon MBE was an exemplary musician whose music was highly influenced by Creole culture in Belize and her music enabled an international recognition of Creole culture. Prior to her untimely death in 2017, Vernon was a champion of traditional Creole Belizean music since the late 1980s. Hear Vernon peform We Are Belize in 2006 here.

JACOB LAWRENCE
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter who famously depicted the Black American experience and history during the 1930s -1980s when it was not represented in art, politics, media and film. Lawrence was heavily inspired by the culture and energy of Harlem. Remembered as a pioneer of dynamic cubinism, he has been inducted into the visual arts canon as one of the most formative artists of the 20th century and played a significant role in documenting the hsitory of Black people in America in the mid 20th century. Lawrence’s work has been showcased all over the world and his artworks continue to be collected and exhibited all over the world, especially New York City.

GORDON PARKS
Gordon Parks was a multidisciplinary artist, who is best known for his legacy of photography during the 1950s – 1980s. Although Parks had a successful career in fashion photography and filmmaking, one of his most poignantly remembered images were those, commissioned by Life magazine, that documented the Black American qoutidian experience during Jim Crow, 1950s-1970s Civil Rights Movement and qoutidian product of systemic racism. Later in his career, Parks ventured into filmmaking, famously directing the 1969 movie The Learning Tree and Shaft (1971). The Gordon Parks Foundation was created in his honor.

RAFAEL TUFIÑO
Known locally as the “Painter of the People”, Rafael Tufiño was a prolific multidisciplinary artist. He worked with graphic design, paint, illustration and paint, however he was best known for his paintings from the 1950s until his death in 2008. His paintings largely depicted portraits, landscapes and images of his everyday Puerto Rican life. In doing so, Tufiño’s work has empowered Black and Brown communities in New York and highlighted Puerto Rican culture and heritage.

ARTURO ALFONSO SCHOMBURG
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was a historian, writer and activist who was instrumental in the beginnings of the Harlem Renaissance. He began his career at the turn of the 20th century and was active in cementing the relevance of Blackness in the Modern era until his death in 1938. Schomburg’s research during the Harlem Renaissance highlighted and memorialized Afro-Latina and Afro-American contributions to art in America. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York is named in his honor. He authored many publications, his most seminal being The Negro: A Selected Bibliography (1944).

ETRAN FINATAWA
Etran Finatawa is a band that uniquely blends traditional Nigerien music from the Wodaabe and Tuareg people with electric guitars and other electronic sounds, creating a unique Blues sound. Formed in 2004, this name directly translates into English as “The Stars of Tradition”. They have released four albums that have been internationally recognized and have toured extensively in the US, Europe and Australia. Through their international success, Etran Finatawa have been able to highlight Nigerien music, their musical culture and the historical creative prowess in Niger.
Social Media:
– Youtube: Etran Finatawa – Topic
– Spotify: Etran Finatawa

TOULOU KIKI
Critically acclaimed actress and singer, Toulou Kiki is best known for her work in the film Timbuktu (2014). For this role, she was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Since her nomination, Kiki has also appeared in the 2018 film Hier and released a blues inspired album called Black Tenere in 2019. See Kiki’s peformance in Timbuktu here and listen to her latest Black Tenere album here.

SANLÉ SORY
Photographer Sanlé Sory is a Burkinabe visual artist. Loyal to independent Burkina Faso, Sory’s portfolio of work consists of his capturing of the evolution towards freedom in Burkina Faso in 1960. Concerned primarily with people, Sory chooses people as the subjects of his photography because embody the multifaceted nature of a city or country and its transition or negotiation between the rigid binary that is tradition and modernity.
Portfolio:
– sorysanle.com.

IDRISSA OUÉDRAOGO
Idrissa Ouédraogo was a globally recognized filmmaker. He started his film career in 1981 in Kiev, Burkina Faso where he worked for a local cinema production company. His films typically explored themes of conflict, rurality, city life, tradition and modernity. His most revered films are Yabba (1989) & Samba Traoré (1992). Throughout his career Ouédrago created films until his last feaure film in Kato Kato in 2006. Despite being internationally recognized and revered as a pioneer in Burkinabé cinema, in recent years his works have been heavily criticized. Most of the critic is concerned with a one-dimensional and monotonous representation of women in Burkina Faso. As well as an imbalanced attention towards rurality in Burkina Faso that creates a monolithic representation of impoverishment and archaic culture in Burkina Faso. For this, he was accused of pandering to non-African viewers, alienating an African audience in the process. Watch Yabba here.

ABLADE GLOVER
Ablade Glover is a Ghanian visual artist who’s visual aesthetic has come to define the ideology of West African modern art. Prolific in oils on canvas, Glover tends to portray very real Ghanian and West African scenery and landscapes in abstract ways. His paintings have a proclivity to capture motion and kinetic energy of Ghana. His aesthetic is also recognized by his use of colors that has influenced a similar method amongst young West African visual artists. Although Glover has been painting since the 1960s, he only started receiving internation acclaim later in his life. He spent almost 15 years in academia, achieving a PhD from Ohio State University in the US in 1974. Glover’s first international exhibition was held in 2008 and he continues to work and exhibit across the world.
Social Media:
– Instagram: @profabladeglover
– Twitter: @abladeglover

FELICIA ABBAN
Felicia Abban was a photographer and and photo-journalist whose career started in the 1950s and spans over six decades. Concentrating on women as the subject of her images, Abban pioneered a counter female gaze through her work. While her work is largely portraiture and studio-photography, her work also documented the beginning of independence in Ghana. Abban’s career advanced the canon of portrait and studio photography in Ghana. After Ghana’s independence in 1957, Abban worked as President Kwame Nkhrumah’s photographer. As a woman, Abban’s marked the entrance of women in studio image making in Ghana.

FATIMA MASSAQUOI
Fatima Massaquoi was an educator and writer who contributed significantly to the cultural and social life. After completing her studies in Austria and the US in 1946, Massaquoi was part of a team that established the first university in Liberia, University of Liberia. Part of her significant contributions was serving as a director of the Liberal Arts College and created a program in African studies. Massaquoi’s writings that she accumulated were gathered and published as a book, The Autobiography of an African Princess, after her death in 1978. Before then, many of her writings have been published into various works. Massaquoi’s achievements were recognized at a global level, especially her contributions towards socio-cultural national formation and presevation in a newly independent Liberia.

FATU GAYFLOR
Known as the ‘Golden Voice of Liebria’, Fatu Gayflor started her singing career in 1978, at only 12 years old. She has peformed at various festivals and concerts around the world. Her music is inspired by her Loma identity and incorporates the sekere instrument. Gayflor has successfully displayed Liberian culture to the world. Listen to Gayflor teach Ohyamaye to students in Philadelphia here.

MAHAMAT-SALEH HAROUN
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is an award-winning Chadian filmmaker. He has written and directed seven feature films and each of them have achieved international and award recognition. His first short film, Goi-Goi was released in 1995. In 2011, Haroun became a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. His films center around the individual experience of being male, Chadinian and the circumstances that dictate that experience. His most recent film was released in 2017. Watch the trailer to the film A Screaming Man (2010) here.

ISSA SERGE COELE
Issa Serge Coele is a Chadian filmmaker who’s first short film Un taxi pour Aouzou (1994). It was nominated for a Cesar Award in the Best Short Film category. Watch the movie here.

THIERRY NDERGO
Thierry Ndergo is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Crobongo, CAR. He has exhibited his work in many parts of the world since 2007 and through his work has been able to showcase a CAR visual culture with the world.

GALILÉE HERVÉ NDOMA
GaliléE Hervé Ndoma is a contemporary visual artist from Bangui where he continues to live and work. His work is inspired by the natural surroundings of the environment he grew up in.

TAHIA HALIM
Although born in Sudan, Tahia Halim grew up and settled in Egypt since she was a child, however she remained invested in Sudanese culture which is heavily displayed through her work. Halim was formative in the Modern Expression Movement in Egypt in the 1960s. Since the 1940s, Halim’s work has been exhibited all over the world. Halia passed away in 2003 but her work continues to be exhibited. Her work is primarily concerned with portraying Nubian culture and characteristics, folk-like and ancient-Egyptian aesthetics represented through Nubian and Sudanese women and domestic life.

MOUNIR CANAAN
Mounir Canaan was a canonical painter whose works have surpassed his life. He began his career in 1953 and continued to work until his death in 1999. He was primarily concerned with illusion, space and dimension. After the abstract expressionist era, Canaan took to collaging as a technique in his w0rk and this is the style he would subsequently be internationally recognized. Canaan’s internationl recognition catalyzed an Egypt Arts Movement that opened the path for many more Egyptian visual artists to take the global stage. His work continues to be auctioned.

KEVIN LYTTLE
Kevin Lyttle is a world hit record selling artist. He released his first single in 2001 which became a radio hit throughout the Carribean. Since 2003, Lyttle has been signed with Atlantic Records and had the opportunity to collaborate with different dancehall and Afrobeats artists around the world. His music is deeply influenced by his St Vincentian and West Indian heritage and culture. Instagram: @kevinlyttle Twitter: @kevinlyttle Facebook: Kevin Lyttle Music. Listen to his music here.

NZIMBU BROWNE
Nzimbu Browne is a contemporary visual artist. Specializing in painting and banana art craft, Browne’s work is primarily concerned with depicting the rhytm of St Vincentian life. Using and creating different tones and textures of the banana leaf, Browne applies these techniques to his art work which has been recognized on a global scale. He began is career in 1985 and continues to work and live in St Vincent. See Browne’s full portfolio on his website.

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Modern Guinea is commonly known as Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from Guinea-Bisseau and Equitorial Guinea. The name Guinea refers to the West-coastal gulf region of Africa that stretches into the Sahel. The word Guinea stems from Portugese and historically refers to a term for Black people south of Senegal.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Guinea-Conakry is set to have their presidential elections on Oct 18th 2020. After a long dictatorship under Conté, Guinea-Conakry experienced thier first democratic elections since gaining independence in 1958. The first free leader, Alpha Condé was elected in December 2010 from the national opposition party (Rally of the Guinean People) and was reelected in 2015. Alpha Condé is eligible to run for president for a third term in 2020. His opposition is Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea. In order to be elected president, the candidate is required to gain at least 51% of votes.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 18th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Alpha Condé
– Cellou Dalein Diallo

MORE INFO HERE:
Guinea Presidential Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Bolivia is a landlocked country, located in the western central part of South America. Bolivia is one of the largest countries in South America and is the largest landlocked country in South America. It is home to a significant portion of the Amazon forest and 11 million people. With a rich history, Bolivia is a multiethnic country, with a large concentration of descendants of Africa, predominately traced to West and Central Africa.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
After a postponment of elections and a recent protest against certain members of the government that resulted in an interim president to be allocated, the Bolivian Presidential Elections are on Oct 18th 2020. The president is elected by way of a popular vote. In the event that there is no absolute majority, the two leading candidates will face a run off vote.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 18th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Movement for Socialism (MAS)
– Civic Community
– Libre 21
– Juntos
– We Believe
– The Front For Victory
– National Action Party of Bolivia
– Nationalist Democratic Action

MORE INFO HERE:
– Bolivia Pre-Presidential Re-run Elections
– Presidential Candidates in Bolivia’s 2020 Special Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Tanzania is located on the East coast of Africa. It was historically a lucrative fishing and coastal maritime town. By the 8th century, Zanzibar established itself as a central trading town amongst the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. Currently, Zanzibar is considered an archipelago, as part of the Tanzania region. The economic, social and religious power was mainly concentrated in a city state, called Kilwa. Kilwa controlled almost the entire Eastern coast, stretching to present day Mozambique. Kilwa remained the most powerful region of East Africa until European invasion in the 15th century.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential and Assembly Elections are on Oct 28th 2020. The current president is John Magufuli from the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party. Severeal independent opponents formed an alliance to oppose the Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, called Chama cha Demokracia na Maendeleo.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Assembly

DATE:
October 28th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– John Magufuli
– Tundu Lissu

MORE INFO HERE:
– Tanzania General Elections
– Tanzania: Freedoms Threatened Ahead of Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Côte d’Ivoire is located on the Northern West of Africa. Its name is derived from French and Portugese colonizers and slave traders. During colonialism and the Trans Atlantic Slave trade, the name was derived from commercial zones that were different slave and product economy regions. Present day Côte d’Ivoire was the “Coast of Ivory” where the main trade export along the coast was ivory. Historically, present day Cote d’Ivoire was regionally under the Sudanic Empire. After the decline of the Ghana Empire, the Songhai reigned over the area until European invasion.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Alassane Ouattara has been President of Côte d’Ivoire since 2010. The new candidate would need to receive majority of votes in a two-round system.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
October 31st 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Pascal Affi N’Guessan
– Mamadou Koulibaly

MORE INFO HERE:
– Ivory Coast General Elections
– Côte d’Ivoire Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Belize is a country located in the Carribbean. It is the indigenous home of the Mayan people. However, over history has become incredibly diverse and multilingual. This amalgamation of ethnicities and languages over time has formed a Belizean Creole culture and language, which is the most spoken language across all people.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Belizean Representative Elections are on November 2nd 2020. This general election will elect members of the country’s House of Representatives.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Representatives

DATE:
November 2nd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– UDP (United Democratic Party)
– Belize Progressive Party
– PUP (People’s United Party)

MORE INFO HERE:
– Belize Elections
– Belize Election Centre

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. Commonly referred to as the “Most Free Land in The World” or a “Superpower”, the US was discovered, stolen and built into a nation-state on slave labor.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The US Presidential & Congressional Elections are on November 3rd 2020. The Republican elect and current president is Donald Trump and the Democrat elect is Joe Biden, former Vice President from 2008 – 2016. Despite an impeachment of the current president in January 2020, the result ended in an acquittal in February and maintained his eligibility to run for a second term. The Libertarian Party is led by Jo Jorgensen. The Green Party is led by Howie Hawkins. These elections will not only determine the president of the country but also the party that will occupy congress and senate. The president is elected through a electoral college vote. In order to find out more information about voting during the pandemic, voter registeration and eligibility please see MoCADA.org/vote2020.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Congressional

DATE:
November 3rd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Joe Biden
– Donald Trump
– Jo Jorgensen
– Howie Hawkins

MORE INFO HERE:
US Elections

CANDIDATES:
Puerto Rico is a Carribean archipelego that is just south of Miami, Florida. Even though Puerto Rico is independent from the US, Puerto Ricans are considered US citizens and the country is a US commonwealth. The main island is called Puerto Rico and there are several smaller islands surrounding.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Gubernatorial Election, House of Representatives election and Referendum will all take place on November 3rd 2020 that will determine the governor of Puerto Rico, the non-voting Resident Commissioner of the United StatesHouse of Representatives and the yes or no vote for Puerto Rico to become a US state. All three of these elections will be held concurrently. The Gubernatorial Election on November 3rd 2020 will determine the governor of Puerto Rico. This election will also determine the senate, house of representatives, resident commsioner and mayors of 78 municipalities. The current governor, attached to the New Progressive Party, Wanda Vázquez Garced is eligible for a re-ecletion. However, her opponent in the same party is Pedro Pierluisi, former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, won the internal party vote and is the current president of the party who is also eligible for governorship under the New Progressive Party. The other main party that could gain governance is the Popular Democratic Party. The eligible candidate for governor from the party is Carlos Delgado Altieri. For the position of Resident Commissioner, Jenniffer González from the New Progressive Party is the incumbent commissioner and she is legible for re-election. The fellow nominees for Resident Commissioner are: Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, who was the former governor from the Popular Democratic Party. Luis Roberto Piñero from the Puerto Rican Independence Party. Dr Zayira Jordán Conde from the Citizens Victory Movement and Ada Norah Henriquez from the Project Diginity Party.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Gubernatorial
– House of Representatives
– Referendum

DATE:
November 3rd 2020

BALLOT NAMES:
– Wanda Vázquez Garced
– Pedro Pierluisi
– Carlos Delgado Altieri

MORE INFO HERE:
– Puerto Rico Gubernatorial Elections
– Puerto Rico Statehood Referendum (2020)

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. The country’s name is the product of the man who led the country to independence from French colonial rule, Thomas Sankara. Prior, the country was known as Upper Volta. “Burkina” and “Faso” both stem from different languages spoken in the country: “Burkina” comes from Mossi and means “upright”, showing how the people are proud of their integrity, while “Faso” comes from the Dioula language and means “fatherland” (literally, “father’s house”). The “bè” suffix added onto “Burkina” to form the demonym “Burkinabè” comes from the Fula language and means “men or women.”

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Burkina Faso’s next election is their Presidential and Legislative Elections on Nov 22nd 2020. The current president is Roch Marc Christian Kaboré from the MPP (People’s Movement for Progress) who was elected in 2015. This means he is eligible for another term.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Presidential
– Legislative

DATE:
November 22nd 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
– Zéphrin Diabré
– Eddie Kombogïo

MORE INFO HERE:
Burkina Faso Presidential and Legislative Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Ghana is a country in West Africa that is part of the region that was historically known as the Gulf of Guinea. Ghana translates to “Warrior King” in Mande, largely spoken by people from the tribe called Soninke. Ghana is a country with a large volume of history dating as far back to the 11th C and was ruled by several empires. The most dominant of these empire was the Kingdom of Dagbon and Kingdom of Ashanti.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Ghanian presidential elections are on Dec 7th 2020. The current president is Nana Akufo-Addo from the New Patriotic Party and his opposition is John Mahama from the National Democratic Congress. The election will be on a two-round system.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 7th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Nana Akufo-Addo
– John Mahama

MORE INFO HERE:
– Ghana General Elections
– Ghana Web
– Ghana Election 2020: “blinkards”, Technology, And Peace

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Liberia is a small country located in West Africa. Liberia was developed as an American colony settlement, gaining independence in 1847. The country was the first country to gain independence in Africa and is the oldest modern and democratic country in Africa.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Liberian Referendum and Senatorial Elections is on Dec 8th 2020. The elections are to determine the parties that will represent their senate. They have a multi party representative senate and the full list of eligible parties for public voting and more voter information can be found on the Liberian National Election Commission website.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
– Referendum
– Senatorial

DATE:
December 8th 2020

CANDIDATES:
Click here for the full list of eligible parties

MORE INFO HERE:
– Liberia Referendum and Senatorial Elections
– Liberia: 18 Women, 100 Men Will Vie for 15 Senate Seats in Midterm Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Chad is an African northern central landlocked country. While largely desert, above the Sahel belt, Chad is one of the archeologically evidenced earliest civilizations of humans. Population in Chad dates back to as early as 2000 BC.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
The Chadinian Parlimentary Elections are still set to be held on December 13th 2020. However, as of current, due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is strong speculation that they will postponed therefore the embassy has refrained from delivering more information.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Parliamentary

DATE:
December 13th 2020

CANDIDATES:
To Be Reported.

MORE INFO HERE:
Chad Legislative Elections

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
The Republic of Niger or commonly known as The Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is named after the Lake Niger.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential elections on Dec 27th 2020 on a two-round system. If in the first round there is no majority voted leader, the second round will held on 21 Feb 2021. The current presidential candidates are Mohamed Bazoum from PNDS (Nigerien for Democracy and Socialism) which is the current ruling party, Seyni Oumarou from MNSD (National Movement for the Development of Society) and Salou Djibo, an army officer who led the coup in 2010 that overthrew President Mamadou Tandja’s attempts to exceed his allowed terms of presidency.

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 27th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Mohamed Bazoum
– Seyni Oumarou
– Salou Djibo

MORE INFO HERE:
– Niger Presidential and Legislative Elections
– Niger’s 2020 polls: ex-military leader contesting for president

COUNTRY SUMMARY:
Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country located in central Africa. Present day CAR was a region that was mainly desert and slowly became populated by Central Sudanic people (descendants of people from Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo and Cameroon).

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE:
Presidential elections are on Dec 27th 2020. General elections will be held in the Central African Republic on 27 December 2020 to elect the President and National Assembly. If no presidential candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a second round of the presidential elections will take place on 14 February 2021. The current president is Faustin-Archange Touadéra, who is an independent runner and is eligible for reelection. Former president François Bozizé announced his candidacy on 25 July 2020 from the KNK (Kwa Na Kwa).

TYPE OF ELECTION:
Presidential

DATE:
December 27th 2020

CANDIDATES:
– Faustin-Archange Touadéra
– François Bozizé

MORE INFO HERE:
Central African Republic General Elections

FODÉBA KEÏTA
Iconic Guinean peformer and artist, Fodéba Keïta was a profilic ballet-dance and composer. Keïta founded the first professional African theatrical group, Théâtre Africain ( later renamed Les Ballets Africains). The group toured internationally for years and ended up becoming the National dance company of Guinea. In his death, Keïta leaves a universal legacy of arts and peformance culture that is intrinsinc to Guinea-Conakry, specifically Mandé peformance traditions. See a peformance by Les Ballet Africains, composed from a poem by Keïta, here.

PASCAL GUILAO BLAISE
Pascal Guilao Blaise was an innovative Guinean visual artist. He was known for fusing his Guinean world with a magical realm in a universe of his own. He was loyal to using warm and bright colors to create these blended places that were depicted in his paintings. Prior to his death in 2009, Blaise had exhibited his works in several exhibitions around the world. Titles and years of his works are unknown.

BOLIVIA MARKA
The Bolivia Marka dance group are a multi-cultural Bolivian peformance group who draw from several local cultures and traditions to choreograph their live stage peformances. Formed in 1999, they are globally recognized and travel around the world to peform their dances in different locations. Responsible for highlighting Bolivian culture, the Bolivia Marka Dance Group have achieved a lot in being able to make Bolivian culture, especially that of the indigienous Ayamara and Afro-Bolivian, visible. See the Bolivia Marka dance group peform an Afro-Saya dance in 2015 here.

PAOLA MENACHO
Paola Menacho is a television actress who has appeared in both American TV and movies since 2005. Menacho has been able to represent Afro-Bolivians in her work and encourage more opportunities for other Afro-Bolivian women. Menacho is set to appear in an upcoming series called Mother’s Creme Diaries.
Social Media:
– Twitter: @paolamenacho
– Instagram: @paola_menacho.

EDWARD TINGATINGA
Edward Tingatinga was an influential painter and educator. Tingatinga started his career in the 1950s and worked until his death in 1972. He is best known for advancing the aesthetic identity of Tanzanian visual art through what is now called Tingatinga style. Tingatinga used various types of low-cost materials to create his artworks, creating a multi-medium type of style. His artworks typically comprised of landscapes and portraits using surrealist methods. The Tingatinga School survives him.

GEORGE LILANGA
George Lilanga was a internationally renowned artists who drew a lot of inspiration from his Makonde tradition and culture in creating his artworks. Beginning his career in 1972 by working closely with the Makonde artistic tradition of wood-carving, Lilanga created many figural artworks. He worked these figural shapes into his vibrant paintings and continued to produce work until his death in 2005.

CORNELIUS YAO AUGUSTT AZAGLO
Visual art is historically strong in Cote d’Ivoire. Cornelius Yao Augustt Azaglo was a photographer, printmaker and filmmaker. Although born in Togo, he settled and worked in Cote d’Ivoire from a young age. He is well recgonized for his expansive portraiture studio work where he captured black and white portraits of the people of Cote d’Ivoire who represented the qoutidian texture of life in Cote d’Ivoire from 1955 to 1995.

YOUSSOUF BATH
Born in 1949 in Tabou, Ivory Coast, Youssouf Bath is a leading figure in Vohou Vohou. A movement which began in the 80s that used raw and recycable materialsto create collaged works. Vohou Vohou broke away and challenged an academic appraoch towards visual arts.

PEN CAYETANO
World renowned musical and visual artist, Pen Cayetano is a self-taught artist who used his travels and cultural surroundings to feed into his musical and visual creations. He has been painting since the late 1970s and continues to create quintessentially Belizean art. A true ambassador to Belizean culture, Cayetano brought Garifuna rhythm and Afro-Carribean painting and music to an international stage. The image is a mural done by Cayetano in Dangriga, Belize. The mural depicts influential people of Belize who Cayetano believes are the embody Garifuna culture. Hear Cayetano’s music from a street peformance in Belize in 2008 on Garifuna Day here.
Social Media:
– Instagram: @pen_cayetano.

LEELAA VERNON
Leelaa Vernon MBE was an exemplary musician whose music was highly influenced by Creole culture in Belize and her music enabled an international recognition of Creole culture. Prior to her untimely death in 2017, Vernon was a champion of traditional Creole Belizean music since the late 1980s. Hear Vernon peform We Are Belize in 2006 here.

JACOB LAWRENCE
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter who famously depicted the Black American experience and history during the 1930s -1980s when it was not represented in art, politics, media and film. Lawrence was heavily inspired by the culture and energy of Harlem. Remembered as a pioneer of dynamic cubinism, he has been inducted into the visual arts canon as one of the most formative artists of the 20th century and played a significant role in documenting the hsitory of Black people in America in the mid 20th century. Lawrence’s work has been showcased all over the world and his artworks continue to be collected and exhibited all over the world, especially New York City.

GORDON PARKS
Gordon Parks was a multidisciplinary artist, who is best known for his legacy of photography during the 1950s – 1980s. Although Parks had a successful career in fashion photography and filmmaking, one of his most poignantly remembered images were those, commissioned by Life magazine, that documented the Black American qoutidian experience during Jim Crow, 1950s-1970s Civil Rights Movement and qoutidian product of systemic racism. Later in his career, Parks ventured into filmmaking, famously directing the 1969 movie The Learning Tree and Shaft (1971). The Gordon Parks Foundation was created in his honor.

RAFAEL TUFIÑO
Known locally as the “Painter of the People”, Rafael Tufiño was a prolific multidisciplinary artist. He worked with graphic design, paint, illustration and paint, however he was best known for his paintings from the 1950s until his death in 2008. His paintings largely depicted portraits, landscapes and images of his everyday Puerto Rican life. In doing so, Tufiño’s work has empowered Black and Brown communities in New York and highlighted Puerto Rican culture and heritage.

ARTURO ALFONSO SCHOMBURG
Arturo Alfonso Schomburg was a historian, writer and activist who was instrumental in the beginnings of the Harlem Renaissance. He began his career at the turn of the 20th century and was active in cementing the relevance of Blackness in the Modern era until his death in 1938. Schomburg’s research during the Harlem Renaissance highlighted and memorialized Afro-Latina and Afro-American contributions to art in America. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York is named in his honor. He authored many publications, his most seminal being The Negro: A Selected Bibliography (1944).

ETRAN FINATAWA
Etran Finatawa is a band that uniquely blends traditional Nigerien music from the Wodaabe and Tuareg people with electric guitars and other electronic sounds, creating a unique Blues sound. Formed in 2004, this name directly translates into English as “The Stars of Tradition”. They have released four albums that have been internationally recognized and have toured extensively in the US, Europe and Australia. Through their international success, Etran Finatawa have been able to highlight Nigerien music, their musical culture and the historical creative prowess in Niger.
Social Media:
– Youtube: Etran Finatawa – Topic
– Spotify: Etran Finatawa

TOULOU KIKI
Critically acclaimed actress and singer, Toulou Kiki is best known for her work in the film Timbuktu (2014). For this role, she was nominated for an Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Since her nomination, Kiki has also appeared in the 2018 film Hier and released a blues inspired album called Black Tenere in 2019. See Kiki’s peformance in Timbuktu here and listen to her latest Black Tenere album here.

SANLÉ SORY
Photographer Sanlé Sory is a Burkinabe visual artist. Loyal to independent Burkina Faso, Sory’s portfolio of work consists of his capturing of the evolution towards freedom in Burkina Faso in 1960. Concerned primarily with people, Sory chooses people as the subjects of his photography because embody the multifaceted nature of a city or country and its transition or negotiation between the rigid binary that is tradition and modernity.
Portfolio:
– sorysanle.com.

IDRISSA OUÉDRAOGO
Idrissa Ouédraogo was a globally recognized filmmaker. He started his film career in 1981 in Kiev, Burkina Faso where he worked for a local cinema production company. His films typically explored themes of conflict, rurality, city life, tradition and modernity. His most revered films are Yabba (1989) & Samba Traoré (1992). Throughout his career Ouédrago created films until his last feaure film in Kato Kato in 2006. Despite being internationally recognized and revered as a pioneer in Burkinabé cinema, in recent years his works have been heavily criticized. Most of the critic is concerned with a one-dimensional and monotonous representation of women in Burkina Faso. As well as an imbalanced attention towards rurality in Burkina Faso that creates a monolithic representation of impoverishment and archaic culture in Burkina Faso. For this, he was accused of pandering to non-African viewers, alienating an African audience in the process. Watch Yabba here.

ABLADE GLOVER
Ablade Glover is a Ghanian visual artist who’s visual aesthetic has come to define the ideology of West African modern art. Prolific in oils on canvas, Glover tends to portray very real Ghanian and West African scenery and landscapes in abstract ways. His paintings have a proclivity to capture motion and kinetic energy of Ghana. His aesthetic is also recognized by his use of colors that has influenced a similar method amongst young West African visual artists. Although Glover has been painting since the 1960s, he only started receiving internation acclaim later in his life. He spent almost 15 years in academia, achieving a PhD from Ohio State University in the US in 1974. Glover’s first international exhibition was held in 2008 and he continues to work and exhibit across the world.
Social Media:
– Instagram: @profabladeglover
– Twitter: @abladeglover

FELICIA ABBAN
Felicia Abban was a photographer and and photo-journalist whose career started in the 1950s and spans over six decades. Concentrating on women as the subject of her images, Abban pioneered a counter female gaze through her work. While her work is largely portraiture and studio-photography, her work also documented the beginning of independence in Ghana. Abban’s career advanced the canon of portrait and studio photography in Ghana. After Ghana’s independence in 1957, Abban worked as President Kwame Nkhrumah’s photographer. As a woman, Abban’s marked the entrance of women in studio image making in Ghana.

FATIMA MASSAQUOI
Fatima Massaquoi was an educator and writer who contributed significantly to the cultural and social life. After completing her studies in Austria and the US in 1946, Massaquoi was part of a team that established the first university in Liberia, University of Liberia. Part of her significant contributions was serving as a director of the Liberal Arts College and created a program in African studies. Massaquoi’s writings that she accumulated were gathered and published as a book, The Autobiography of an African Princess, after her death in 1978. Before then, many of her writings have been published into various works. Massaquoi’s achievements were recognized at a global level, especially her contributions towards socio-cultural national formation and presevation in a newly independent Liberia.

FATU GAYFLOR
Known as the ‘Golden Voice of Liebria’, Fatu Gayflor started her singing career in 1978, at only 12 years old. She has peformed at various festivals and concerts around the world. Her music is inspired by her Loma identity and incorporates the sekere instrument. Gayflor has successfully displayed Liberian culture to the world. Listen to Gayflor teach Ohyamaye to students in Philadelphia here.

MAHAMAT-SALEH HAROUN
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun is an award-winning Chadian filmmaker. He has written and directed seven feature films and each of them have achieved international and award recognition. His first short film, Goi-Goi was released in 1995. In 2011, Haroun became a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury. His films center around the individual experience of being male, Chadinian and the circumstances that dictate that experience. His most recent film was released in 2017. Watch the trailer to the film A Screaming Man (2010) here.

ISSA SERGE COELE
Issa Serge Coele is a Chadian filmmaker who’s first short film Un taxi pour Aouzou (1994). It was nominated for a Cesar Award in the Best Short Film category. Watch the movie here.

THIERRY NDERGO
Thierry Ndergo is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Crobongo, CAR. He has exhibited his work in many parts of the world since 2007 and through his work has been able to showcase a CAR visual culture with the world.

GALILÉE HERVÉ NDOMA
GaliléE Hervé Ndoma is a contemporary visual artist from Bangui where he continues to live and work. His work is inspired by the natural surroundings of the environment he grew up in.

TAHIA HALIM
Although born in Sudan, Tahia Halim grew up and settled in Egypt since she was a child, however she remained invested in Sudanese culture which is heavily displayed through her work. Halim was formative in the Modern Expression Movement in Egypt in the 1960s. Since the 1940s, Halim’s work has been exhibited all over the world. Halia passed away in 2003 but her work continues to be exhibited. Her work is primarily concerned with portraying Nubian culture and characteristics, folk-like and ancient-Egyptian aesthetics represented through Nubian and Sudanese women and domestic life.

MOUNIR CANAAN
Mounir Canaan was a canonical painter whose works have surpassed his life. He began his career in 1953 and continued to work until his death in 1999. He was primarily concerned with illusion, space and dimension. After the abstract expressionist era, Canaan took to collaging as a technique in his w0rk and this is the style he would subsequently be internationally recognized. Canaan’s internationl recognition catalyzed an Egypt Arts Movement that opened the path for many more Egyptian visual artists to take the global stage. His work continues to be auctioned.

KEVIN LYTTLE
Kevin Lyttle is a world hit record selling artist. He released his first single in 2001 which became a radio hit throughout the Carribean. Since 2003, Lyttle has been signed with Atlantic Records and had the opportunity to collaborate with different dancehall and Afrobeats artists around the world. His music is deeply influenced by his St Vincentian and West Indian heritage and culture. Instagram: @kevinlyttle Twitter: @kevinlyttle Facebook: Kevin Lyttle Music. Listen to his music here.

NZIMBU BROWNE
Nzimbu Browne is a contemporary visual artist. Specializing in painting and banana art craft, Browne’s work is primarily concerned with depicting the rhytm of St Vincentian life. Using and creating different tones and textures of the banana leaf, Browne applies these techniques to his art work which has been recognized on a global scale. He began is career in 1985 and continues to work and live in St Vincent. See Browne’s full portfolio on his website.