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UPDATED: African village in the Zoo: Protest against racist exhibition

Published on May 27, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, ethics, Europe, Us and Them

Ethno::log

The zoo of Augsburg/Germany is planning to open a “African village” with people from Africa “situated in an unique African steppe landscape”, critically reports Norbert Finzsch in an email, professor of History at the University of Cologne. It’s remarkable, that scientists at our university are researching the historical dimension of the Völkerschauen in the 19th century while the zoo of Augsburg in about 80km distance is carrying on this tradition in the 21th century. >> continue

Kurt Jonassohn, On A Neglected Aspect Of Western Racism: From the beginning of the 1870s to the end of the 1930s – the exposition of so-called exotic peoples in zoological gardens attracted a huge public

Anthropological Days at the Olympic Games: ‘Great Fun for Savages’

UPDATE 20.6.05:
Radio interview on African Village/ “Germans & Japanese less sensitive about race”

UPDATE 14.6.05: In Detroit and London: More African Villages in the Zoo

UPDATE 10.6.05: Now the BBC starts to report on the African village

UPDATED UPDATE 2 By 2nd of June several German newspapers have written about the protest against this exhibition: Frankfurter Rundschau, Tagesspiegel, Jungle World, Neues Deutschland, while the conservative DIE WELT defended the arrangement and cites some Africans who consider the combination of zoo and african culture as perferct (for their business). >> continue to my post in German with more links in German

UPDATE 1:
The news spread extremly fast. Savage Minds provides a link to the original email by Norbert Finzsch. He writes:

“The way Africans and African Americans in Germany are perceived and discussed, the way they are present on billboards and in TV ads prove that the colonialist and racist gaze is still very much alive in Germany. This is the direct result of forty years of German colonialism and twelve years of National Socialism. People of color are still seen as exotic objects (of desire), as basically dehumanized entities within the realm of animals. This also explains why a zoo has been selected as site for the exhibit.”

“The African German community and concerned individuals like myself call to your attention the need to protest against the opening of the exhibit in the Augsburg Zoo. Please direct your personalized letters of protest to Frau Dr. Barbara Jantschke (Director Zoo Augsburg) at barbara.jantschke@zoo-augsburg.de .”

>> continue

Ethno::log

The zoo of Augsburg/Germany is planning to open a "African village" with people from Africa "situated in an unique African steppe landscape", critically reports Norbert Finzsch in an email, professor of History at the University of Cologne. It's remarkable, that…

In Egypt: Economy and perceptions of modernity change religious festival

Published on March 11, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, religion cosmology

Cairo Magazine

Moulids are multi-faceted festivals held in honor of holy people. The surrounding area is transformed into a festive space that, in the case of large moulids, may engulf an entire neighborhood. Anthropologist Farouk Ahmed Mostafa says, “Moulids have played a large role in invigorating the economic life of the society in which the saint is located.” Moulids also provide an opportunity for reestablishing social contacts with out-of-town friends, he explains.

Times are changing for Egypt’s moulids. Yet the reasons for change are more subtle and complex than the government’s dislike of street merchants or anxiety about crowds. While state policies certainly shape these temporary transformations of public space, shifting shades of religiosity, the economy and perceptions of modernity also contribute to the changing form and character of Egypt’s moulids. >> continue (link updated)

Cairo Magazine

First Swahili PC office suite released in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Published on March 8, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, language, technology

Wikinews

The office suite was translated from the English version of OpenOffice.org, an open source suite based on Sun Microsystems’ StarOffice. This is the first ever release of a word processor in Swahili. The translation effort required translating 18,000 English strings, made up of one or more words, many of which have previously had no direct Swahili equivalent. As part of the translation, the team developed a glossary of 1500 technical words in Swahili. >> continue

Wikinews

The office suite was translated from the English version of OpenOffice.org, an open source suite based on Sun Microsystems' StarOffice. This is the first ever release of a word processor in Swahili. The translation effort required translating 18,000 English strings,…

Burkina Faso: Thousands of migrants now living as strangers in their homeland

Published on February 20, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, migration

ReliefWeb

More than 365,000 people have fled from violence in Cote d’Ivoire to safety in Burkina Faso over the last two years. However there are no haunting images of refugee camps, packed to overflowing with people who have lost everything. For the new arrivals are former Burkinabe migrants going home. They have simply melted into the villages and the countryside, taken in by relatives and in some cases, even strangers. They are refugees in their own country.

The number of Burkinabe migrants that poured out of Cote d’Ivoire is almost double the number of Darfur refugees that have spilled across the Sudanese border into Chad. But while overcrowded refugees camps in eastern Chad have repeatedly come under the spotlight, attracting generous international aid, Burkina Faso’s masses have largely fallen off the international community’s radar screen. >> continue

ReliefWeb

More than 365,000 people have fled from violence in Cote d'Ivoire to safety in Burkina Faso over the last two years. However there are no haunting images of refugee camps, packed to overflowing with people who have lost everything. For…

Women in Cameroon:Information technology as a way out of the cultural cul-de-sac

Published on February 7, 2005 by lorenz Posted in Africa, anthropology in the news, culture traditions, gender, technology

IPS News Service

As is the case in much of Africa, cultural and religious factors in Cameroon have proved formidable obstacles to the advancement of women in the workplace. Traditional beliefs dictate that a women’s place is in the home, prompting many parents to take their daughters out of school at an early age – and allow them to be married. Information technology has proving especially useful in showing women a way out of the cultural cul-de-sac they so often find themselves in. >> continue

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Digital Opportunity Channel (oneworld.net / digital divide network)

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