To speak of any sacred scriptures in Africa is to speak of what is written in the hearts of the African people

Lately I’ve been doing quite a bit of research into Africa for a new project we will be launching at moyo in February 2012 (will catch up and update more about moyo Africa project at a later date) internet research can be quite lonely and not very interactive, so when the opportunity arose to attend a series of lectures called Africa 101 in Cape Town – come on Jo’burg where is your Africa 101?- run by The African Arts Institute (AFAI) - www.africanartsinstitute.org.za

I literally and figuratively jumped at the chance (and on a plane) with my colleague Bianca to meet “in the flesh people” who share the same passion and lust for Africa. Our schedule was jam-packed with lectures and discussions in African literature, culture, music, travel and cinema.

I felt that the lectures could have been more successful had they been more interactive and less focused on power point presentation and the spaces were not as conducive or as inspiring as they should have been which got me to thinking ...

Can you imagine if we grow Africa 101 in moyo spaces, where better to learn and explore contemporary African trends, icons and innovations in African music, literature, cinema, dance, theatre and visual arts than in modern sophisticated African ionic spaces?

Imagine “walking through” a music lecture and actually be able to see, touch and chat to the musician playing the instrument, this could be done with poetry, dance, food, art in fact everything. I guess I’m a tactile person and could think of nothing more delicious then experiencing an Africa through my touch,smell,taste and sight bar being able to visit the countries in person.

So what else inspired me?

1. Iain Harris of Coffeebeans Routes with his fascinatinating ideas in the changing trends of travel in Africa moving from a destination based travel towards urban African experiences, he reckons that people are becoming more interested in meeting and listening to the experiences then in just sightseeing! He has a vision to introduce an African festival and cultural tour.How cool is that travel through African festivals!
2. Leopold Seder Senghor’s poem  – "The black Women ‘clothed with your colour which is life ,your form which is beauty...”
3. Mike Dearham – Mnet African film library – the largest African film library in the world.
4. Also got to find out more about the Arab Spring, Ram Koolhaus, Bisi Sila, Tauriq Jenkins and Brendan Busi ............

Until later :)