Latest African collections Podcast Episodes

African Headrests: Technology and design in the past and the future

Afro Historyscapes - October 12, 2021 04:30 - 15 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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 d...

Igbo and Nigerian Crafting Practices

Afro Historyscapes - September 28, 2021 06:30 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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 abse...

African Milk Technologies

Afro Historyscapes - September 14, 2021 00:39 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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 Ea...

Ifá Divination - The Travelling Religion of the Yoruba peoples

Afro Historyscapes - August 31, 2021 05:00 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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...

Another history of Christianity in Africa

Afro Historyscapes - August 17, 2021 05:00 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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...

African Islamic Worlds: Trade, Spirits, and Art with Sabrina Al Sayed

Afro Historyscapes - August 03, 2021 01:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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 sh...

Community Action Researcher Sherry Davis (Special Episode)

Afro Historyscapes - July 20, 2021 08:10 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
Welcome to a special episode of Afro Historyscapes.   In an interview hosted by Sherry Davis, a musician, filmmaker and community researcher, we spotlight the incredible work of Phillip Jimbi Katana, an archaeologist and heritage conservationist who has led the excavation and restoration of se...

Sounds of Mpingo- Musical Journeys from the Swahili Coast

Afro Historyscapes - July 06, 2021 08:00 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
In Episode 3 of Afro Historyscapes podcast we trace how wood from the Mpingo tree, which grows on the Swahili coast is used to make woodwind instruments in Europe. We trace the ways that the sounds made by Mpingo wood have spiritual connections in Europe and among Congolese Kimbaguiste orchest...

The Chair of Power on the Swahili Coast

Afro Historyscapes - June 23, 2021 09:24 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
Welcome to episode 2 of Afro Historyscapes Podcast. In this episode we remain on the Swahili East African Coast, particularly the island of Pate. We look at the relationship between Kiti cha Enzi- or the chair of power- and poet Mwana Kupona, to explore the history and traditions of this beautif...

Indian Ocean trade routes from the Swahili East African Coast

Afro Historyscapes - June 07, 2021 11:13 - 13 minutes ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
Welcome to Episode One of the Afro Historyscapes podcast. We begin by exploring the theme of trade on the Swahili East African Coast. We will look at how cigarette cards from the 1920's show the diversity of people who visited, lived and thrived on the Swahili Coast over the centuries. ​ Obje...