Presentation: The Name Of My Blog Comes From The Term Tibonanj( Ti-Bon-Ange) Which Refers In The Culture

Roy Sieber - African furniture and household objects - Indiana University Press 1980

Omo Valley, Ethiopie

Shepherd ,and his herd of black iron chameleons.

Lobi People, Burkina Faso

Unidentified Edo artist, carved tusk, Benin kingdom, late-nineteenth century, ivory, 93 cm x 7 cm at baseRoyal Ontario Museum

more indigenous created spaces online and in person to archive our truths and stories as they were lived !!!!!!!

The Gingerbread Houses of Haïti : Between Heritage and Community After the Haitian Revolution, a new architectural style emerged : the Gingerbread Houses. Designed to break away from French colonial architecture, these homes still drew inspiration from European styles, adapting and reinterpreting them to fit the Haitian climate and aesthetic. Initially, they were built for the elite, who resided in these grand homes, while the general population incorporated certain architectural elements into their own houses. However, beyond their elite origins, these homes have also become spaces of exchange, culture, and resistance. The iconic dancer and choreographer Viviane Gauthier transformed her Gingerbread house into a meeting place for artists, musicians, and dancers ; a space of sharing and transmission deeply rooted in Haiti’s popular and African heritage. This communal way of life, based on solidarity and collective support, has been present in Haiti since the forced arrival of enslaved Africans, particularly the Bossales, who maintained strong community structures. This same philosophy of home-as-community can be found in Edna Brodber’s novel Nothing’s Mat, which explores the idea of the house as a place of gathering, knowledge, and cultural continuity. It deeply resonates with me. When I return to Haiti, I dream of having a large house with a communal space ; a place for family, neighbors, and the village to come together for intellectual and creative activities. A home that is not just a shelter, but a living, breathing hub of culture and exchange. Would you live in a house like this ? How architecture shapes community life in your culture/place ?

Calao, oiseaux à cornes, production du peuple Sénoufo présent en Côte d'Ivoire et Mali.

Figures gardiennes de reliquaires du peuple Fang du Cameroun

The more I study and the more I meet myself that all the kind of African studies: African ethnology, Noirism, indigenism, negritude, Africanism in the Caribbean have never been able to achieve their ultimate goal of emancipation, freedom and education for the Afro-descendant peoples of the Caribbean; because they never could achieve sovereignty. These currents were infiltrated and parasitized by the imperialist/ colonial nations and their local allies (elites and oligarchies), for the control of knowledge and all that this implies. The black owned is really the solution for all afro initiatives, whether in the academic, social, cultural, economic, political, educational, health… one must self-finance, one cannot depend or remain vassals of foreign funds, of foreign interests, foreign ideology. In the future we can only be united among ourselves if we really want to be free.

Susan Matthews