TED2013
Saki Mafundikwa: Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets
Saki Mafundikwa: 古非洲文字的智慧與優雅
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從一單一字母到神秘的符號系統，圖像設計家 Saki Mafundikwa 為我們舉行了一場跨越非洲大陸各書寫文字的對話，他特別強調這些書寫文字背後所隱藏的歷史與文化遺產，並力勸非洲的設計家們用更創新的靈感來詮釋這些圖像！全講最後總結到他最愛的一個迦納文字 -- Sankofa，代表著「回到過去並帶回有用的東西」，也就是「從歷史中學習」！
Saki Mafundikwa - Graphic designer
Saki Mafundikwa wrote the book on Africa’s graphic design heritage -- then opened a school of graphic arts in his native Zimbabwe. Full bio
Saki Mafundikwa wrote the book on Africa’s graphic design heritage -- then opened a school of graphic arts in his native Zimbabwe. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I moved back home 15 years ago
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15年前，我回到了故鄉
00:16
after a 20-year stay in the United States,
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在那之前，我已經在美國待了20年了
00:19
and Africa called me back.
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非洲希望我回去
00:21
And I founded my country's first
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我創建了我國第一所
00:25
graphic design and new media college.
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平面設計暨新媒體學院
00:27
And I called it the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts.
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我叫它「辛巴威數位視覺藝術學院」
00:32
The idea, the dream, was really for a sort of Bauhaus
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其創校理念與夢想
可以算是某種程度上的包浩斯主義
可以算是某種程度上的包浩斯主義
00:36
sort of school where new ideas were interrogated
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包浩斯其實是一所學校
在那裡，所有新想法都會被嚴格審視
在那裡，所有新想法都會被嚴格審視
00:41
and investigated,
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與研究
00:44
the creation of a new visual language
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而在與非洲傳統文化的創意結合之下
00:47
based on the African creative heritage.
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我們創造了一個新的視覺語言
00:52
We offer a two-year diploma
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對於每位有天份的高中畢業生
00:55
to talented students who have successfully completed
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每位順利完成學業的畢業生
00:59
their high school education.
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我們都將頒發一張兩年畢業證書
01:01
And typography's a very important part of the curriculum
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其中，「印刷術」是我們很重要的一堂課
01:04
and we encourage our students to look inward for influence.
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我們鼓勵學生深入其中
找尋印刷能帶來的影響力
找尋印刷能帶來的影響力
01:09
Here's a poster designed by one of the students
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這是一個學生做的海報
01:11
under the theme "Education is a right."
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主題是 "教育即權利"
01:16
Some logos designed by my students.
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這些是我學生們設計的標誌
01:20
Africa has had a long tradition of writing,
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非洲擁有久遠的書寫文化
01:24
but this is not such a well-known fact,
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卻不是很多人知道
01:26
and I wrote the book "Afrikan Alphabets" to address that.
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因此，我寫了一本「Afrikan 字母」來說明這件事
01:30
The different types of writing in Africa,
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非洲文字有許多種書寫的方法
01:34
first was proto-writing,
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最開始的是類文字系統
01:36
as illustrated by Nsibidi,
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這是恩西比底 (Nsibidi) 文
01:38
which is the writing system of a secret society
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這是南奈及利亞一個 Ejaham 人的神秘部落
01:41
of the Ejagham people in southern Nigeria.
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所使用的書寫方式
01:45
So it's a special-interest writing system.
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所以它是一已成專業學問的書寫系統
01:49
The Akan of people of Ghana and [Cote d'Ivoire]
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象牙海岸與迦納的阿肯族人
01:52
developed Adinkra symbols some 400 years ago,
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在400年前創造的阿丁克拉 (Adinkra) 符號
01:56
and these are proverbs, historical sayings,
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這些 [阿丁克拉(Adinkra)] 符號代表著諺語、歷史、
02:00
objects, animals, plants,
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物體、動物、植物
02:03
and my favorite Adinkra system
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而我最愛的阿丁克拉文字
02:05
is the first one at the top on the left.
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正是這個左上角的圖案
02:07
It's called Sankofa.
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叫"Sankofa"
02:08
It means, "Return and get it." Learn from the past.
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它的意思是 "回到過去並帶回有用的東西"
也就是從歷史中學習
也就是從歷史中學習
02:14
This pictograph by the Jokwe people of Angola
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這個安哥拉 Jokwe 人所繪的象形圖
02:17
tells the story of the creation of the world.
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象徵著世界萬物的發展過程
02:21
At the top is God, at the bottom is man, mankind,
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最上面的是上帝，最底下的是人類
02:26
and on the left is the sun, on the right is the moon.
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而左邊是太陽，右邊則是月亮
02:31
All the paths lead to and from God.
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所有的路徑皆通往並起源於上帝
02:35
These secret societies of the Yoruba, Kongo
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這些剛果約魯巴的神祕部落
02:40
and Palo religions
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和個別分散在奈及利亞、剛果
02:42
in Nigeria, Congo and Angola respectively,
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與安哥拉的帕羅教徒
02:46
developed this intricate writing system
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發展出這套複雜的文字系統
02:49
which is alive and well today in the New World
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並於現今活耀於新世界中
02:53
in Cuba, Brazil and Trinidad and Haiti.
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像是古巴，巴西，特立尼達島和海地等
02:59
In the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo,
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在剛果民主共和國帶雨林帶
03:03
in the Ituri society,
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伊圖利部落中
03:06
the men pound out a cloth out of a special tree,
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男人使勁敲打以製特殊植物所成之衣
03:09
and the women, who are also the praise singers,
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女人，同時也是歌頌女歌手們
03:12
paint interweaving patterns
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繪製交織的圖騰
03:15
that are the same in structure
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其紋路架構正如同
03:18
as the polyphonic structures that they use in their singing --
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她們唱歌所使用的和弦架構一般
03:23
a sort of a musical score, if you may.
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如果硬要說的話，也可以說是一種樂譜
03:27
In South Africa, Ndebele women
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在南非，恩德貝勒的女人
03:29
use these symbols and other geometric patterns
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用這些符號和其他幾何圖樣
03:33
to paint their homes in bright colors,
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來為她們的家漆上亮麗色彩
03:36
and the Zulu women use the symbols
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而祖魯女人則將這些符號用在串珠上
03:39
in the beads that they weave
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她們將其串進手鐲與項鍊之中
03:41
into bracelets and necklaces.
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她們將其串進手鐲與項鍊之中
03:44
Ethiopia has had the longest tradition of writing,
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依索比亞有著最悠久的書寫文化
03:48
with the Ethiopic script that was developed
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在西元前四世紀時
03:50
in the fourth century A.D.
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依索比亞的文字手稿便已出現
03:52
and is used to write Amharic,
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並用來書寫阿姆哈拉語
03:55
which is spoken by over 24 million people.
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一個超過 2400 萬人在使用的語言
03:58
King Ibrahim Njoya of the Bamum Kingdom of Cameroon
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喀麥隆共和國裡
巴姆穆王國的國王 Ibrahim Njoya
巴姆穆王國的國王 Ibrahim Njoya
04:03
developed Shü-mom at the age of 25.
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在 25 歲的時候發展出 Shü-mom
04:06
Shü-mom is a writing system.
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Shü-mom 是一種文字書寫系統
04:08
It's a syllabary. It's not exactly an alphabet.
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它是一張字音表，而不盡然是張字母表
04:11
And here we see three stages of development
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在此，我們可以看到 30 年來
04:15
that it went through in 30 years.
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所經歷的三階段的發展過程
04:19
The Vai people of Liberia had a long tradition of literacy
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早在西元 1800 多年
利比里亞的瓦伊人第一次接觸歐洲人之前
利比里亞的瓦伊人第一次接觸歐洲人之前
04:25
before their first contact with Europeans in the 1800s.
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他們便已經擁有一悠久的文字文化
04:29
It's a syllabary and reads from left to right.
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它是一個由左讀到右的字音表
04:33
Next door, in Sierra Leone, the Mende
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鄰近的獅子山共和國內
04:37
also developed a syllabary,
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門德人也發展出了一套字音表
04:39
but theirs reads from right to left.
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但是卻是由右讀到左
04:43
Africa has had a long tradition of design,
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非洲有一悠久的設計文化
04:46
a well-defined design sensibility,
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並著名於其高設計敏感度
04:50
but the problem in Africa has been that,
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但是，特別是現今這世代，非洲一直有個問題
04:52
especially today, designers in Africa
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幾乎所有設計領域的非洲的設計者，都很艱苦
04:55
struggle with all forms of design
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幾乎所有設計領域的非洲的設計者，都很艱苦
04:57
because they are more apt to look outward
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因為他們通常都只習慣於
05:02
for influence and inspiration.
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追求外在層面的影響與啟發
05:04
The creative spirit in Africa, the creative tradition,
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要是設計家們能夠看的更加深入
看進隱藏在底下的文化與深度
看進隱藏在底下的文化與深度
05:08
is as potent as it has always been,
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非洲那具有創造性的精神
和其充滿創造潛力的傳統文化
和其充滿創造潛力的傳統文化
05:11
if only designers could look within.
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便能如以往般，依然如此強大並具有影響力
05:15
This Ethiopic cross illustrates
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這個伊索比亞的橫紋便說明了
05:18
what Dr. Ron Eglash has established:
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羅恩伊格拉斯博士 (Dr. Ron Eglash) 曾經說過的，
05:21
that Africa has a lot to contribute to computing
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非洲各分形的直覺型意識
05:25
and mathematics through their intuitive grasp of fractals.
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為電腦運算與數學貢獻良多!
05:30
Africans of antiquity created civilization,
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古非洲人創造了仍流傳至今的文明與
05:34
and their monuments, which still stand today,
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與依然豎立於現代的石碑們
05:38
are a true testimony of their greatness.
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再再的證明了他們的偉大
05:41
Most probably, one of humanity's greatest achievements
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文字的發明可以算是人類最偉大的成就之一
05:45
is the invention of the alphabet,
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文字的發明可以算是人類最偉大的成就之一
05:48
and that has been attributed to Mesopotamia
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而這可追朔至西元前 1600 年
05:51
with their invention of cuneiform in 1600 BC,
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美索不達米亞的楔形文字
05:57
followed by hieroglyphics in Egypt,
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接著是埃及的象形文字
06:01
and that story has been cast in stone as historical fact.
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這些歷史軌跡和真相都被鑄刻在石頭上
06:06
That is, until 1998,
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直到西元1998年
06:09
when one Yale professor John Coleman Darnell
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一位耶魯大學的教授
約翰·科爾曼達內爾 (John Coleman Darnell)
約翰·科爾曼達內爾 (John Coleman Darnell)
06:14
discovered these inscriptions in the Thebes desert
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在西埃及底斯比沙漠的
06:17
on the limestone cliffs in western Egypt,
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石灰岩懸崖上發現了這些碑銘
06:21
and these have been dated at between 1800 and 1900 B.C.,
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且上面註明了美索不達米亞
楔形文字出現之前數百年，
楔形文字出現之前數百年，
06:27
centuries before Mesopotamia.
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西元前 1800 和 1900 年的日期
06:30
Called Wadi el-Hol
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稱為恐怖峽谷字母
06:33
because of the place that they were discovered,
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起源於發現他們的地點
06:36
these inscriptions -- research is still going on,
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在這些碑銘中 (研究仍然持續進行中)
06:39
a few of them have been deciphered,
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少數字母和某些出土文字雷同，能夠辨識
06:42
but there is consensus among scholars
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但是，學者們仍然一致認為
06:45
that this is really humanity's first alphabet.
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這確實是人類史上最早的字母
06:50
Over here, you see a paleographic chart
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在這，你能看到一古體文字表
06:53
that shows what has been deciphered so far,
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他告訴我們現今我們已解碼的古文字
06:56
starting with the letter A, "ālep," at the top,
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從最上面的字母A (ālep) 開始
06:59
and "bêt," in the middle, and so forth.
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中間B (bêt)，然後依序下去
07:03
It is time that students of design in Africa
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現在，在非洲學設計的學生
07:07
read the works of titans like Cheikh Anta Diop,
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都需閱讀的巨作，像安塔迪奧普 (Cheikh Anta Diop)
07:11
Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop,
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塞內加爾的安塔迪奧普 (Cheikh Anta Diop)
07:13
whose seminal work on Egypt is vindicated
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他在埃及的半成品
07:16
by this discovery.
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便正因為這個發現而被保存著
07:19
The last word goes to the great Jamaican leader
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最後這段文字是來自於牙買加的偉大領導人
07:22
Marcus Mosiah Garvey
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馬科斯·加維
07:24
and the Akan people of Ghana
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和迦納的阿肯族人的
07:28
with their Adinkra symbol Sankofa,
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阿丁克拉文字 "Sankofa"
07:30
which encourages us to go to the past
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他鼓勵我們回顧過去的歷史起源與傳統文化
07:32
so as to inform our present
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洞見古今，以古為鑑，
07:34
and build on a future for us and our children.
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為我們與後代子孫的將來建立良好基礎
07:39
It is also time that designers in Africa
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同時，也該是非洲的設計家們
07:43
stop looking outside.
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停止只注重表象的時候了!
07:46
They've been looking outward for a long time,
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他們停留在表象藝術的時間已經太久了
07:48
yet what they were looking for
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而他們所要尋找的
07:51
has been right there within grasp, right within them.
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其實一直都在他們眼前
藏在歷史文化與古文物背後!
藏在歷史文化與古文物背後!
07:55
Thank you very much.
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謝謝
07:57
(Applause)
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(掌聲)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Saki Mafundikwa - Graphic designerSaki Mafundikwa wrote the book on Africa’s graphic design heritage -- then opened a school of graphic arts in his native Zimbabwe.
Why you should listen
In his book Afrikan Alphabets, Saki Mafundiwaka includes a Ghanaian pictograph meaning “return to the past” This is exactly what he did in 1997 when he cashed in his publishing job 401(k) and left New York to open the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) in Harare. (“Vigital” denotes visual arts taught using digital tools.)
As a kid growing up in Zimbabwe, Mafundiwaka loved to sketch letterforms he saw in books and magazines, but he didn’t know graphic design was a career option until he arrived in America. "Sometimes you have to leave home,” he says, “to discover yourself.” He opened ZIVA to pay it forward. “The dream,” he says, “is for something to come out of Africa that is of Africa."
In 2010, he made the film Shungu: The Resilience of a People, a compelling narrative of the strategies ordinary people use to survive in Zimbabwe today.
Saki Mafundikwa | Speaker | TED.com