Gus Casely-Hayford: The powerful stories that shaped Africa
غوس كاسيلي-هايفورد: القصص الجبارة التي شكلت أفريقيا
Gus Casely-Hayford writes, lectures, curates and broadcasts about African culture. Full bio
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has nurtured, has fought for,
more concertedly.
مثل أفريقيا.
African narrative alive
التاريخية الأفريقية
of African peoples,
made to hold onto narrative
على تلك القصص
racism, wars and so much else
والحروب وغير ذلك
survived the assaults
and intellectual output.
and we've captured our histories
of anywhere else on earth.
arrival of Europeans --
mired in its Dark Age --
تتخبط في عصور الظلام ...
in recording, in nurturing history,
for keeping their story alive.
وإبقاء قصتهم حية.
you might remember it --
and sent to the Hague.
وأُرسلوا إلى لاهاي.
was Ahmad al-Faqi,
هو أحمد الفقي،
of the instigators of a campaign
important cultural heritage.
الثقافي المهم لمالي.
to identify himself in court
that he was a teacher.
they engaged in a systematic campaign
that could be envisaged:
in destroying stories.
to hold communities together,
that in destroying stories,
and their insurgency
of Timbuktu and its libraries.
ومكتبات تمبكتو.
with stories of the Mali Empire;
على سماع قصص إمبرطورية مالي؛
of Timbuktu's great libraries.
of its origin from their childhood,
risked their lives
documents to safety,
to protect historic buildings
على المباني التاريخية
always successful,
were thankfully saved,
تم حفظها،
that was damaged during that uprising
that is the symbolic heart of the city.
الذي يعد قلب المدينة.
of the occupation,
simply would not bow
to be wiped away,
that part of the world,
are of such importance.
systematically assaulted over centuries,
بشكل ممنهج على مدى قرون،
across our history
for their story, for their history.
من أجل تاريخهم.
descent in the Caribbean
في منطقة البحر الكاريبي
to celebrate Carnival,
والاحتفال بالكرنفال،
to make great sacrifices,
colonial campaigns were crystallized.
المدمرة تبلورت.
of one narrative over another
of colonialism became palpable.
attacked the Ashanti,
and captured the Asantehene.
and subjugating the head of state --
وإخضاع رئيس الدولة ...
the emotional authority of state
was absolutely critical
في غاية الأهمية
the precious Golden Stool,
capitulate to the British.
working in Southern Africa,
الذي يعمل في جنوب أفريقيا،
an extraordinary complex,
from what he saw:
above an empty savannah:
an astonishing feat of architecture,
architecture of Great Zimbabwe
المعمول بها في زيمبابوي العظمى
been built by Africans.
that followed in his footsteps,
الذين ساروا على نهجه
might have built the city.
if I suppose that that ruin on the hill
أن هذا الخراب على الهضبة
King Solomon's Temple,
complex of buildings
African civilization
a fellow German anthropologist
وهو عالم أنثروبولوجيا في ألمانيا
for the very first time,
from the long-lost kingdom of Atlantis.
المفقودة منذ زمن.
to rob Africa of its history.
with the physical archaeology,
with Enlightenment Europe,
في أوروبا،
and control of the continent.
والازدراء والتحكم بالقارة.
to bend narrative to Europe's ends.
لصالح أهداف أوروبا.
to find an answer to his question,
or that great stone building come from?"
أو ذلك المبنى الحجري الكبير؟"
where Africa meets the Indian Ocean.
حيث تلتقي أفريقيا بالمحيط الهندي.
the gold and the goods
of the Swahili coast to Great Zimbabwe,
من ساحل سواحلي إلى زيمبابوي العظمى،
as a political, cultural entity
ككيان سياسي وثقافي
to that bit of the coast
إلى ذلك الجزء من الساحل
and China and the Middle East.
والشرق الأوسط.
beautiful, that building,
nexus of economies
is not just against time.
لرواية قصتنا على الزمن
organizations like Ansar Dine.
a truly African voice
to recolonize our history,
the intellectual underpinning
لإعادة بناء الوعي الفكري
it wasn't a freak moment.
لم يكن لحظة نزوة.
across the whole of the continent.
في جميع أرجاء القارة.
was Sundiata Keita,
هو سوندياتا كيتا،
that West Africa has ever seen.
شهدها غرب أفريقيا.
between the Berber dynasties to the north,
في الشمال،
of the Ife to the south
of the Solomaic Dynasty
that he was living through a moment
and the Swahili sultanates,
والسلطنات السواحيلية،
beyond the continent itself,
خارج القارة نفسها،
their intellectual and cultural legacy.
تراثها الفكري والحضاري.
in trade with these peer nations
في التجارة مع هذه الدول
his legacy through history
في تأمين تراثه عبر التاريخ
the idea of storytelling,
لرواية القصة،
after the death of Sundiata,
for his vast gold reserves
باحتياطاته الذهبية الضخمة
of Europe and the Middle East.
أوروبا والشرق الأوسط.
as his predecessors,
of securing his place in history.
لضمان مكانه في التاريخ.
went on pilgrimage to Mecca,
with a retinue of thousands.
each carried 100 pounds of gold.
100 جنيه من الذهب.
a fully functioning mosque
Ibn Battuta, wrote,
of North Africa and the Middle East
والشرق الأوسط
into the next decade."
at the heart of his empire.
of written historical material
المكتوبة العظيمة
often by private households.
in the 15th and 16th centuries,
والسادس عشر،
establishment in Europe,
of around 100,000 people.
as a world center of learning.
kind of learning
libraries across Africa,
في أنحاء أفريقيا،
that Africa has no history,
بأن أفريقيا ليس لها تاريخ،
with an embarrassment of history,
for collecting and promoting it.
of manuscripts and material culture.
للمخطوطات والمواد الثقافية.
of communal narrative,
of those European philosophers
من الفلاسفة الأوروبيين
intellectual tradition
of Africa's intellectuals
medieval philosophers
من شمال أفريقيا
and been aware of
of Christianity, of the three wise men.
والحكماء الثلاثة.
Balthazar, that third wise man,
الحكيم الثالث بالثزار،
of Old World learning,
لتعلم العالم القديم،
did not grow up in isolation.
because the city became
intercontinental trade routes.
confident continent.
they carried salt and textiles
down into West Africa
after the life of Mansa Musa,
of sub-Saharan trade routes,
في جنوب الصحراء الكبرى،
worth of Timbuktu
of communal narrative,
those European intellectuals
المفكرين الأوروبيين
about our traditions.
like Ansar Dine and Boko Haram
كأنصار الدين وبوكو حرام
dynamic, intellectual defiance
حقيقيًا وديناميكيًا وفكريًا
traditions in good stead.
as a Medici looked upon Florence:
ميديسي إلى فلورنسا:
entrepreneurial empire
wherever they came from.
complex and diverse,
that derive from indigenous,
المستمدة من التقاليد الأصلية،
that developed in Mali became popular
الذي تطور في مالي شائعًا
contested discourse,
vandalized by Ansar Dine
الأضرحة والمساجد
of their destruction have been jailed.
of how our history and narrative
together for millennia,
in making sense of modern Africa.
intellectual, entrepreneurial,
والفكرية والريادية
tariff-free Africa
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gus Casely-Hayford - Cultural historianGus Casely-Hayford writes, lectures, curates and broadcasts about African culture.
Why you should listen
Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford is a curator and cultural historian who focuses on African culture. He has presented two series of The Lost Kingdoms of Africa for the BBC and has lectured widely on African art and culture, advising national and international bodies (including the United Nations and the Canadian, Dutch and Norwegian Arts Councils) on heritage and culture.
In 2005, Casely-Hayford deployed his leadership, curatorial, fundraising and communications skills to organize the biggest celebration of Africa that Britain has ever hosted; more than 150 organizations put on more than 1,000 exhibitions and events to showcase African culture. Now, he is developing a National Portrait Gallery exhibition that will tell the story of abolition of slavery through 18th- and 19th-century portraits -- an opportunity to bring many of the most important paintings of black figures together in Britain for the first time.
Gus Casely-Hayford | Speaker | TED.com