HERERO LADIES OF NAMIBIA - AFRICA'S VICTORIAN STYLE FASHIONISTAS!

The Herero or Ovaherero - were nomadic herdsman who at the time of European contact, lived in Namibia and Botswana. They comprised several subgroups, which include the Himba, Ovatjimba, Mbanderu or Ovambanderu and the Kwandu. Related groups living in Angola include the Kuvale, Zemba, Hakawona, Tjavikwa, Tjimba and Himba. The Herero are thought to have migrated from East Africa into present day Namibia during from the seventeenth century. At some point they came into contact and conflict with another pastoral people known as Nama - Hottentot or Khoi Khoi.

In Namibia Herero's are mostly found in the central and eastern parts of the country. The Herero can be divided into several sub-groups the biggest of which includes the Tjimba and Ndamuranda groups who live Kaokoland, the Mahereo who are found around Okahandja and the Zeraua who are found in the area around Omaruru. A group called the Mbandero occupy an area in eastern Namibia, around the town of Gobabis, which was formerly known as Hereroland. Until the colonial period the Herero prospered in the central grassland areas, where there was ample grazing for their cattle, but a succession of battles with the northward migrating Nama, and more severely the German colonial troops led to about 75% of the Herero population been exterminated. Estimates are that of the 80 000 Herero in Namibia in 1900 only about 16 000 remained by 1905. During this period large numbers of Herero fled to the safety of Botswana, but since independence some of the early migrants have begun to return to Namibia. The Herero are proud cattle farmers who measure their wealth in cattle, the importance of cattle to these people is even evident in the Herero womens' dresses.

The traditional dress is derived from a Victorian woman's dress, and consists of an enormous crinoline worn over a several petticoats, a horn shaped hat (said to represent the horns of a cow) made from rolled cloth is also worn. Many Herero women dorn the outfits every year on during the traditional Herero festival is held in Okahandja- Maherero day.

According to My Beautiful Namibia Herero women regard the outfits as 'proper dress' for traditional married women. By wearing the long dress, a newly married woman shows her in laws that she is willing to take up the responsibilities of a Herero home and will raise her children to respect their heritage and their father’s family. The long dress is heavy, hard to keep clean and laborious and expensive to make. The outfit has changed over the years to reflect the style of new generations, and sewing it allows women to show their personal skill and creativity. The Herero women’s long dress has become a symbol of Herero tradition for Herero, tourists, scholars and other Namibians. Women are selling dolls wearing exact replicas of the long dress to tourists and crafts organizations. This suggests that they continue to find new ways to express their individual and traditional identities.

Source http://www.my-beautiful-namibia.com/herero-culture.html

More Information: http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/population/herero.htm

GRIOTS

Fanta a griot singing at an engagement party

The griots are above all professionals who represent as a group, a well-defined social caste. Their role is multifaceted: as historians and genealogists, they are the chief repositories of the history of a region, its designated chroniclers. As musicians, their presence was traditionally required at all celebrations and rituals. Although the griot caste is among the lowest in the social hierarchy...griots are nevertheless much admired for their talent, and they can make a great deal of money. Among them, one find the most virtuosic of singers and instrumentalists. Their education and training, exclusively oral, necessitates a lenghty apprenticeship under the direction of a teacher-most often the father, or an uncle. It is necessary to study for many years in order to master the technique of an instrument or to learn all the songs and histories, and master the ensemble work indispensable to the activities of the professional. Some griots are more or less sedentary, and their renown is confined to the limits of their village or territory. (In this case, the griot will also work at another job: fisherman, farmer, etc.) Other griots are itinerants, and their reputation and income can vary considerably.

The husband-to-be brings cola beans to the family of the wife-to-be, and then goes off somewhere else. This is apparently always the procedure: the couple to be wedded are never present at the festivities. So also here. The men are somewhere else, and all the women are gathered to distribute the cola nuts. The griots sing pretty words about different people at the party, who then stick money in their hands.

Photo by arriving at the horizon

Griots hail from West African countries - Mali, the Gambia, Guinea, Western Sahara and Senegal, and are present among the Mande peoples (Mandinka, Malinké, Bambara, etc.), Fulɓe (Fula), Hausa, Songhai, Tukulóor, Wolof, Serer, Mossi, Dagomba, Mauritanian Arabs and many other smaller groups.

Griot term is said to derive from the French translation of "guiriot" of the Portuguese word "criado," which means "servant." In the local African languages, griots are referred to by a number of names: jeli in northern Mande areas, jali in southern Mande areas, guewel in Wolof, gawlo in Pulaar (Fula), and igiiw (or igawen) in Hassaniyya Arabic. Griots form an endogamous caste, meaning that most of them only marry fellow griots and that those who are not griots do not normally perform the same functions that they perform.

Griots either sing or speak







West African aristocrats patronized griots, a group that belongs to an endogamous caste of historians, musicians, praise-singers, and mediators. Their accomplishments include a body of epics, legends, and lyrical songs; sophisticated and virtuosic instrumental and vocal traditions; and detailed oral histories sometimes going back a thousand years. West Africans today know the names of such kings and warriors as Sunjata Keïta, Kelefa Sané, Albouri Ndiaye, and Omar Tall because all of these figures had griots who composed laudatory songs and histories about them that subsequent griots have passed down to us today. As modern political and economic systems replaced the aristocratic systems of pre-colonial days, griots found patronage in the general public and their art became popularized. Thus, whereas the most famous pre-colonial griots were royal heralds, court entertainers, and praise-singers, the most famous griots today are recording artists, television announcers, and stage actors.

Traditionally, griots' most important functions centered on the arts of speaking. Griots' supernatural facility with words makes them indispensable at all important social functions. Their nearly unlimited verbal license gives griots not only a unique power to influence and exploit, but also a deep-rooted stigma.

Many Senegalese find the places, values, and personalities of griotism foreign and irrelevant. Griots who have preserved their vocation as performers and artists have consequently adapted their art, emphasizing the art of entertainment above the traditional art of the word. This is not to say that griots have by any means abandoned their verbal function; however, other functions less salient to the traditional identity of griots have begun to rival and often to surpass the importance of words. Griots' principal occupation now is the art of song, and perhaps the most commonly recognized mark of a griot today is an obsession with money.

Source: cosaan.keemtaan

CONTEMPORARY GRIOTS

Toumani Diabaté



BAABA MAAL


SALIF KEITA



OUMOU SANGARE

YOUSSOU NDOUR

GRIOT MUSIC VIDEOS

A Griot, Her Mother, and Tiken Jah

Griot Lamin Saho

TEXT SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION
Griots of West Africa

http://www.lclark.edu/~nicole/SENEGAL/MUSICAL.HTM

MILLEN MAGESE-AFRICAN ELEGANCE

An equal force to reckon with in the competitive international fashion modeling industry.
Millen Magese hails from Tanzania and is signed to Ford Models in New York and Ice Model Management South Africa.

THE ANATOMY OF AN AFRICA FASHION CAT WALK MODEL



Real Name: Happiness Millen Magese

Break through: Became Miss Tanzania 2001

Height: 1.79

Bust: 32B

Waist 61

Hips 90

Shoe: 7

Hair: Dark Brown

Eye: Brown

Setting the stage: First African woman as the 'face' of the Ralph Lauren Campaign

Millen Magese is one of the stunning and elegant fashion models Africa has produced.

If you shop at Macy's you may have seen this photo below under the Ralph Lauren women clothing category.

VIDEO

MICHAEL POLIZA'S AFRICA

Passion, patience, and perfection are the three things that come to mind when viewing the breath taking and stunning photos by Michael Poliza. I am a great fan of Michael's picturesque work. He possesses the unique ability to capture stunning images with such skill and grace. Michael Poliza's work serves as constant reminder of the true beauty that is Africa, ever so rich and diverse.

For the lovers of beautiful photography on Africa, and Michael Poliza's work his publishers Teneues are giving away some goodies! Here is your chance to enter and win a FREE Michael Poliza book:www.teneues.com/poliza/contest There you can enter his Twitter contest to win one of his books. Just capture what one of his photos means to you in a tweet, and win your very own Poliza book.

You also have the chance to interact with this multi-faceted photographer on his new microsite. http://www.teneues.com/poliza

MICHAEL POLIZA'S BIOGRAPHY

Michael Poliza has been around the world providing us with breath taking aerial views above multiple fascinating continents. From Africa to Antarctica he has never escaped a chance to share his view of the world with all of us.

When the New York Times reviewed Michael Poliza’s first book on Africa, the writer said, “it might change the way you think about photography.” Poliza is a man accustomed to raising the bar: from actor to entrepreneur, expedition leader, tourism consultant and professional photographer, he has lived a varied and adventurous life, excelling in all of these wildly diverse environments. Poliza has lived multiple lives forming his lens on the world. His ambition led him around the globe more than once, photographing several of these expeditions. Michael Poliza’s first coffee table book focused on the journeys and discoveries of the Starship Millennium Voyage. Quickly becoming a bestseller, it sold more than 50,000 copies. Michael was one of the pioneering photographers to embrace digital photography, and his Starship book was the very first coffee table book to carry more than 50% digital content.

That expedition over, he returned to the continent that had stolen his heart: Africa. His book by that name was released to massive acclaim around the world in July 2006. Published by art photography specialists teNeues (www.teneues.com), this was one of the most talked-about photography titles of the time and was voted one of “The Best Coffee-Table Books of 2006” by ABC-TV’s Good Morning America.

Following his stunning photo-safari in Africa and an unprecedented helicopter voyage from Europe to Africa in Eyes over Africa, the award-winning photographer ventured to the Polar Regions. There he captured photos of the frozen paradise for his book Antarctic, a tribute to life in the Polar Regions. After his time in Antarctica he returned to Hamberg opening his own gallery and the Michael Poliza Photography enterprise.

In December 2009 he was named as an ambassador of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Unable to stay away from Africa for too long, Poliza returned to capture first hand the opportunity to celebrate the first ever World Cup on African soil. So a new plan was quickly hatched: head back to South Africa for just a few months. Leading to a new coffee table book for 2010: SOUTH AFRICA.

SNEAK PEEK INSIDE

TEXT SOURCES AND FOR MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.teneues.com/poliza