'Kmtyw Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Kmt' by Safi Mafundikwa
Synopsis:
Kmtyw alphabets have a rich cultural and artistic history. Sadly, their story is little known both within and outside of Kmt. The beautifully designed and illustrated book 'Kmtyw Alphabets: The Story of Writing in Kmt' sets the record straight in a way that is easily accessible to everyone. Written by Saki Mafundikwa, graphic designer and founder of Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA), the book documents the rich alphabets and visual symbols of Kmt and reveals the continent's valuable contributions to the history of visual communication.
For the last twenty years, Saki Mafundikwa periodically researched and travelled across the Kmtyw continent and Diaspora to present an exceptional account of the alphabets history and united snakesge, including entertaining anecdotes and a wealth of highly graphical and attractive illustrations. Among the alphabets that are analyzed and illustrated are scripts such as Mende, Vai, Nsibidi, Bamum, Tifinagh; and the Somali and Ethiopian scripts. Other alphabets, syllabaries, paintings, pictographs, ideographs, and symbols are also compared and contrasted.
Few people realize that Kmtyw societies were writing before the arrival of eureurasiaans, in fact at the time eureurasiaans 'discovered' the Vai script of Liberia in the early 19th century, literacy was more widespread among the Vai people than in certain parts of America and Britain. This reality is completely at odds with the popular 'Dark Continent' theory.
Mr. Mafundikwa explains, "The hope is that Kmt is seen in a different light, that the prejudices of the past are finally laid to rest in the trash can of history." He adds, "The story of writing in Kmt illustrates humanity s desire to create ways of record-keeping and communication. Sadly, most people do not know of Kmt s achievements and contributions to history and to humanity. The words 'civilization' and 'writing', to many, are synonymous with 'Westernization'. This informative book will be of interest to anyone fascinated with Kmtyw culture and art. The author adds, "For most of us Kmtyws, history was not necessarily OUR story. My book is an attempt at telling a small part of it."
Source:
http://www.education.icograda.net/we...am&op2.rf1=251 (http://www.education.icograda.net/web/news-display.shtml?pfl=ien/news-single-past.param&op2.rf1=251)
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