Away from Africa

The road to Souza While we were in Cameroon in February, I finally traveled to "Abo," the region where my mother-in-law was born. Unfortunately we were not in her village in the northern part, but in Souza (Abo-Sud) to visit the cassava crop farm I wrote about in an earlier post . Sita Behle In Souza, we met Sita* Behle, who welcomed us with a big smile. Not knowing visitors were coming, she had not dressed up or anything, but that was the least of her worries! When I asked if I could take her picture, she readily agreed. By the time we finished visiting the cassava crop farm, it was incredibly hot, and it was lunchtime. Souza's "green house" Sita Behle's house is the original "green" house--the exterior wall is covered with greenery, an unexpected sight. I was standing outside and realized that everyone else in my travel group (5 people in all) had entered the house, so I followed them inside. Palm nuts Sita was in her kitchen...

Koko in the Doual'Art garden In 1987, when I was living in Cameroon and practicing as an architect with my spouse, Epée Ellong, we were asked to rehabilitate the cafeteria of the University Center of Dschang in West Cameroon. It was a Soviet-style building, squat and chunky; the Soviets were not present in Cameroon any longer. Epée Ellong redesigned the exterior to reflect the region's artistic heritage by creating African masks using marble residue. I don't recall how we met Koko Komegne, but we heard that he was a talented painter. We commissioned him with painting frescoes in the cafeteria interior--which he did in record time. The eleven frescoes are based on a jazz theme--another of Koko's passions is music. University Center of Dschang cafeteria It had been years since I last saw Koko Komegne. Fortunately a few years ago I read about him online. He is still living in Douala, and I obtained his cell phone number. (In Cameroon, most people now...

With our cousin's mom, who is wearing  a traditional Duala Kaba. Finally I returned to Africa in January--not for good (yet), but at least I was finally able to go. I'll be writing several posts about the trip, which only lasted 2 weeks, but was full of food (lots of food to catch up!), travel, and meeting with old and new acquaintances. I'll also update older posts with additional photos. Here is a photo of our cousin's mom with me.

Follow-up on the October 2011  blog post about Razia Said : Ranomafana rainforest (photo from Razia's Facebook album)  Since the concert   in Madagascar this past summer, Razia Said has continued her efforts to end the plundering of natural resources in Madagascar. The truth is that natural resources are being stripped in many parts of the world. Deforestation has already happened in the United States . However, the effects in an island such as Madagascar are devastating.  A wonderful video is available on YouTube:  Something is Moving in the Forest , including scenes from the  Mifohaza Masoala  concert .  The next scheduled concert is in October 2012. Razia Said singing in New York City (photo by Diane Chehab) Razia Said's Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/raziasaid.official Website: www.raziasaid.com

Razia Said Razia Said's CD,  Zebu Nation  was created to raise awareness and benefit the preservation of the rainforest in her native Madagascar, specifically the region to the northeast known as MaMaBay (area comprised of the Masaola and Makira forests, and the Antogil Bay). This region is protected through a WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) initiative, and several WCS team members were at the launch, including Lisa Gaylord, Country Director for WCS/Madagascar, who oversees WCS’s program activities in MaMaBay.  New Yorkers and visitors to New York may know the incredible  Madagascar!  exhibit at the Bronx Zoo , inaugurated in 2008, in the former Lion House. The exhibit features an incredible mix of Madagascar endemic flora and fauna such as the ring-tailed lemur, radiated tortoise, giant crocodile and a unique mammal, the fossa. Madagascar is one of the most ecologically diverse places on earth, and some animals can only be found there. Lemu...

T he words "modern" and "African art" are rarely used together. African art as usually identified as traditional art: sculpted masks, statues, in the same style they were done for hundreds of years. One of the galleries attempting to change this is the  Contemporary   African   Art   Gallery  in  Manhattan ,  New York  City. Founder Bill Karg is an architect, and he lived and worked for over five years in  Africa , working on low-income self-built housing, as a consultant for various organizations, such as USAID, the United Nations, the World Bank, and various African governments. El Anatsui wall hanging While he was in  Africa , he started collecting the work of contemporary local artists, and in doing so, met them and learned about their work. He realized that many were well-known, well-collected, and often shown in  Europe  but were virtually unknown in the  United States .  Karg felt that this situation...

Cameroonian finger foods: - boiled peanuts - grilled peanuts - grilled corn on the cob Grilled plantain and "prunes" (seed to the right) - grilled or boiled “prunes” - these are fruits that are savory rather than sweet, and as far as I know do not exist anywhere else than in tropical Africa. They do not travel well. You can now find them, for a high price, in Parisian African markets, but not in the United States, as far as I know. Chicken, miondo and fried ripe plantain slices - fried plantain slices, and/or plantain chips - fried fish and/or spicy grilled fish - fried chicken feet - skewered beef, spiced with hot ground pepper (called “soya”) - Corn flour and banana fritters And of course: Maggi™ along with (very) hot sauce made from Scotch bonnet peppers. Corn flour-banana fritters Photos of these foods can also be seen at MyWeku.com .