Mano Vision Magazine

01/10/2024

Model of the new Fourah Bay College, , Date: 1958. Credit: Colonial Office photographic collection at The National Archives

27/09/2024

Re|Founding Cultural Heritage Law in Sub-Saharan Africa: Call for contributions for a collective work project
UNESCO is supporting School of African Heritage (EPA) in the production of a collective research work: “Re|Founding Cultural Heritage Law in Sub-Saharan Africa”. 24 September 2024
This unprecedented project aims to produce a reference work on cultural heritage law in Africa, based on the observation that no such work yet exists, and that jurists interested in heritage protection issues remain little-known. Its ambition is therefore to reveal the work of a young generation of jurists and to create a network of African experts on these issues.

With this in mind, the call is particularly aimed at applications from young researchers who are nationals of one of the fifteen West African states ( , , , ̂tedivoire, , , , , , , , , , , ). However, this strong focus on nationals from these fifteen states does not rule out other African candidates.

UNESCO and EPA are working in close collaboration with Professor Vincent Négri of Institute of Social Sciences in Politics / ISP - ENS Paris-Saclay, who is responsible for the scientific aspects of this initiative. This initiative is part of a long-term approach that will help provide a concrete response to the need for local human resources specialized in cultural heritage law in sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to guiding operational national and regional policies and measures for the protection and sustainable preservation of African heritage.

This project also benefits from the institutional support of ECOWAS, the Art-Law Centre (Geneva), The Higher Regional School of Magistracy (ERSUMA), UNIDROIT, and Senghor University in Alexandria.

UNESCO is supporting School of African Heritage (EPA) in the production of a collective research work: “Re|Founding Cultural Heritage Law in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

25/09/2024

25.09.2024: Surprisingly, it was as easy as the score suggests. failed to turn up

24/09/2024

, , , and Heads-up for tomorrow (25 September)

Celebration of the 1st World Soninke Language Day under the patronage of His Excellency Adama BARROW, President of the Republic of the Gambia, will take place on September 25 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The theme chosen for this celebration is “Soninké in the digital age”.

24/09/2024

I felt this interesting article was worth sharing

In the 1960s objects were gathered for the national museum, the question now is what to do with them.

23/09/2024

Like a painting; from the office window last Thursday

20/09/2024

How the January 15th 1966 coup was reported in one newspaper

20/09/2024

Those who don't want to age, should ask how so many of them manage to 'turn back the clock' 😉

Investigations have uncovered that Sierra Leone U20 national team might be under scrutiny for potentially violating regulations by fielding an ineligible player during their recent match against Liberia U20 in the 2024 WAFU Zone A U20 tournament. The controversy revolves around goalkeeper Abu Bakar....

11/09/2024

& London. If you know, you know: 11 Sept 2024.

05/09/2024

Leopold Sedar Senghor & Dr Nkrumah, a a formal reception during Senghor's visit to , 1959. Credit: University of Cambridge archives.

05/09/2024

Visit of President Leopold Sedar Senghor of to College, , 1959. Credit: University of Cambridge archives

05/09/2024

The dapper Vidal James Buckle (of the 'Gold Coast Colony') in a photograph from 1917. My research (see newspaper cutting), shows he was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn, in 1904. You will find his name towards the end of Gray's Inn list (I've done a close-up)

04/09/2024

I was prompted to post these, on reading a article today (04.09.2024), that, a year after his death, Taiwo Michael Akinkunmi, the man who won the competition to design 's flag, had still not been buried. Here are two newspaper articles about his win. I've included the close-ups and the full pages

09/08/2024

On October 24, 1967, someone posted this notice in the :
"Sierra Leone Display in Raitt Hall Now,"
"....Native fabrics and jewelry, from , a primitive country in are on display on the second floor of Raitt Hall.
The native souvenirs were brought home by Mrs. Jeanette Crum, home economics lecturer.The native souvenirs were brought home by Mrs. Jeanette Crum, home economics lecturer." A Sierra Leonean student, was 'not amused. This was his response: THE REPLY
In the notice captioned, "Sierra Leone Display in Raitt Hall Now," Daily, Tuesday, Oct. 24, Sierra Leone was referred to as a "Primitive country in West Africa."
I fail to see how the word "primitive" can be applied, in whatever connotation, to a modern independent state any¬ where in the world. Every state that now exists has had to go through various stages of development be it social, cultural, economic or political, and must be different from the original.
A primitive society is one in its earliest stage of development and at a point from which it cannot be said to have developed from something else, i.e., the original; it is crude, rudimentary, without a written language and having only a material culture. On that score, even the Aborigines in their reservations in Australia or the Red Indians in theirs in North America would hardly qualify for the term "primitive," much less a country that had a University College long before some of the most prominent universities in Europe and North America were established!
If anyone wants to be insulting or display blatant ignorance, I do not think that the Daily is the right place.
N.B. Fourah Bay College, now the University of Sierra Leone, was founded in 1827 as a college of Durham University in the United Kingdom. When the country was referred to as the Athens of West Africa in the '20s and '30s, it was because its university alone, served the west coast up to the early '40s and not because the country was
PRIMITIVE.
Ahmed R. Dumbuya Grad. Political Science

30/07/2024

If you haven’t read it, already, you should enjoy this long read: *The Strange Fate Of The Black Loyalists* -

Thousands of them sided with Great Britain, only to become the wandering children of the American Revolution

19/07/2024

The Archives in have a lot of stuff 'in-store' that you can make an appointment to go and view. They include hundreds of these

18/07/2024

Nelson Mandela International Day: 18 July "It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build."

Looking back at the struggle against apartheid and the campaign for Mandela's release in which the United Nations played an important role — special programme for the first commemorative Mandela Day in 2010.

17/07/2024

Group of armed railway volunteers, 1898. Full catalogue description states Group of European and African men holding rifles and swords, posing for photograph.Caption reads: Railway Volunteers. It is notable that this, and similar photos, were taken during the Credit: British Empire & Commonwealth Collection, Bristol Archives.

17/07/2024

Catalogue entry reads (i.e. NOT MY WORDS) – “View of Hastings Brook with several white Europeans standing at the waterside. Caption reads: Hastings brook from Freetown side”. C.1897. Credit: British Empire & Commonwealth Collection. Bristol Archives

16/07/2024

Signalman at Sierra Leone railway, c.1961. Credit: British Empire & Commonwealth Collection, Bristol Archives

16/07/2024

Shot of ballast wagon which has been set up to take passengers. There are 3 figures, and the wagon has Sierra Leone Railway painted on side. Caption reads: Ballast Wagon fitted up experimentally. 1897. Credit: British Empire & Commonwealth Collection, Bristol Archives.

15/07/2024

The discussions prompted by my posting of the SLTV building and potted history, has now prompted me to post this once again

The original tapes, from Morecambe and Wise’s 1968 series – the first after the BBC poached them from ITV – have long been wiped by the corporation as executives recycled the tape for new recordings.

13/07/2024

The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) was established on 1 October 1958; the radio station (which had been launched in 1934) was housed in an old war-time Colonial Administrative building in New England, Freetown.
Television was brought to the country by a consortium of private owners, including Thompson Television (International) Limited (TTI) (who designed, and oversaw construction and installation of equipment), RCA, and Television International Enterprises Ltd and the NBC network in the United States, who provided programming. The Sierra Leone government owned only a 40% share. SLTV and the SLBS operated entirely independently of one another.
Sierra Leone Television (SLTV) was inaugurated on 27 April 1963, and operated (broadcasting on Channel 2) out of a purpose-built studio, known as Broadcasting House. (According to some online sources, this was situated on Aberdeen Hill, whereas others locate it on the far more likely spot of Leicester Peak, which is in the centre of Freetown.) Broadcasts were limited to a 15 mile radius within the capital. In 1964, there were only 390 privately owned television sets in Freetown.

By 1967, RCA and NBC had withdrawn their interests, leaving TTI as the sole manager of SLTV.
By the end of 1971, SLBS and SLTV had merged into a single government-owned enterprise, both operating as SLBS. (Thompson Television withdrew its involvement shortly after, giving the SLBS full administrative control.) With combined radio and TV services continuing to expand, a brand new purpose-built TV facility was needed. Construction of a new Broadcasting House in New England Ville commenced in 1974, but ongoing work was beset by financial problems and lengthy delays, resulting in the structure remaining half-completed for nearly ten years.
(Source: BroadDWcast – a site dedicated to ‘Doctor Who’, hence the ‘DW’ in the site name)

10/06/2024

From 2019: *Guy Says African Architecture Isn’t Showcased Compared To European And Asian, Posts 44 Of Its Gorgeous Examples*

The glories of African architecture are often shamefully overlooked. Sadly, this is a symptom of a larger problem overall, where the rich diversity and culture of the African continent is largely glossed over in international media. Most reporting from the continent focuses only on issues that reinf...

04/06/2024

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s “visit piece” is one of the intelligence community’s secret weapons. By revealing what foreign leaders want and analyzing their personality, the CIA delivers decision advantage when the U.S. president is meeting with an African counterpart. The CIA expertly assessed how African leaders sought to navigate geopolitical competition during the Cold War, and it succeeded in deciphering what underpinned specific attitudes toward engagement with U.S. presidents, judging from a review of declassified intelligence assessments, policy memos, public statements, and press reports from 1961–1987. Intelligence Advantage: Profiling African Leaders’ Meetings with U.S. Presidents

How does the CIA profile African leaders before their meetings with U.S. presidents? CSIS senior adviser Judd Devermont exposes the untold history of analyzing Africa's leaders, evaluates its impact on U.S. policy, and explores how AI could transform the art form.