Ideas worth spreading

Les puissantes histoires qui ont façonné l'Afrique

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Gus Casely-Hayford |

TEDGlobal 2017

• August 2017

Dans le vaste cours de l'histoire, même un empire peut être oublié. Dans cette présentation qui traverse les âges et les civilisations, Gus Casely-Hayford partage des histoires originales de l'Afrique trop souvent non-écrites, perdues et non-partagées. Voyagez au Grand Zimbabwe, la vieille ville dont les origines mystérieuses et l'architecture avancée continuent de déconcerter les archéologues. Ou à l'époque de Mansa Musa, le chef de l'Empire du Mali dont la grande richesse lui permit de construire les célèbres bibliothèques de Tambouctou. Et imaginez le nombre de leçons de l'histoire que nous négligeons sans le vouloir.

Dans le vaste cours de l'histoire, même un empire peut être oublié. Dans cette présentation qui traverse les âges et les civilisations, Gus Casely-Hayford partage des histoires originales de l'Afrique trop souvent non-écrites, perdues et non-partagées. Voyagez au Grand Zimbabwe, la vieille ville dont les origines mystérieuses et l'architecture avancée continuent de déconcerter les archéologues. Ou à l'époque de Mansa Musa, le chef de l'Empire du Mali dont la grande richesse lui permit de construire les célèbres bibliothèques de Tambouctou. Et imaginez le nombre de leçons de l'histoire que nous négligeons sans le vouloir.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Gus Casely-Hayford

Gus Casely-Hayford

Cultural historian

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Gus Casely-Hayford writes, lectures, curates and broadcasts about African culture.

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Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

There are few areas of African art history that I feel as passionately about as countering the terrible misrepresentation of our pre-colonial story.

Africa was never the isolated, backward continent that some Western histories suggest and that so many continue to believe. The evidence of Africa's cultural sophistication, its diversity and complexity was widely known beyond the continent before the Medieval period. And perhaps more than great buildings, incomparable wealth and exquisite material culture, these were peoples who were also known for beautiful intellectual traditions.

The truly awe-inspiring things that these varied peoples have left behind hint at the accomplishments of these pre-colonial African cultures and suggest that there remain rich streams of this history to for us to consider.

The great Akan and Wolof goldsmith traditions are built on the same seams of yellow Gold mined in the same region that made the Mali Empire unmatched in the region across much of the medieval period. These can seem amongst the collections of the National Museum of African Art's superb Wolof gold pieces.

| Watch

Africa’s Great Civilizations

Henry Louis Gates's brilliant PBS series is a superb tour through this early history, touching upon many of the continent’s most significant cultures.

Gus Casely-Hayford | Ladybird/Penguin, 2018 | Book

My forthcoming book describes the rise and fall of Mali Empire and the place that Sundjata and Mansa Muss played in the development of this unrivaled state.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.