Saki Mafundikwa: Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets

Translator: Ainhoa Eguren Bengoa Reviewer: Begoña Laka

I moved back home 15 years ago

Duela 15 urte etxera itzuli nintzen,

after a 20-year stay in the United States,

20 urte Estatu Batuetan igaro ondoren.

and Africa called me back.

Afrikaren deia sentitu nuen.

And I founded my country's first

Eta orduan sortu nuen nire herrialdeko lehen diseinu grafiko

graphic design and new media college.

eta komunikabide berrien unibertsitatea.

And I called it the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts.

Eta "Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts" izena jarri nion.

The idea, the dream, was really for a sort of Bauhaus

Nire ametsa, nire ideia, Bauhaus antzeko zerbait zen,

sort of school where new ideas were interrogated

eskola moduko bat, non ideia berriak zalantzan jarri

and investigated,

eta aztertuko ziren.

the creation of a new visual language

Afrikako ondare sortzailean oinarritutako

based on the African creative heritage.

hizkuntza bisual berri baten sorrera aztertuko zuena.

We offer a two-year diploma

Bi urteko diploma bat eskaini genien

to talented students who have successfully completed

bigarren hezkuntza arrakastaz amaitua zuten

their high school education.

ikasle trebeei.

And typography's a very important part of the curriculum

Tipografia gure curriculumaren zati garrantzitsua denez,

and we encourage our students to look inward for influence.

ikasleei esaten diegu ereduak beraien barnean bilatzeko.

Here's a poster designed by one of the students

Hau ikasle batek sortutako posterra da,

under the theme "Education is a right."

"Hezkuntza eskubidea da" lemapean egina.

Hemen, nire ikasleek diseinatutako logo batzuk.

Some logos designed by my students.

Africa has had a long tradition of writing,

Afrikak tradizio luzea izan du idazkeran,

but this is not such a well-known fact,

baina ez da oso ezaguna,

and I wrote the book "Afrikan Alphabets" to address that.

horregatik idatzi nuen "Afrikar alfabetoak" liburua.

The different types of writing in Africa,

Afrikan idazkera mota anitz egon dira,

first was proto-writing,

lehenik proto-idazkera.

as illustrated by Nsibidi,

Nsibidi-k azaltzen duen moduan,

which is the writing system of a secret society

Nigeria hegoaldeko ejagham taldeko

of the Ejagham people in southern Nigeria.

ezkutuko gizartearen idazkera-sistema zen.

So it's a special-interest writing system.

Beraz, idazkera-sistema hori bereziki interesgarria da.

The Akan of people of Ghana and [Cote d'Ivoire]

Ghanako eta Boli Kostako akan herriak

developed Adinkra symbols some 400 years ago,

adinkra sinboloak garatu zituen duela 400 urte edo,

and these are proverbs, historical sayings,

eta horiek atsotitzak, esaera historikoak,

objects, animals, plants,

objektuak, animaliak eta landareak dira.

and my favorite Adinkra system

Adinkra sistemako nire sinbolo gustukoena

is the first one at the top on the left.

goialdean ezkerretik hasita lehena da.

It's called Sankofa.

Sankofa du izena

It means, "Return and get it." Learn from the past.

eta "bueltatu eta har ezazu" esan nahi du. Ikasi iraganetik.

This pictograph by the Jokwe people of Angola

Angolako jokwe herriaren piktogramek

tells the story of the creation of the world.

munduaren sorreraren istorioa kontatzen digute.

At the top is God, at the bottom is man, mankind,

Goi-goian Jainkoa dago, eta behe-behean gizakia.

and on the left is the sun, on the right is the moon.

Ezkerrean eguzkia dago, eta eskuinean ilargia.

All the paths lead to and from God.

Bide guztiak jainkoarengana doaz edo harengandik datoz.

These secret societies of the Yoruba, Kongo

Nigeriako, Kongoko eta Angolako

and Palo religions

yoruba, kongo eta palo erlijioetako

in Nigeria, Congo and Angola respectively,

gizarte sekretuek garatu zuten

developed this intricate writing system

idazteko sistema konplexu hori.

which is alive and well today in the New World

Gaur egun bizirik eta ongi mantentzen da

in Cuba, Brazil and Trinidad and Haiti.

Kuban, Brasilen, Trinidaden eta Haitin.

In the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo,

Kongoko Errepublika Demokratikoko oihan tropikaletan,

in the Ituri society,

ituri gizartean,

the men pound out a cloth out of a special tree,

gizonek zuhaitz berezi batetik ateratzen dute oihala

and the women, who are also the praise singers,

eta emakumeek, talentudun kantariak direnez,

paint interweaving patterns

beraien kantuetako egitura polifonikoen

that are the same in structure

itxura bera duten

as the polyphonic structures that they use in their singing --

estanpatu ehunduak marrazten dituzte.

a sort of a musical score, if you may.

Esan daiteke partitura antzeko zerbait direla.

In South Africa, Ndebele women

Hego Afrikako ndebele emakumeek ere

use these symbols and other geometric patterns

sinbolo horiekin eta bestelako estanpatu geometrikoekin

to paint their homes in bright colors,

kolore biziz margotzen dituzte beraien etxeak,

and the Zulu women use the symbols

eta zulu emakumeek ere sinbolo horiekin

in the beads that they weave

ehuntzen dituzte eskumuturreko eta lepokoak

into bracelets and necklaces.

egiteko erabiltzen duten materiala.

Ethiopia has had the longest tradition of writing,

Etiopiak izan du idatzizko tradiziorik luzeena,

with the Ethiopic script that was developed

K.a. IV. mendean garatutako

in the fourth century A.D.

etiopiar idazkerari esker.

and is used to write Amharic,

Idazkera hori 24 milioi hiztunetik gora dituen

which is spoken by over 24 million people.

amharera hizkuntza idazteko erabiltzen da.

King Ibrahim Njoya of the Bamum Kingdom of Cameroon

Kamerungo Bamum erresumako Ibrahim Njoya erregeak

developed Shü-mom at the age of 25.

shü-mon idazkera asmatu zuen 25 urte zituela.

Shü-mom is a writing system.

Shü-mon idazkera-sistema bat da.

It's a syllabary. It's not exactly an alphabet.

Silabikoa da, ez da zehazki alfabeto bat.

And here we see three stages of development

Eta hemen ikus ditzakegu bere garapenaren hiru etapak,

that it went through in 30 years.

30 urtean zehar burutu zirenak.

The Vai people of Liberia had a long tradition of literacy

Liberiako vai jendeak aspalditik du alfabetatzeko tradizioa,

before their first contact with Europeans in the 1800s.

XIX. mendean europarrekin kontaktuan jarri aurretik ere bai.

It's a syllabary and reads from left to right.

Silabikoa da eta ezkerretik eskuinera irakurtzen da.

Next door, in Sierra Leone, the Mende

Han ondoan, Sierra Leonan, mende herriak ere

also developed a syllabary,

sistema silabiko bat sortu zuen,

but theirs reads from right to left.

baina eskuinetik ezkerrera irakurtzen da.

Africa has had a long tradition of design,

Afrikak tradizio luzea du diseinuaren arloan,

a well-defined design sensibility,

diseinurako sentsibilitatea ongi definituta dago.

Baina Afrikan dagoen arazoa da, batez ere gaur egun,

but the problem in Africa has been that,

especially today, designers in Africa

diseinatzaileek era guztietako diseinuak

struggle with all forms of design

lantzen dituztela,

because they are more apt to look outward

eragina eta inspirazioa bilatzeko

for influence and inspiration.

kanpora begiratzen baitute.

The creative spirit in Africa, the creative tradition,

Afrikako izpiritu sortzailea, sormenerako tradizioa,

is as potent as it has always been,

lehen bezain indartsu dago.

if only designers could look within.

Baina diseinatzaileak konturatu egin behar dira horretaz.

This Ethiopic cross illustrates

Gurutze etiopiar honek adierazten du

what Dr. Ron Eglash has established:

Ron Eglash jaunak esandakoa: Afrikak

that Africa has a lot to contribute to computing

informatikari eta matematikei asko lagun diezaiekeela,

and mathematics through their intuitive grasp of fractals.

fraktalak ulertzeko duten intuizioari esker.

Africans of antiquity created civilization,

Antzinako afrikarrek zibilizazioa sortu zuten,

and their monuments, which still stand today,

eta bikaintasun horren testigantza dira

are a true testimony of their greatness.

oraindik zutik dirauten monumentuak.

Most probably, one of humanity's greatest achievements

Ziur aski gizateriaren lorpen handienetakoa

is the invention of the alphabet,

alfabetoaren sorrera izango da.

and that has been attributed to Mesopotamia

Eta asmakizun hori Mesopotamiari egozten zaio:

with their invention of cuneiform in 1600 BC,

K.a. 1600 urtean idazkera kuneiformea sortu zuten,

followed by hieroglyphics in Egypt,

eta jarraian Egipton hieroglifikoak.

and that story has been cast in stone as historical fact.

Hori guztia harrian zizelkatu zen gertaera historiko gisa.

That is, until 1998,

Eta horrela mantendu da, 1998an Yale unibertsitateko

when one Yale professor John Coleman Darnell

John Coleman Darnell maisuak Egipto mendebaldean,

discovered these inscriptions in the Thebes desert

Tebas desertuko kareharrizko amildegietan

on the limestone cliffs in western Egypt,

inskripzioak aurkitu zituen arte.

and these have been dated at between 1800 and 1900 B.C.,

Inskripzio horiek K.a. 1800 eta 1900 artekoak dira,

centuries before Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamia baino lehenagoko mendeetakoak.

Called Wadi el-Hol

Wadi el-Hol izena jarri zitzaien,

because of the place that they were discovered,

horrela deitzen baita aurkitu zituzten lekua.

these inscriptions -- research is still going on,

Oraindik aztertzen ari badira ere, inskripzioetako batzuk

a few of them have been deciphered,

dezifratzea lortu dute jada,

but there is consensus among scholars

eta adituen artean ados daude

that this is really humanity's first alphabet.

gizateriaren lehen alfabetoa dela esatean.

Over here, you see a paleographic chart

Taula paleografiko bat ikus dezakezue hemen,

that shows what has been deciphered so far,

eta bertan ikusten da orain arte zer dezifratu den.

starting with the letter A, "ālep," at the top,

A letraren hasita, "ālep", goialdean,

and "bêt," in the middle, and so forth.

"bêt" dator ondoren, erdialdean, eta abar eta abar.

It is time that students of design in Africa

Bada garaia Afrikako diseinu-ikasleek

read the works of titans like Cheikh Anta Diop,

Cheikh Anta Diop bezalako titanen lanak irakur ditzaten.

Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop,

Izan ere, senegaldar horrek Egiptori buruz egindako

whose seminal work on Egypt is vindicated

lan garrantzitsuak inskripzioen aurkikuntzari esker

by this discovery.

baieztatu ahal izan ziren.

The last word goes to the great Jamaican leader

Azken aipamena jamaikar agintari handiari egin nahi diot,

Marcus Mosiah Garvey

Marcus Mosiah Garveyri,

and the Akan people of Ghana

baita Ghanako akan herriari ere,

with their Adinkra symbol Sankofa,

euren adinkra sistemako sankofa sinboloak

which encourages us to go to the past

iraganera itzultzera bultzatzen baikaitu,

so as to inform our present

orainari informazioa eman eta

and build on a future for us and our children.

gure etorkizuna eta gure haurrena eraiki dezagun.

It is also time that designers in Africa

Gainera, bada garaia Afrikako diseinatzaileek

stop looking outside.

kanpora begiratzeari utz diezaioten.

They've been looking outward for a long time,

Luzaroan egon dira kanpora begira,

yet what they were looking for

bilatzen ari zirena beraien esku egon arren,

has been right there within grasp, right within them.

beraien baitan egon arren.

Thank you very much.

Eskerrik asko.

(Applause)

(Txaloak)