Saki Mafundikwa: Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets

Prevodilac: Miloš Milosavljević Lektor: Tatjana Jevdjic

I moved back home 15 years ago

Vratio sam se kući pre 15 godina

after a 20-year stay in the United States,

posle 20 godina provedenih u SAD,

and Africa called me back.

Afrika me je pozvala da se vratim.

And I founded my country's first

I osnovao sam u svojoj zemlji

graphic design and new media college.

prvi koledž za grafički dizajn i nove medije.

And I called it the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts.

Nazvao sam ga "Institut vigitalnih umetnosti Zimbabvea".

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

Ideja i san su bili da to bude neka vrsta

sort of school where new ideas were interrogated

Bauhaus tipa škole gde se nove ideje preispituju

and investigated,

i istražuju,

the creation of a new visual language

kreiranje novog vizuelnog jezika

based on the African creative heritage.

zasnovanog na afričkom kreativnom nasleđu.

We offer a two-year diploma

Nudimo diplomu posle dve godine

to talented students who have successfully completed

talentovanim studentima koji su uspešno završili

their high school education.

srednjoškolsko obrazovanje.

And typography's a very important part of the curriculum

Tipografija je vrlo važan deo nastavnog programa

and we encourage our students to look inward for influence.

i ohrabrujemo svoje studente da traže domaće uticaje.

Here's a poster designed by one of the students

Ovo je plakat koji je dizajnirao jedan od studenata

under the theme "Education is a right."

na temu "Obrazovanje je pravo".

Some logos designed by my students.

Neki logoi koje su dizajnirali moji studenti.

Africa has had a long tradition of writing,

Afrika ima dugu tradiciju pisanja,

but this is not such a well-known fact,

ali ovo je činjenica koju mnogi ne znaju

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

i napisao sam knjigu "Afrički alfabeti" da bih to istakao.

The different types of writing in Africa,

U Africi postoje različite vrste pisanja,

first was proto-writing,

prvo je bilo proto-pismo

as illustrated by Nsibidi,

kao što ilustruje Nsibidi,

which is the writing system of a secret society

što je pismo tajnog društva

of the Ejagham people in southern Nigeria.

naroda Edžagham na jugu Nigerije.

So it's a special-interest writing system.

To je pismo od naročitog interesa.

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

Narod Akani u Gani i Obali Slonovače

developed Adinkra symbols some 400 years ago,

razvio je Adinkra simbole pre nekih 400 godina

and these are proverbs, historical sayings,

i ovo su poslovice, istorijske izreke,

objects, animals, plants,

predmeti, životinje, biljke

and my favorite Adinkra system

i moj omiljeni Adinkra znak

is the first one at the top on the left.

je prvi gore levo.

It's called Sankofa.

Zove se Sankofa.

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

To znači "vrati se i uzmi". Uči iz prošlosti.

This pictograph by the Jokwe people of Angola

Ovaj piktograf naroda Džokve iz Angole

tells the story of the creation of the world.

priča priču o stvaranju sveta.

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

Na vrhu je bog, na dnu je čovek, čovečanstvo,

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

levo je sunce, desno mesec.

All the paths lead to and from God.

Svi putevi vode ka bogu i od boga.

These secret societies of the Yoruba, Kongo

Ova tajna društva iz Jorube u Kongu

and Palo religions

i Palo religije

in Nigeria, Congo and Angola respectively,

u Nigeriji, Kongu i Angoli, po tom redosledu,

developed this intricate writing system

razvili su ovo zamršeno pismo

which is alive and well today in the New World

koje je danas živo i u upotrebi u Novom svetu

in Cuba, Brazil and Trinidad and Haiti.

na Kubi, u Brazilu, Trinidadu i Haitiju.

In the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo,

U prašumama Demokratske republike Kongo,

in the Ituri society,

u društvu Ituri

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

muškarci prave tkaninu od specijalnog drveta,

and the women, who are also the praise singers,

a žene, koje su takođe i pevači oda,

paint interweaving patterns

slikaju šeme za tkanje

that are the same in structure

koje su iste po strukturi

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

kao i polifonijske strukture koje koriste u svom pevanju –

a sort of a musical score, if you may.

neka vrsta muzičke partiture, ako hoćete.

In South Africa, Ndebele women

U Južnoj Africi, žene iz plemena Ndebele

use these symbols and other geometric patterns

koriste ove simbole i druge geometrijske šeme

to paint their homes in bright colors,

da bi okrečile svoje domove jarkim bojama,

and the Zulu women use the symbols

a žene iz plemena Zulu ih koriste

in the beads that they weave

u perlama od kojih prave

into bracelets and necklaces.

narukvice i ogrlice.

Ethiopia has had the longest tradition of writing,

Etiopija ima najdužu tradiciju pisanja

with the Ethiopic script that was developed

sa etiopijskim pismom koje se razvilo

in the fourth century A.D.

u četvrtom veku naše ere

and is used to write Amharic,

i koristi se za pisanje amharskog

which is spoken by over 24 million people.

koji govori preko 24 miliona ljudi.

King Ibrahim Njoya of the Bamum Kingdom of Cameroon

Kralj Ibrahim Ndžoja iz Bamum kraljevstva iz Kameruna

developed Shü-mom at the age of 25.

razvio je šu-mom (shü-mom) u 25-oj godini

Shü-mom is a writing system.

Šu-mom je pismo.

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

To je slogovno pismo. Nije baš alfabet.

And here we see three stages of development

I ovde vidimo tri nivoa razvoja

that it went through in 30 years.

kroz koje je prošlo za 30 godina.

The Vai people of Liberia had a long tradition of literacy

Narod Vai u Liberiji je imao veliku tradiciju pismenosti

before their first contact with Europeans in the 1800s.

pre svog prvog kontakta sa Evropljanima 1800-ih godina.

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

Slogovno je i čita se sleva na desno.

Next door, in Sierra Leone, the Mende

U susednom Sijera Leoneu, narod Mende

also developed a syllabary,

takođe je razvio slogovno pismo,

but theirs reads from right to left.

ali njihovo se čita zdesna na levo.

Africa has had a long tradition of design,

Afrika ima dugu tradiciju dizajna,

a well-defined design sensibility,

dobro definisan osećaj za dizajn,

but the problem in Africa has been that,

ali problem u Africi je taj

especially today, designers in Africa

što se, naročito danas, dizajneri u Africi

struggle with all forms of design

bore sa svim vrstama dizajna

because they are more apt to look outward

jer su skloniji tome da uticaje i inspiraciju

for influence and inspiration.

traže spolja.

The creative spirit in Africa, the creative tradition,

Kreativni duh u Africi, kreativna tradicija

is as potent as it has always been,

je jaka kao što je uvek bila,

if only designers could look within.

ako bi je samo dizajneri potražili u sebi.

This Ethiopic cross illustrates

Ovaj etiopski krst ilustruje ono

what Dr. Ron Eglash has established:

što je dr Ron Eglaš ustanovio:

that Africa has a lot to contribute to computing

da Afrika ima mnogo toga da doprinese računarstvu

and mathematics through their intuitive grasp of fractals.

i matematici kroz svoje intuitivno shvatanje fraktala.

Africans of antiquity created civilization,

Antički Afrikanci su stvorili civilizaciju

and their monuments, which still stand today,

i njihovi spomenici, koji i danas još postoje,

are a true testimony of their greatness.

su pravo svedočanstvo njihove veličine.

Most probably, one of humanity's greatest achievements

Najverovatnije, jedno od najvećih dostignuća čovečanstva

is the invention of the alphabet,

je pronalazak pisma

and that has been attributed to Mesopotamia

i to se pripisuje Mesopotamiji

with their invention of cuneiform in 1600 BC,

sa njihovim izumom klinastog pisma 1600. godine p.n.e.

followed by hieroglyphics in Egypt,

posle čega su sledili hijeroglifi u Egiptu

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

i ta priča je uklesana u kamen kao istorijska činjenica.

That is, until 1998,

To je bilo do 1998.

when one Yale professor John Coleman Darnell

kada je jedan profesor sa Jejla, Džon Kolmen Darnel

discovered these inscriptions in the Thebes desert

otkrio ove zapise u tebanskoj pustinji

on the limestone cliffs in western Egypt,

na krečnjačkim stenama u zapadnom Egiptu

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

i one potiču iz perioda između 1800. i 1900. p.n.e.,

centuries before Mesopotamia.

vekovima pre Mesopotamije.

Called Wadi el-Hol

Nazvani Vadi el-Hol,

because of the place that they were discovered,

zbog mesta na kom su otkriveni,

these inscriptions -- research is still going on,

ovi zapisi – istraživanje je još u toku,

a few of them have been deciphered,

nekoliko njih je dešifrovano,

but there is consensus among scholars

ali postoji saglasnost među naučnicima

that this is really humanity's first alphabet.

da je ovo zaista prvo pismo čovečanstva.

Over here, you see a paleographic chart

Ovde vidite paleografsku tabelu

that shows what has been deciphered so far,

koja pokazuje šta je dešifrovano do sada,

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

počevši od slova A, "alep" na vrhu

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

i "bet" u sredini i tako dalje.

It is time that students of design in Africa

Vreme je da studenti dizajna u Africi

read the works of titans like Cheikh Anta Diop,

pročitaju radove giganata kao što je Čeik Anta Diop

Senegal's Cheikh Anta Diop,

iz Senegala,

whose seminal work on Egypt is vindicated

čiji uticajni rad o Egiptu

by this discovery.

potvrđuje ovo otkriće.

The last word goes to the great Jamaican leader

Poslednja reč ide velikom jamajčanskom lideru,

Marcus Mosiah Garvey

Markusu Mozaje Garviju

and the Akan people of Ghana

i narodu Akan iz Gane

with their Adinkra symbol Sankofa,

sa njihovim Adinkra simbolom Sankofa,

which encourages us to go to the past

koji nas podstiče da odemo u prošlost

so as to inform our present

da bismo se informisali o sadašnjosti

and build on a future for us and our children.

i izgradili budućnost za nas i našu decu.

It is also time that designers in Africa

Takođe je vreme da dizajneri u Africi

stop looking outside.

prestanu da gledaju ka spolja.

They've been looking outward for a long time,

Tražili su spolja veoma dugo,

yet what they were looking for

a ono što su tražili

has been right there within grasp, right within them.

bilo je baš tamo nadohvat ruke, unutar njih.

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam puno.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)