African Voices

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• Learn more about Africa, African Art, African folklore, African history, African music, culture, current events, economics, geography, global studies, government, politics, and world history.

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African Voices is an online reflection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s permanent exhibition. It “examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa’s peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community, and the natural environment.”Using an assortment of images and video of both historical and modern objects, African Voices explores the history of the Nile Valley, the Africans in Spain, the Central Slave Trade, and other topics. This website incorporates such items as interviews, literature, and songs to reveal what life is like in Africa and emphasizes topics that include Wealth in Africa, Market Crossroads, and Living in Africa. Also explore the focus gallery to learn about Afro-Brazilian religion and to meet an African carver.

This online exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History “examines the diversity, dynamism, and global influence of Africa’s peoples and cultures over time in the realms of family, work, community, and the natural environment.” Based on a permanent exhibit at the Museum, African Voices, it includes historical and contemporary objects from the Smithsonian’s collection as well as audio and video recordings of interviews, literature, proverbs, prayers, folk tales, songs, and oral epics.

The online exhibit opens with an exploration of the continent’s history, from prehistory to the present. Topics covered range across the continent as well, including the first humans in East Africa, the ancient Nile Valley, transcontinental commerce, the West African slave trade, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. Illustrated timelines allow easy access to topics of interest. The second area of the site looks at the diversity of the African continent through various themes. These themes include forms of wealth, trade, work, public and private living spaces, Kongo culture, and the African diaspora.

The Focus Gallery takes a closer look at a related series of objects from the Smithsonian’s collection. A Learning Center also provides further print and Web resources for studying African peoples and cultures.