HAWA-JANE BANGURA:

 

My work typically examines African history through the body and presence of the African woman, whom I see as a vessel of memory, resilience, and truth. For centuries, we were told that Africa had no history, no civilization, no legacy of its own. My practice resists this erasure.

Guided by the ideas of Cheikh Anta Diop and other African scholars, I approach African history as a continuous and interconnected narrative—one that reaches back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Kush, Axum, and countless other empires across the continent. This history is not fragmented by borders, for the lines that divide us today are colonial inventions, incapable of severing our shared origins.

Sierra Leone mirrors this complexity. Once called the Province of Freedom, it became a gathering place for Black people returning from across the world, shaped further by waves of migration and conquest from neighboring kingdoms. Our roots are layered, fluid, and diverse. Through my work, I seek to honor this multiplicity while affirming the deep unity of African identity.