Culture of Africa

[2] These qualities include laws, morals, beliefs, knowledge, art, customs, and any other attributes belonging to a member of that society.

In recent times, the call for a much greater emphasis on the cultural dimension in all aspects of development has become increasingly vocal.

[20] During the Roman colonization of North Africa (parts of Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and the whole of Tunisia), provinces such as Tripolitania became major producers of food for the republic and the empire.

[22] Kenyan social commentator Mwiti Mugambi argues that the future of Africa can only be forged from accepting and mending the sociocultural present.

For culture is here defined as the totality of thought and practice by which a people creates itself, celebrates, sustains and develops itself and introduces itself to history and humanityAfrica has a rich tradition of arts and crafts.

African arts and crafts also include sculpture, paintings, pottery, ceremonial and religious headgear and dress.

The meaning behind what he said can simply be interpreted as black art serving an actual purpose in the direction of a revolutionary change.

In Ethiopia, Christianity and Islam form the core aspects of Ethiopian culture and inform dietary customs and rituals and rites.

[30] According to a myth among Central African foragers, Chameleon, hearing a strange noise in a tree, cut open its trunk, and water came out in a great flood that spread all over the land.

To outsiders hearing an ethnic group's stories, it provides an introspection and insight into the beliefs, views, and customs of the community.

These tales take on famine, escape from death, courtship, and family matters, using a song form when the climax of the story was being told.

This all white outfit can be said to be the national costume for the Ethiopian as a result of it being commonly accepted and it's wild spread use but there exists much more variations to this outfit for example the Oromo people of Bale wear more of a leather garment and the Afaris wear brightly colored wraps made of cotton.

[39] The latter garment (habesha kemis) is basically cotton cloth, about 90 cm wide, woven in long strips which are then sewn together.

Traditional male clothing is usually light, consisting of a two-part apron (similar to a loincloth) used to cover the genitals and buttocks.

The front piece is called the umutsha (pronounced Zulu pronunciation: [umtifash]) and is usually made of springbok or other animal hide twisted into different bands which cover the genitals.

Zulu men will also wear cow tails as bracelets and anklets called imishokobezi [imiʃoɠoɓɛːzi] during ceremonies and rituals, such as weddings or dances.

The continent's diverse demographic makeup is reflected in the many different eating and drinking habits, dishes, and preparation techniques of its manifold populations.

Many local ingredients are used while preparing other dishes like spinach stew, cooked with tomato, peppers, chillis, onions, and peanut butter.

Xalwo (halwo) or halva is a popular confection served during special occasions such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions.

[48] The cooking of Southern Africa is sometimes called 'rainbow cuisine', as the food in this region is a blend of many culinary traditions, including those of the Khoisan, Bantu, European and Asian populations.

Fruits include apples, grapes, mangoes, bananas and papayas, avocado, oranges, peaches and apricots.

The seafood includes a wide variety such as crayfish, prawns, tuna, mussels, oysters, calamari, mackerel, and lobster.

A wide array of staples are eaten across the region, including those of Fufu, Banku and Kenkey (originating from Ghana), Foutou, Couscous, Tô, and Garri, which are served alongside soups and stews.

Fufu is often made from starchy root vegetables such as yams, cocoyams, or cassava, but also from cereal grains like millet, sorghum or plantains.

However, corn has gained significant ground as it is cheap, swells to greater volumes and creates a beautiful white final product that is greatly desired.

Sub-Saharan music is polyrhythmic, usually consisting of multiple rhythms in one composition such as the Serer of Senegambia's ultra-religious njuup tradition[49] (the progenitor of mbalax[50][51]).

Music from the eastern Sahel and along the Nile, among the Nilo-Saharan, made extensive use of strings and horns in ancient times.

Popular styles include Mbalax in Senegal and Gambia, Highlife in Ghana, Zoblazo in Côte d'Ivoire, Makossa in Cameroon, Soukous in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kizomba in Angola, and Xhosa music in South Africa.

[57] In Ethiopia, the Amhara music of the highlands uses a fundamental modal system called qenet, of which there are four main modes: tezeta, bati, ambassel, and anchihoy.

[61] The continent of Africa speaks hundreds of languages, and if dialects spoken by various ethnic groups are also included, the number is much higher.