The teaching of African history which was formally introduced to primary schools last month has leapt out of the bland black and white pages of the textbooks and onto canvas in a new African exhibition. The exhibition which features 22 paintings by two West African artists was opened this afternoon by Prime Minister Said Musa at the House of Culture. Curators are Dr. Joseph Iyo and Yasser Musa who both say it is the next best thing to actually being there.
Dr. Joseph Iyo,
“We are hoping that this in a way will give them, since we can’t take them to Africa, we have to as best as possible bring some of the aspects of Africa into Belize so they can actually see what it looks like. For little kids visualization is more important than reading text. Texts say a lot for adults but for little kids they have to see people in action and we think that this will convey that message much more than just reading text.”
Yasser Musa, NICH President
“We all hear about visual learning and we all know that through these works of art kids can get an immediate sense of what it is they are being taught at school. We have the books and we have the illustrations but this just adds to the dynamic subject that they are taking.”
The African art exhibition will be on display at the House of Culture for two weeks and then heads north to the Banquitas House of Culture in Orange Walk. The exhibition will also show at the Benque House of Culture, Garifuna Museum in Dangriga, George Price Center in Belmopan, and the Library of African and Indian Studies in Belize City.