AFRICAN CEREMONIES ARCHIVE 1975-2025
 
Beckwith and Fisher’s efforts have produced a unique and extensive working archive of unprecedented breadth, impeccable organization and cultural significance. Spanning fifty years and covering one hundred and fifty different cultures from thirty two countries, the African Ceremonies Archive includes rare photographs, transparencies, digital images, video films, music, an online African museum, journals and artifacts collected on their many journeys.
 
The Archive covers the story of the origin of humankind in Africa. Starting with the earliest lifestyle, the hunter-gatherers of Botswana and Tanzania, it follows the paths of nomads, pastoralists, agriculturalists, traders, urban dwellers and Royal Kingdoms. From the deserts of the Sahara, to the Omo River Valley of Ethiopia, from the plains of Kenya, to the grasslands of Cameroon, the Archive charts the journeys of people from birth to death. It explores religions and beliefs from Voodoo and Animism, to Islam, Judaism and Christianity; courtship and marriage; displays of femininity and masculinity; seasonal rituals and healing exorcisms. These unique cultural traditions, rituals and art forms display a boundless and brilliant creativity, and reveal a deep link to the spiritual world.
 
Much of Carol and Angela’s work is irreplaceable. Over forty percent of what they have recorded no longer exists. As a compendium of human creativity in Africa, this Archive will be invaluable to historians, artists, anthropologists, filmmakers, curators, collectors, writers, students and the general public. Our mission now is to preserve this extraordinary legacy of cultural heritage and share it with the world. Aware that traditions and ceremonies are disappearing rapidly across Africa, Beckwith and Fisher have expressed their intention to place the African Ceremonies Archive – the world’s most extensive photographic archive of traditional African cultures and ceremonies – with an institution yet to be selected.
 
“Thousands of Africans have helped us make this study by inviting us into their private and often sacred worlds. They are extremely proud of these recordings. This is Africa’s heritage and extraordinary gift to the continent and world at large.’ - Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher
 
The institution to be chosen must be a venue for ongoing study and research, committed to making the Archive accessible to students, scholars, and the general public, thereby ensuring that the legacy of Africa’s ancient cultures is preserved and understood by future generations worldwide.
 
To learn more about the African Ceremonies Archive, please reach out.
 
Brief Overview of the Archive contents:

• Over 750,000 photographs covering 150  groups from over 32 countries

• Over 1000+ hours of Video Footage

• 200 hand-written Field Journals illustrated with drawings and photographs linking the field photography and films

• 17 Published Books

• 5 TV Films

• 4 Museum Traveling Exhibitions - check

• Library Collection of 400 books on traditional African art and culture

• Drawing Collection by Carol Beckwith made during 40 years of fieldwork

• Lectures, Books, Music, AfricaOnline Museum, etc.

 
 
“African Ceremonies’ Archive is a rare and priceless record of humanity-one that carries tremendous historical importance and educational purpose. The assembling of the archive itself forms a remarkable story of the way individuals, filled with curiosity and a sense of wonder, can enter the world and make an entire way of life visible to future generations. The archive will also become an international destination for scholars who seek to draw on these unique primary sources to further the world’s understanding of African Culture.”

​

Cheryl Finley
Professor of History of Art and African American Studies, Cornell University​