Cibiyar Afirka, London

Cibiyar Afirka, London an kafa ta ne a cikin 1964 a 38 King Street, Covent Garden, inda a cikin shekarun da suka wuce ta gudanar da nune-nunen zane-zane, tarurruka, laccoci, da al'amuran al'adu iri-iri, da kuma gina gidan gallery, dakunan taro, gidan cin abinci, mashaya da kantin sayar da littattafai.  Cibiyar Afirka ta rufe ainihin wurin da ta kasance a cikin 2013, kuma yanzu tana da wurin zama na dindindin a 66 Great Suffolk Street, Southwark, kudancin London. Sadaka ce mai rijista. 

 Tarihi 
An bude Cibiyar Afirka a cikin 1964 a wani bikin da Kenneth Kaunda, sabon zababben shugaban kasar Zambia na farko ya jagoranta, a titin King Street mai lamba 38 mai daraja na II .   Ginin, wanda ya kasance ɗakin ajiyar ayaba a cikin karni na 18 kuma daga baya gidan gwanjo,  " Cocin Katolika ne ya ba da shi har abada ga mutanen Afirka a 1962".  

An kirkiro ra'ayin cibiyar a cikin 1961 ta Margaret Feeny, wanda manufarta (kamar yadda Lloyd Bradley ya bayyana) shine "samar da dangantakar da ba ta gwamnati ba tsakanin sababbin al'ummomin Afirka masu zaman kansu ta hanyar hada mutane tare da tsaka-tsakin tsaka-tsakin siyasa. Har ila yau, za ta kula da alakar al'adu na yau da kullum tsakanin Birtaniya da tsohuwar mulkin mallaka, yayin da yake ba da wurin taron sada zumunci ga 'yan Afirka da ke zaune a London." 

Archbishop Desmond Tutu ya kasance yana ganawa da Thabo Mbeki a mashaya, kuma ya bayyana ta a matsayin gida ga duk 'yan Afirka, da duk masu kula da muradun nahiyar da al'ummarta.  A cikin kalmomin Richard Dowden, "ya zama wurin da shugabannin Afirka, masu gwagwarmayar 'yanci, marubuta da masu fasaha su yi magana da muhawara. Za ka iya samun duk wani abu na Afirka a can, daga abinci na Ghana zuwa muhawara mai tsanani da jam'iyyun ban mamaki. Wani lokaci duka uku a lokaci guda a ranar Asabar da dare; High Life ko Kongo band wasa zuwa wani crammed bene na rawa yayin da kasa a cikin ginshiki da kuma juyin juya halin da ake ciki game da juyin juya halin. A cikin mako an yi magana game da fasaha, darussan rawa na Afirka, fina-finai da wasan kwaikwayo."  Ƙungiyar Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Ƙwararrun Afirka da Caribbean (ATCAL) ta kasance daga cikin kungiyoyi masu tasiri da suka yi amfani da kayan aikin Cibiyar Afirka, suna gudanar da taron farko ("Yadda ake koyar da wallafe-wallafen Caribbean da na Afirka a makarantu") a can a cikin 1979. 

Kamar yadda aka gani a cikin ModernGhana, "Cibiyar ta zama mai masaukin baki ga muhawara da yawa, game da batutuwa masu rikitarwa ga al'ummominmu da yawa kuma sau da yawa an yi watsi da su. Feminism, zamantakewar zamantakewar Afirka, 'yancin jarida da kuma kafofin watsa labaru na watsa labaru ga Afirka sun kafa tushen muhawara mai nasara." 

A cikin 1970s da 1980s, ƙungiyoyin siyasa ciki har da Ƙungiyar Anti-Apartheid suma za su samar da fage na kide-kide a cibiyar. A cikin Oktoba 1981, Angelique Rockas na Afirka ta Kudu na Burtaniya ya fara nuna wasan kwaikwayo na anti-junta, anti-fascist El Campo ( The Camp ) na Griselda Gambaro. 

Cibiyar ta dade tana da alaƙa da kiɗa. A shekarar 1975, Wala Danga, dan kasar Zimbabwe mai tallata sauti kuma injiniyan sauti, ya shirya dare na farko na kulab din a can. Kamar yadda ya shaida wa Lloyd Bradley: "Cibiyar Afirka ta kasance na musamman... Daya daga cikin wuraren farko da mutane daga kasashen Afirka daban-daban suka saba hadawa da su, saboda yawancin daliban Afirka kamar gida ne daga gida."   Saboda yawan buƙatun, dare na kulab ɗin Wala ya haifar da haihuwar "Limpopo Club" a cikin 1983. Kulob din, wanda ya yi aiki sama da shekaru ashirin, zai karbi bakuncin gumaka masu yawa na gaba kamar Youssou N'Dour, Angélique Kidjo, da Salif Keita .  Daga 1985 zuwa 1989, Jazzie B zai kawo tsarin sauti na Soul II Soul, wanda zai sami "matsayin almara".  Duk da irin rawar da Wala ke takawa da kuma gudummawar da ya bayar, babu alamun babu wani amincewar jama'a daga Cibiyar. Ya kasance daya daga cikin muryoyin adawa da rufewar wurin shakatawa na Covent Garden  a lokacin yakin Save The Africa Center . Wala Danga ya rasu ranar 25 ga Nuwamba, 2022. 

Cibiyar ta gudanar da nune-nune akai-akai. Matan Baƙar fata guda biyar a cikin 1983, tare da Sonia Boyce, Claudette Johnson, Lubaina Himid, Houria Niati da Veronica Ryan, [1] [2] shine nuni na farko "wanda ake mutuntawa" wanda ke nuna baƙar fata mata masu fasaha. [3] A cikin 2005, Jagoran Art and Artists na London ya bayyana ta a matsayin "cibiyar fasaha mai raye-raye" wacce ke gudanar da azuzuwan a cikin raye-raye, motsi, da adabi, kuma ta shirya tarurruka da yamma; da The Calabash, gidan cin abinci na Afirka na farko na London, [4] an ɗauke shi "da darajar ziyara". [5] Shagon littattafan sayar da littattafan da aka buga kawai a Afirka, da kuma "kyakkyawan sana'o'in hannu da sassaka". [6] Wani babban bango na Malangatana Ngwenya wanda ya ƙawata matakala na ginin cibiyar a Covent Garden [7] [8] yanzu an shigar da shi a cikin sabbin wuraren Cibiyar Afirka a Southwark.

 Matsar daga 38 King Street, Covent Garden 
A cikin Agusta 2012, an sayar da ginin a King Street ga mai haɓaka kadarori.   Wannan ya kasance duk da kamfen da aka yi don kiyaye Cibiyar Afirka ta asali. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Yinka Shonibare, Bonnie Greer, Sokari Douglas Camp ya tallafa wa yakin neman zaben.     Bayan gagarumin tallafin fam miliyan da dama daga Asusun Ci Gaban Mai Kyau na Magajin Garin London  da Majalisar Fasaha ta Ingila, Cibiyar Afirka ta kammala gyaran sabbin wurarenta a kan titin Great Suffolk a Southwark,   a cikin 2022.  An sake buɗe Cibiyar bisa hukuma a ranar 9 ga Yuni 2022.  

A cikin 2018, an nada Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp a matsayin darekta na Cibiyar Afirka,    yana rike da mukamin har sai an sake fasalin gudanarwa a 2020.  Shugaban Hukumar Oba Nsugbe, wanda aka nada a shekarar 2011, wanda ya fi dadewa a madadin kungiyar,  Cibiyar ta yi aiki ba tare da Shugaban Hukumar ba har sai an nada Olu Alake a watan Oktoba 2023. 

Cibiyar Afirka ta kasance tana karbar bakuncin shahararren bikin bazara na shekara-shekara a Covent Garden a kan Piazza, tun daga 2013   kuma ta ci gaba da 'yan shekaru a Southwark. An gudanar da na ƙarshe a lokacin rani na 2018. 

An sanar da shirin cika shekaru 60 a cikin Maris 2024.  A cikin roko na jama'a a watan Oktoba 2024, Cibiyar ta sanar da cewa tana fuskantar gwagwarmayar kudi.  Wannan kuma yana bayyana a cikin bayanansa na jama'a. 

 Daraktocin cibiyar 

 Margaret Feeny (1964-1978) 
 Alastair Niven (1978-1984)  
 Nigel Watt (1984-1991) 
 Adotey Bing (1992-2006) 
 Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp (2018-2020)
 Olu Alake (2023-present) 

 Magana 

 Hanyoyin haɗi na waje 


 Niven, Alastair, "The Africa Centre in London", Research in African Literatures, Vol. 10, No. 2, Special Issue on African Song (Autumn 1979), pp. 274–276. Published by Indiana University Press.
 Jason Okundaye, "The Africa Centre is back. Now will Britain finally embrace all of its cultural heritage?", The Guardian, 1 July 2022.
 "London's Africa Centre – a glorious history", New African, 2 July 2022.
Rukuni:Shafuka masu fassarorin da ba'a duba ba