West Africa's Largest Art Gallery

I am slowly becoming of fan of famous fabric dyer Nike Davies Okundaye from Nigeria. Her craft is not the only thing that draws me to her, but also her vision to bring arts back to the Nigerian forefront and bring more women out of poverty through art. She is seriously a phenomenal woman (and yes I see her as the Nigerian Maya Angelou).

Okundaye also owns the largest art gallery in West Africa. Take a look at this excerpt from CNN International's "African Voices."

I think many people tend to neglect and/or forget that art is alive and well throughout Africa in so many ways and has been for centuries and continues to be inspiration for artists in every discipline. Not too long ago, I even found some info about a documentary that focuses on the youth culture in South Africa.

With the recent events in Libya and Ivory Coast, which have brought a necessary but negative attention to this diverse continent, maybe this might open doors to a world that has been greatly generalized for so long. The countries that are center stage in the news are going through very different experiences and yet are on the same continent - an example of how there are sharp contrasts, contrary to the stereotype that African cultures are the same. Now it is up to viewers to realize the contrasts and maybe begin to see Africa beyond wars, poverty, AIDS and safaris.