Lecture Series

Thursday, October 25, 2007 -6 pm
El Hadj Nji Amadou Njoya
Amadou Njoya comes from a long line of famous and important iron makers (forgerons) and brass workers for the royal family of the Bamum. As such, his family had bestowed upon them the title of Nji, which means to be an honorable and important person in the Bamum kingdom.  “As Nji, you have to be doing something special for the Palace or the Kingdom.”

Nji Amadou Njoya succeeded his father as head of the family and currently assists the Bamum king at all times, especially during important meetings in the Palace about the Bamum people.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 - 1 pm
and Saturday, December 8, 2007 - 1 pm
Marshall W. Mount
Marshall Mount has a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University. 

He first went to Africa in 1961 when he received a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship to study contemporary African art. His two years of research, which took him throughout sub-Saharan Africa, resulted in his book, African Art: The Years Since 1920.  Presently, he teaches African art at New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY).

In 2004 he received a George T. Dorsch Faculty Fellowship from F.I.T. to research the state of traditional art and contemporary painting in Cameroon’s Grassfields region.

Professor Mount has been to Cameroon five times. His collection of Cameroon art reflects his interest in all areas of the country. It also mirrors his longstanding appreciation of African artifacts.  These are displayed in this exhibit together with religious and ceremonial figures, masks, and architectural sculpture. They all attest to the Mounts’ understanding of the dynamic and immensely varied art of Cameroon.

Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 6 pm
Nji Konrad Tuchscherer
Konrad Tuchscherer is Associate Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies at St. John’s University, NY. He is currently the Co-Director of the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project at the Archives du Palais des Rois Bamoun, Foumban.

He has traveled the Bamum Kingdom collecting and photographing threatened documents, created a modern archives for the storage of documents, and helped to create a functional computer font for the Bamum script.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 1 pm
Alexis de Happy
Alexis de Happy was born into the royal family of Bana, a Bamileke kingdom in Cameroon.  His great-grandfather was Feu (Fon) Nkalakeu, who knew the Bamum Sultan Njoya, and helped him to rebuild the palace at Fumban.  Alexis was educated in Cameroon. As a young man he was instrumental in co-founding Uhuru (Freedom Arts Society) with Dave K. Moktoi. This organization brought together artists, writers, and intellectuals to strengthen the arts in Cameroon.

In 1978, Alexis left Cameroon for Paris, where he obtained a degree in Philosophy at Lycée Claude Monet.  He then attended École du Louvre and the University of Tolbiac Pantheon Sorbonne, where he studied economy and archaeology.

He is active in the arts and in 2006, published his first English book, Fairy Tales from Propagamar: The Story of Lady Panther.