Africa is home to a vast wealth of histories, languages, and cultures. Yet, despite this richness, African knowledge remains significantly underrepresented on global digital platforms. WikiTatafrik, a new initiative, is working to change this narrative.
Launched in 2024, WikiTatafrik is the brainchild of Kossi Evenunye Videke, also known as Thierry Videke. This Togolese computer scientist and filmmaker, whose mother is Ghanaian, created the project with a clear mission: to document and share African knowledge. WikiTatafrik specifically seeks to address the gap in mainstream archives by highlighting local knowledge systems and community-based cultural heritage.
Thierry Videke first gained prominence in Ghana in 2023 at the 4th International African Library Week (AfLibWk 4.0), an event hosted in Accra by the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA). Out of 206 participants, Thierry impressively secured third place continent-wide for his work on using African documentary resources to produce reliable, culturally-rooted content on Black heritage.
WikiTatafrik functions as a collaborative platform, bringing together African experts from diverse regions to curate and verify content. It also invites contributions from the African diaspora and individuals committed to preserving oral traditions and intangible heritage. All content is context-specific, featuring cultural references rooted in the everyday realities of each community.
With its pan-African vision, WikiTatafrik aims to become a key reference source for researchers, students, educational institutions, and organizations seeking reliable, locally produced content that is deeply rooted in African realities. The platform directly addresses the underrepresentation of African knowledge in the global digital sphere. Beyond mere preservation, it serves as a powerful tool for strengthening collective memory, supporting intergenerational transmission, and fostering homegrown intellectual production.
By making previously dispersed or orally transmitted content accessible, WikiTatafrik contributes to the celebration of African cultures while fully integrating contemporary digital tools. In a media landscape often dominated by external narratives, it provides a framework for sharing, enabling those who experience Africa daily to document their own history in their own words, based on their own experiences.
The initiative is now seeking wider engagement, particularly from the African diaspora, to support its development and contribute to a more equitable, autonomous and sustainable representation of knowledge from the continent. To achieve this vision, WikiTatafrik is actively inviting collaboration and sponsorship from institutional partners dedicated to preserving and promoting African heritage.
Source: http://thepressradio.com