Sylvia Arthur

News

  • To Go or Not, Togo?

    To Go or Not, Togo?

    At less than 40 miles and just over an hour by road, the distance between Grand-Popo and Lomé is so short, it’s possible to live in the quiet Beninese fishing town and work in the bustling Togolese metropolis, as thousands do everyday, traversing the border. Yet the process of crossing the frontier, of leaving Benin… Read more

  • Talk: On the Liberating Power of Literature

    Talk: On the Liberating Power of Literature

    “For most of my life, I’d been reading outside myself, conditioned by the (education) system and society, in general, to read only books and authors that were deemed “classics” or part of “the canon.” When I began to read more narrowly, my perspective began to change, as did my understanding of language and the way… Read more

  • “Leave the Burden and Carry the Joy”

    “Leave the Burden and Carry the Joy”

    For the past three weeks, I’ve been in Benin, West Africa, working on my project to create A Women’s Oral History of West Africa supported by the National Geographic Society and Sennheiser. In 2022, I became a National Geographic Explorer. Over the next two years, I’ll be travelling along the coast of West Africa, from… Read more

  • Lessons from 2022 (Part 1)

    Lessons from 2022 (Part 1)

    As I look back over the past 12 months, two milestones, in particular, stand out. The first is the completion of the mudLIBRARY, a newly-built eco-library constructed entirely from sustainable materials, a collaboration between ArchiFair, an Austrian architectural NGO, Hive Earth, a Ghanaian rammed earth construction company, and the Library Of Africa and The African… Read more

  • Talk: A Masterclass on Social Change

    Talk: A Masterclass on Social Change

    September 7, 2022 | 2 pm GMT | University of Ghana, Balme LibraryA Masterclass on Social Change From the organisers: In partnership with IFED Global, Peace First, a global incubator for youth-led social change, is holding a masterclass designed to ignite the urgency and creativity of young people across Africa towards sustainable community development. In the flagship… Read more

  • “We have as much to teach as we have to learn”

    “We have as much to teach as we have to learn”

    I wrote a short essay for the Pro Helvetia blog on my recent research trip to Switzerland. Click the link below to read: “In April 2022, I travelled to Switzerland with a keen sense of purpose and an open mind eager to learn how to better my organisation’s practice. If I’m honest, it seemed odd… Read more