The Jewels of a Cultural Experience
posted by Brandon Owens | December 5, 2018 | In Arts and CultureThe Make It and Take It African Jewelry Making Workshop took place on November 13 at Smith Hall. The event, hosted by Yetunde Alabede, a Fulbright foreign language teaching assistant who is currently teaching Yoruba here at Fayetteville State University, was a part of Fayetteville State’s International Week. Students came and made African jewelry with various beads and threads provided. Participants made necklaces, bracelets, chokers, and more. Afterwards, students kept their products. They also experienced a bit of African culture as they learned a few phrases from the Yoruba language and listened to Nigerian music.
As FSU freshman Jordan Ferguson made a bracelet, he explained that he learned a lot about the meaning of the jewelry such as not only how shinier jewels represent how wealthy a person is, but how jewelry is a reflection of who a person is rather than merely something to admire.
He later added his thoughts on how the event fits into FSU’s International Week: “I think it incorporates very well because you learn a lot about Nigeria and the things they do and what they have to offer. I really think that this should be a bigger event. More people should come out and learn about a different culture.”
Participation in the workshop wasn’t limited to just students either. One parent, Lisa Monroe, enjoyed the night with her daughter. She compared the workshop to her own experience of making jewelry.
“I really did enjoy this event,” Monroe said. “I have made some jewelry in times past, but this has really been fun to be able to get out and really experience this type of environment with these young people making jewelry.” Monroe added: “The whole theme of the event has been about African jewelry making. In our culture, we’re very expressive in the things that we make and the things we do with color and different elements of the environment, so I think it fits really well [into International week].”
How well the workshop fits being a part International Week was not an issue, as the event proved to be a hit. This news made host Yetunde Alabede happy as she expressed her strong desire to bring a bit of her Nigerian culture to FSU.
Alabede elaborated on this by saying how the workshop “exposed the people to the happenings in another part of the world different from America. Because it is an International Week, we tried to learn something from the activity that has to do with creativity, and we leave the shell of America by going international and travel to a part of the world in Africa. I feel it’s a way to learn something from another culture – an informal education outside the curriculum that we do.”
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