The School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University has officially launched the Centenary Project mobile app powered by the Google Cultural Institute. The Centenary Project is an innovative initiative aimed at digitally archiving various aspects of Nigeria's creative and cultural history and visually showcasing them to a large audience through various digital media platforms.
Working with a core team of professional and academic researchers, the overall strategy of the project is to research, capture, curate and publish stories and narratives of the past 100 years. Its focus areas are film, art, music, photography, literature, fashion, politics and other fields of historical interest.
According to the project's coordinator, Patrick Enaholo who is a member of faculty at the University, the initiative is based on the recognition that, despite the controversies that have trailed the centenary celebrations, "Nigeria's first 100 years as a nation still presents us with an opportunity to look back at our history in order to recall familiar stories, to discover untold accounts and, most importantly, to imbibe positive lessons for the future." Enaholo also noted that the project is based on the belief that there is a need for Nigerians everywhere to learn about different aspects of the country's history in a systematic, organized and accessible way –one that is free of bias, polemics or controversy.
The Centenary Project mobile app has been developed using technology made available for free to the Google Cultural Institute partners and is made up of exhibits containing collections of photos and images. It is available for free on the Google Play Store. Currently, there are four exhibits on display in the app. The first exhibit showcases extremely rare photos from Nigeria's first indigenous film, Kongi's Harvest. All the photos are accompanied by brief descriptions which give users an appreciation of the historical context of the film.
Another exhibit displayssome of Nigeria's most prominent artists and their works. These includes the likes of Ben Enwonwu, Susanne Wenger and Abayomi Barber. A third exhibit presents users with detailedaccounts of Nigeria's colonial governors from 1914 to 1960. It captures the highlights of eachgovernor's tenure along with his accomplishments and failings. The final exhibit gives a briefaccount of Nigeria's journey to amalgamation through the prism of the postage stamps thatwere issued by the British Empire at the time.
According to Enaholo, the app is constantly being updated with new exhibits developed and curated by a dedicated team of researchers at the School of Media and Communication: "Our target is to unveil the national and cultural values that are apparently hidden or taken for granted in accounts of Nigeria's history. This ties in very closely with the broader mission of the Pan-Atlantic University. Of course, it is a huge project but it also comes with potentially huge culturalbenefits for the country; and that's why we are working with partners like Google and HomeVida,a values-driven initiative for the Nigerian film industry.
We are also looking out for other partnerswho would be willing to support this laudable initiative."Indeed, The Centenary Project initiative is a celebration of our history and the manyachievements of so many distinguished Nigerian men and women. It might appear that thisproject looks solely backwards, but this would be a mistaken impression. A review of history should not merely end with self-congratulatory crowing and chest beating. Rather, such a reviewshould prepare us for the future and spur us on to greater heights. It is hoped that theCentenary Project will do just this – showing us just how far we have come and stimulating us todo a great deal more.
On its part, the Google Cultural Institute is dedicated to creating technology that helps the cultural community to bring their cultural treasures, archives, heritage sites and other material online. The aim is to increase the range and volume of material from the cultural world that is available for people to explore online and in doing so, democratize access to it and preserve it for future generations.
Working with a core team of professional and academic researchers, the overall strategy of the project is to research, capture, curate and publish stories and narratives of the past 100 years. Its focus areas are film, art, music, photography, literature, fashion, politics and other fields of historical interest.
According to the project's coordinator, Patrick Enaholo who is a member of faculty at the University, the initiative is based on the recognition that, despite the controversies that have trailed the centenary celebrations, "Nigeria's first 100 years as a nation still presents us with an opportunity to look back at our history in order to recall familiar stories, to discover untold accounts and, most importantly, to imbibe positive lessons for the future." Enaholo also noted that the project is based on the belief that there is a need for Nigerians everywhere to learn about different aspects of the country's history in a systematic, organized and accessible way –one that is free of bias, polemics or controversy.
The Centenary Project mobile app has been developed using technology made available for free to the Google Cultural Institute partners and is made up of exhibits containing collections of photos and images. It is available for free on the Google Play Store. Currently, there are four exhibits on display in the app. The first exhibit showcases extremely rare photos from Nigeria's first indigenous film, Kongi's Harvest. All the photos are accompanied by brief descriptions which give users an appreciation of the historical context of the film.
Another exhibit displayssome of Nigeria's most prominent artists and their works. These includes the likes of Ben Enwonwu, Susanne Wenger and Abayomi Barber. A third exhibit presents users with detailedaccounts of Nigeria's colonial governors from 1914 to 1960. It captures the highlights of eachgovernor's tenure along with his accomplishments and failings. The final exhibit gives a briefaccount of Nigeria's journey to amalgamation through the prism of the postage stamps thatwere issued by the British Empire at the time.
According to Enaholo, the app is constantly being updated with new exhibits developed and curated by a dedicated team of researchers at the School of Media and Communication: "Our target is to unveil the national and cultural values that are apparently hidden or taken for granted in accounts of Nigeria's history. This ties in very closely with the broader mission of the Pan-Atlantic University. Of course, it is a huge project but it also comes with potentially huge culturalbenefits for the country; and that's why we are working with partners like Google and HomeVida,a values-driven initiative for the Nigerian film industry.
We are also looking out for other partnerswho would be willing to support this laudable initiative."Indeed, The Centenary Project initiative is a celebration of our history and the manyachievements of so many distinguished Nigerian men and women. It might appear that thisproject looks solely backwards, but this would be a mistaken impression. A review of history should not merely end with self-congratulatory crowing and chest beating. Rather, such a reviewshould prepare us for the future and spur us on to greater heights. It is hoped that theCentenary Project will do just this – showing us just how far we have come and stimulating us todo a great deal more.
On its part, the Google Cultural Institute is dedicated to creating technology that helps the cultural community to bring their cultural treasures, archives, heritage sites and other material online. The aim is to increase the range and volume of material from the cultural world that is available for people to explore online and in doing so, democratize access to it and preserve it for future generations.
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