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Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts
Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts LABORATORY
The first Global Africa Symposium on Africa’s Indigenous Religions took place at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (the Ancestral Homeland of Yoruba people), Nigeria in August 8-13, 2016. The second one took place five years later, no thanks to COVID Pandemic, at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria on August 10, 2021. It became obvious that there was need for a structure system to coordinate, develop and disseminate knowledge and ideas related to African Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts, if progress was to be made in all directions.
The global scholars and practitioners of African belief systems and practices met in 2021 and formed an Academy Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts (Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts). The purpose is to conduct research on indigenous religions, theology and the arts of global Africa. Historically, the religions of Africa was known in European languages as ‘Animists’ and European Anthropologists, Historians and Clerics, especially Catholic Missionaries from 18th Century, interpreted these beliefs as non-materialistic, in that all beings, animate and inanimate, had a soul. In 1965, the word was replaced with African Traditional Religion (ATR) and formally adopted in 1970 during a Colloquium in Benin Republic. In 2020, ATR was replaced by Indigenous Religions and Theology of Africa (IRETA) by the PANAFSTRAG Group.
Initially the focus of study in the West has been on Christianity, with comparative studies of World Religions. But there has been shift in this parochial stance to include Islam and African Traditional Religions. And notable most studies on IRETA have been dominated by Western researchers and clerics, missionaries, and scholars without much global African input. But in the last 50 years, African scholars have started to produce independent research on IRETA and supplemented by curriculum in African Universities. However, there is yet to be IRETA Research Unit or Laboratory anywhere in the world, but especially in any African University’s Faculty or Department of Religious Studies and Theology, where teaching and Research of Christianity and to a lesser extent Islam and Asian Religions like Hinduism and Buddhism are dominant. The University of Zimbabwe has been identified as the right place to locate the lab on IRETA and also establish its Online Journal of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts. Although Zimbabwe is predominantly Christian, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has approved the Multi Faith and Moral Education Curriculum that includes IRETA for Primary and Secondary Schools. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development has also introduced Education 5.0 with thrust on Industrialization and Innovation which aims at solving national problems but also to deliver goods and services to the people. As a result, the universities in Zimbabwe have produced a number of African Scholars in IRETA.
NAME
This intellectual and mental space shall be identified as AFRICAN INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS, THEOLOGY AND ARTS LABORATORY (AIRTA - LAB) to be based in the Department of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Zimbabwe, in Harare.
MANDATE OF THE LAB OF EXCELLENCE
(1)To provide the first Digital Institutional academic environment and Platform for Theoretical and Praxis Study of Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts of Africans and Descendants, i.e., Global Africans.
(2)Provide a platform, like other religions, for preparing current and future global Africans, intellectually and otherwise, in the history, culture, philosophy, spirituality, music, the arts and all disciplines related to the study and research of Indigenous African Religions, Theology and Arts in Africa and the Diaspora.
(3)To study archival, oral and written sacred scripts of IRETA, so as to strengthen its place and space as one of the 8 religions of the immediate futu
(4)To study and develop models for environmentally and ecologically fit sacred IRETA shrines for the Faithful.
(5)To study the political economy and social effects of IRETA in the various communities of Africa and the Diaspora
(6)Provide indispensable generations of leaders and Clerics in African Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts
(7)Develop linkages between Humanitarian Services and IRETA
(8)Organize Colloquia, Conferences, Workshops, Seminars, Pilgrimages and Festivals of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts
THE ORGANIZATION
The Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts-LAB will have a Director (Founding Director being Professor Tabona Shoko) from the University of Zimbabwe, who shall serve as the Founding Editor of the Online Journal of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts, Two Deputy Directors (one from Zimbabwe Open University and another from a University outside of Zimbabwe), and Associate Directors from Associated Labs and Coordinators from Affiliate Units within the Continent and Diaspora. The current Administrative Staff of the two institutions will provide the support that will be needed at this time. This will be a unique Lab in Africa.
FUNDING
The University of Zimbabwe has generously provided the resources for hosting the Lab and Journal of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts (J-AIRTA). Through this generous support, the Director of the Lab is a staff of University of Zimbabwe, which avails the two institutions – the Lab and Journal the initial resources needed by the Intellectual and Mental Space, as well as e-Journal to take-off effectively under the aegis of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts.
JOURNAL OF Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts (JAIRTA)
The pioneer Editor-in-Chief of the first online Journal of African Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts (J-AIRTA), who is also the Director of the Lab will be Prof Tabona Shoko of the University of Zimbabwe. The Lab and the journal are to be run by an international committee of the Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts appointed by the Executive Board of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts from the continent and Diaspora. The journal shall be published twice a year.
CREDITS
Academy of Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts (Academy of Africana Indigenous Religions, Theology and Arts)
Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group (PANAFSTRAG)
Department of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, University of Zimbabwe