Sankofa Bird

The two types of sankofa symbol bird stylized heart the sankofa symbol is portrayed visually and symbolically using two images these adinkra symbols are shown as a mythical bird that has its head turned back a valuable egg the future within its mouth and its legs firmly facing forward as it flies and a stylized heart.

Sankofa bird. Sankofa also has two visual portrayals see below. Sankofa arts bridges the gap between ancestral excellence and present day art. The bird version of the sankofa symbol exemplifies a logarithmic curve in kumasi the website author used traditional ghanian symbols that denote culturally specific meanings and proverbs to promote ghanian students math skills and understandings of cartesian and polar coordinates and rates of change in linear and logarithmic spirals. One is a stylized heart shape and the other is a bird with its head turned backwards with its feet facing forward while carrying a precious egg in its mouth.

The sankofa bird has been adopted as a symbol of what africana studies strives to do. Sankofa n phr go back and fetch it. The sankofa bird appears frequently in traditional akan art and has also been adopted as an important symbol in an african american and african diaspora context to represent the need to reflect on the past to build a successful future. Meaning of the sankofa bird the concept of sankofa is derived from king adinkera of the akan people of west africa.

The sankofa symbolizes the akan people s quest for knowledge among the akan with the implication that the quest is based on critical examination and intelligent and patient investigation. We must look back to the past so that we may understand how we became what we are and move forward to a better future. The word sankofa can be translated to mean go back to the past and bring forward that which is useful the bird is rendered as twisting its beak behind itself in order to bring forth an egg from its back. It s symbol the sankofa bird looks backward constantly checking as she moves into the future.

Sankofa is expressed in the akan language as se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki literally translated this means it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot. These visual portrayals of sankofa are referred to as adinkra symbols. Sankofa video books cafe is liberated territory that hopes to be a place where thoughtful consideration of the past and future can take place via books films and programming particularly generated by and about people of african descent. It is one of the most widely dispersed adinkra symbols appearing in modern jewelry tattoos and clothing.

It s symbol the sankofa bird looks backward constantly checking as she moves into the future.