The Boxing Arena: A Place In Central European University

September 26th,2017 by CYNTHIA ADJOVI  MAWULI

  

My name is Cynthia Mawuli, a Ghanaian and student from Central European University studying in Budapest, Hungary as part of the cultural heritage program through a scholarship, As a master student, my first year coursework is focused on getting theoretical foundations necessary for me to undertake thorough a research on transmission and embodiment of heritage- an analysis of Adinkra symbology on traditional clothing in Ghana. I am excited about the possibilities this course offers in that in just about a few weeks into this program, my mind has been blown about the depth of knowledge and discoveries in the field.  I come from a culture and a people whose past is as cherished as the present and the existing romance, I thought at the time of leaving Ghana, was second to none. 

That perception has been shaken a bit after I encountered the kind of reception Hungarians (I have met so far) attribute to their shared heritage. From the history to the patriotism, the culture including music and dance, their love for learning, and the protection of heritage artefacts and sites, I see Hungary to be a very heritage conscious state, and for a good reason.

Museum of ethnography in Budapest has some conceptual similarities to that of my intended masters project in the area of symbols. I find symbols as elements of  an ethnographic heritage that explore approaches and connections relating to the tangible and intangible culture.  In an abstract sense, symbols can be a collective form under which objects express information faster with and without any interpretation. It is my hope that being a student of CEU will bring me to a point where I can, with the help avant-garde concepts, develop academically and professionally, my budding interests in the relationship between object, symbols and images and how they help in the transformation of people particularly in the vibrant and growing international community in my school and possibly in Budapest. I therefore see myself completing this program with adequate knowledge in the collection, preservation, researching and the transmittion of knowledge in both material and immaterial culture.
 

 

Museum of Ethnography, Budapest.                  Akan Adinkra symbol ”Gye Nyame’’ (Except God)

My research questions explore how relevant sign and symbols are, when and how to use these symbols as a means of effective communication; the relevance of understanding the philosophies that affect and challenge the importance existing symbol within the contemporary dispensation and the future.  My department of Medieval Studies (Cultural Heritage Program) combines  policy, research, and management in heritage studies which are the necessary ingredients to complete my program and work in the field in future.   

 

I am relishing the prospects of growing daily within this prestigious academic environment surrounded by a culturally “conscious” people of this nation and will share my experience along the journey.