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https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/317770
This amulet was worn by Madagascans for good luck, health, and safety. It is made of the horns of zebu cattle and cotton thread, both of which are considered sacred to the Sakalava people of Madagascar.

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The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met's Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

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Amulet (Mohara Ody) | Sakalava peoples | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met's Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

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MADAGASIKARA | The Real Madagascar: A Documentary

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MADAGASIKARA | The Real Madagascar: A Documentary

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This film is about the current situation in Madagascar and it persuades people around the world to help.

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Madagasikara - The award winning documentary film by Sohei Productions documenting the lives of three resiliant Malagasy women.

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The movie summary is in the video description.

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This is another Madagascan festival called the Carnaval Somarôho, a parade of music and dancing which takes place on Nosy Be, an island off the northwest coast of Madagascar.

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Nosy Be - Madagascar - Carnaval Somarôho - Artists, Dancers and Performers - Culture Malagasy   HD

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This is a dictionary of some Malagasy words, which shows how they are written and pronounced. The complexity and rarity of the language might be a reason as to why it is in danger of going extinct.
https://wold.clld.org/vocabulary/28

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Primary references used in compiling the database

Information about Malay and Javanese loanwords is based on Adelaar (1989, 1995a, 1995b and 2009). These publications are the first systematic approach to such loanwords. Adelaar (1995a) and Adelaar (2009) also discuss the occurrence of South Sulawesi loanwords. A general source for Malay is Wilkinson (1959) and for Javanese, Gericke and Roorda (1901) and Zoetmulder (1982).
The present inventory of Sanskrit loanwords is based on Dahl (1951), Bernard-Thierry (1959) and (in a few cases) my own analysis. It also makes use of Gonda (1973) and Adelaar (1994) to demonstrate the pathway of these loanwords, which must have entered Malagasy via Malay and (in a few cases) Javanese.
My main source for Bantu loanwords is Dahl (1988), which is a also critical evaluation and inventory of earlier works on the topic. Additional sources that I used are Nurse and Hinnebusch (1993) for Proto Bantu and for Sabaki vocabulary in general, Sacleux (1939) for Swahili, Ahmed-Chamanga (1992, 1997) for Shingazija, and Lafon (1991) for Shindzuani.
For Arabic and European loanwords I made extensive use of Dez (1964, 1965, 1967), although in some cases the identification of these loanwords is based on my own analysis, or on information found in Webber (1853), Abinal and Malzac (1970) or Rajaonarimanana (1995).

List of references

Abdul Jebar Hapip, 2006, Kamus Banjar - Indonesia, Banjarmasin: Grafika Wangi Kalimantan
Abinal, A, and V. Malzac, 1970, Dictionnaire malgache-français. Paris: Éditions Maritimes et d'Outre-Mer (First edition 1888, Tananarive)
---------, 1973, Dictionnaire français-malgache. Paris: Éditions Maritimes et d'Outre-Mer
Adelaar, Alexander, 1989, Malay influence on Malagasy: linguistic and culture-historical inferences, Oceanic Linguistics 28/1:1-46
---------, 1992, Proto-Malayic: the reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its morphology and lexicon. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
---------, 1995a, Asian roots of the Malagasy: a linguistic perspective, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 151/3:325-357.
---------, 1995b, Bentuk pinjaman bahasa Melayu dan Jawa di Malagasi, in Ismail Hussain, A. Aziz Deraman and Abd. Rahman Al Ahmadi (eds), Tamadun Melayu. Jilid Pertama, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka; 21-40.
---------, 1997, An exploration of directional terms in West Indonesia and Madagascar, in Referring to space. Studies in Austronesian and Papuan languages (G. Senft ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press; 53-81.
---------, 2004, A la recherche d'affixes perdus dans le malais, in Faites de Langues Vol. 23 (E. Zeitoun ed.). Paris: Ophrys; 43-53.
---------, in press a, Towards an integrated theory about the Indonesian migrations to Madagascar,
in: Ancient Human Migrations: integrative approaches to complex processes (I. Peiros, P. Peregrine and M. Feldman eds). Salt Lake City: Utah University Press.
---------, in press b, The amalgamation of Malagasy, in Festschrift for Andrew Pawley. (J. Bowden and N.P. Himmelmann eds). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Ahmed-Chamanga, Mohamed, 1992, Lexique comorien (shindzuani) - français. Paris: L'Harmattan.
---------, 1997, Dictionnaire français-comorien (dialecte shindzuani). Paris: L'Harmattan.
Beaujard, Philippe, 2003, Les arrivées austronésiennes à Madagscar: vagues oucontinuum? (Partie 1 + 2), Études Océan Indien 35-36:59-147.
Bernard-Thierry, Solange, 1959, A propos des emprunts sanskrits en malgache, Journal Asiatique 247(3):311-348.
Blust, Robert A., 1970, Proto-Austronesian addenda, Oceanic Linguistics 9:104-162.
-------, 1976, Dempwolff's reduplicated monosyllables, Oceanic Linguistics 15:107-30.
-------, 1980, Austronesian etymologies I, Oceanic Linguistics 19:1-181.
-------, 1983-84, Austronesian etymologies II, Oceanic Linguistics 22-23:29-149.
-------, 1986, Austronesian etymologies III. Oceanic Linguistics 25:1-123.
-------, 1988, Austronesian root theory. An essay on the limits of morphology, Studies in Language Companion Series 19, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
-------, 1989, Austronesian etymologies IV, Oceanic Linguistics 28:111-180.
-------, no date, Austronesian Comparative Dictionary. Unfinished work available online.
Dahl, Otto Christian, 1951, Malgache et maanyan. Une comparaison linguistique. Avhandlinger utgitt av Instituttet 3, Oslo: Egede Instituttet.
Dahl, Otto Christian, 1988, Bantu substratum in Malagasy, Études Océan Indien 9 (Paris: Institut National des Langues et Cultures Orientales):91-132.
Dempwolff, Otto, 1938, Vergleichende Lautlehre des Austronesischen Wortschatzes III: Austronesisches Wörterverzeichnis. Beihefte Zeitschrift für Eingeborenensprachen 19. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Dez, Jacques, 1964, La malgachisation des emprunts aux langues européennes, Annales de l'Université de Madagascar, Série Lettres et Sciences Humaines 3:19-46.
Dez, Jacques, 1965, Lexique des mots européens malgachisées, Annales de l'Université de Madagascar, Série Lettres et Sciences Humaines 4:63-86.
Dez, Jacques, 1967, De l'influence arabe à Madagascar à l'aide de faits de linguistique, Taloha et Revue de Madagascar No. 34-37: 1-20.
Gericke, J.F.C.; T. Roorda, 1901, Javaansch - Nederlandsch handwoordenboek (revised and expanded by A.C. Vreede), Amsterdam: Muller
Gonda, Jan, 1973, Sanskrit in Indonesia. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture.
Hudson, Alfred B., 1967, The Barito isolects of Borneo, Southeast Asia Program (Dept. of Asian Studies), Data Paper no. 68, Ithaca (NY): Cornell U.P.
Lafon, Michel, 1991, Lexique Français-Shingazija. Paris: L'Harmattan.
Mahdi, Waruno, 1988, Morphophonologische Besonderheiten und historische Phonologie des Malagasy, Veröffentlichungen des Seminars für Indonesische und Südseesprachen der Universität Hamburg, Band 20. Berlin-Hamburg: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
Mills, Roger F., 1975, Proto-South-Sulawesi and Proto-Austronesian phonology (2 volumes), Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (University Microfilms International 1978).
Nurse, Derek, Hinnebusch, Thomas J. (edited by Th. J. Hinnebusch with a special addendum by Gérard Philippson), 1993, Swahili and Sabaki. A linguistic history. University of California Publications in Linguistics Vol. 121. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Porée-Maspero, Éveline, 1986, Jonques et po, sampou et sampan, Archipel 32:65-85.
Rajaonarimanana, Narivelo, 1995, Dictionnaire du malgache contemporain. Paris: Karthala.
Rajemisa-Raolison, R., 1963 [1985], Rakibolana. Librairie Ambozontany: Fianarantsoa.
Ratsimandresy, Lucette, 2003, L'emprunt du malgache à l'anglais: cas des emprunts "intégrés" dans le malgache contemporain, Études Océan Indien 35-36:309-330.
Sacleux, Ch., 1939, Dictionnaire swahili - français. Travaux et Mémoires de l'Institut d'Ethnologie 36 et 37. Paris: Musée de l'Homme.
Sims, J., and J.C. Kingzett, 1969, Dictionnaire français - malgache. Tananarive: Trano Printy Loterana.
Webber, J., 1853, Dictionnaire malgache - français. Île Bourbon: Établissement Malgache de Notre-Dame de la Ressource.
---------, 1855, Dictionnaire français-malgache. Île Bourbon: Établissement Malgache de Notre- Dame de la Ressource.
Wehr, Hans, 1994, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English) (4th edition, edited by J.M. Cowan), Ithaca (NY): Spoken Language Services, Inc.
Wilkinson, R.J, 1959 A Malay - English dictionary, London: Macmillan.
Zoetmulder, P.J., (with the collaboration of S.O. Robson), 1982, Old-Javanese - English dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.

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Primary references used in compiling the database Information about Malay and Javanese loanwords is based on Adelaar (1989, 1995a, 1995b and 2009). These publications are the first systematic approach to such loanwords. Adelaar (1995a) and Adelaar (2009) also discuss the occurrence of South Sulawesi loanwords.

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This is a transcript of an interview that NYU had with the makers of this film, Georg Tiller and Maeva Ranaivojaona. This is a Madagascan film incorporating many traditional Malagasy elements, such as the Malagasy language, and beliefs.

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1. Zaho Zay (2020) tells the story of a young woman, who while working in an overcrowded jail in Madagascar, is haunted by the memories of her father, a man known as the "Dice Killer." How did you develop this story idea and the character, and what were your inspirations?
Georg: The film developed through three travels to Madagascar, during each trip we would film and dive deeper into the story. We originally went to Madagascar to research another project entirely, a film about pre-colonial architecture, and the Famadihana, "the turning of the bones." It's a ritual in which families disinter the remains of their ancestors to dance with them and give them fresh wrappings. Some of that made it into Zaho Zay.

Maéva: My father's family is Malagasy, but I hadn't been there since I was a child. It was like this film was calling out to us even as we were trying to concentrate on this other project. The landscapes we were exploring were very insistent: "Look how perfect a western would be set in this desert," "Don't you want to hide a body in this rocky hole?" The main character, too, seemed to call out from underneath my uncle's skin-he plays the Dice Killer. His cool attitude, striking face, the way he moved through space were all screaming at us, "Don't you see this beautiful, silent killer?" We had a good camera at hand. There was no escaping it.

Georg: The idea of a female prison guard that awaits the arrival of her father, whom she idolizes as a criminal, crystalized to us as soon as we knew that we could access the prison in Fianarantsoa.
2. The title Zaho Zay literally translates into "it's me," and is first heard during the prison roll-call scene. Can you tell us more about the resonance of this expression and how it connects to the role of identity and presence in your film?
The whole film for us is a search for identity, the identity of the prison guard who has been traumatized as a child and is now desperately trying to reassemble the broken pieces of her past, the prisoners, whose identity is being tried to be obliterated, and our own identity as European filmmakers who arrive on this island welcomed by an extensive Malagasy family.
3. The film does not only deal with ideas of memory and identity, but also with larger themes of the aftermath of colonial repression, especially as it relates to overcrowding in prisons in Madagascar. You filmed in the prison of Fianarantsoa: how were you able to get access there, and how did your real-life experience of the conditions there affect the narrative of your film?
One of Maéva uncles was engaged (he has in the meantime tragically passed away, as one of the victims of the Covid pandemic) in an NGO that is fighting for prisoner's rights in Madagascar. Since they have been working with prisons in Madagascar for years, they already had established a relationship of trust with the prison bureaucracy. As an exchange for having access to the prison in Fianarantsoa and realizing our film, we agreed to make a promotional film for the work of the NGO that tries to establish workshops inside the prisons, where prisoners can produce their own products in order to earn money to buy food.

Arriving in the prison was, of course, a very intense experience and it took awhile before we were able to orient ourselves and gain the trust of the prisoners, who were eager to show us their daily struggle and how they survive despite the dire circumstances.
4. Your film includes lyrical monologues from the Malagasy poet Jean-Luc Raharimanana. What ideas did you want to convey through the inclusion of his poems in your film? Was the poem created for the film specifically?
The text was written for the film by Raharimanana. We gave him the outline of the story, that is a female prison guard, who was abandoned by her father as a child and who waits for his arrival at the prison. Imagining him as a mythical killer, who in contrast to the inmates she has to deal with every day, is omnipotent. Since we are outsiders to the intricate political situation in Madagascar, we were really looking for someone who could bring a very internal perspective onto our imagery. When we proposed Raharimanana to write the text for the film, he immediately said that he wants to contribute to our film - not least because his own father was a political prisoner during the 2000s in one of the Malagasy prisons that we portray.
5. There is a convergence between fiction and reality within the film. Could you explain your stylistic choice to blend documentary and fiction, spontaneity and staging to develop the film's narrative?
Georg: The construction of this film was quite unique in the sense that our film came together in three parts. First, the story of the father, the silent killer, whom we follow across the island. Two years later, we knew we had access to the Fianarantsoa penitentiary center and the story of the killer's daughter, a prison guard, reached us. Working in an intimate setting with non-professional actors, many of them Maéva's family, we chose the comfort of an entirely silent film. Third, we asked the poet and writer Raharimanana to create the character of the narrator. We then had a very clear concept of what should be exposed in the voiceover.

Maéva: We did, indeed, start shooting very contemplative scenes of the killer's quest. His silence participated in this character, making him elusive, mysterious and suggestive. It was very powerful and demanded to be protected as such, the silence of a wandering soul, of an unknown man who allows the imagination to ignite. Following this, the prison part was based on a documentary approach, and forcing a fictional character with dialogues was neither easy nor interesting, given that we wanted to stay as close as possible to the real life of prisoners in the prison and give them as much space as possible in the image. Each scene was built with the prisoner in the center, their expressions, attitudes, and touching words.
To then link the killer on the run and the real prison situation, we opted for a voice-over, which would be the primary vehicle of the fictional narration, and which had a place of choice in our images which contemplate, scrutinize and compare.

6.Maéva, as someone with Malagasy origins, is this what inspired you to pursue your first feature film in Madagascar? And how did you and Georg come to work together on this project?

Maéva: Yes, the decision to make a first feature in Madagascar was token in the idea to go discover my country of origins through the work process. Though, I went with a precise idea of another film that I am still developing nowadays. The Dice Killer story took over at the moment of the explorations. Inspired by the landscapes and situations, but also by the fact that I was on the island very much willing to search for my origins through my father, childhood places and stories. As if I was looking for the boy he had been in the past.
At the beginning Georg came as a producer, and me a director. But we both are used to switching roles, being all together writers-directors and producers in life. We came for research, along with good filming equipment, and when the idea of shooting a film in itself showed, we naturally switched to some more dynamic collaboration, sharing the storyboarding, the scriptwriting, improvising in a permanent construction of a story, being sometimes sound technicians or cameraman.
It was very spontaneous. One of us would envision a scene and take the camera, the other the microphone. When we encountered difficulties, the other was there to back us up. On the road, living together, filmmaking becomes a total way of life. We might be at a market to pick up groceries, and, suddenly, staring at a piece of ham, a script idea would come to mind! It just never stopped.
7. How did you go about the casting for the film, and how was your experience working with the actors?
Maéva: Most are members of my family! They are spread across the island, working in all kinds of fields, from lawyers to bus drivers. They were all so excited to be in the film, we hope that we can continue working this way in the future...
With the prisoners, it was a great adventure and a great discovery of each other. They play their own role. The NGO Manarina works for human and prisoners' rights. We were therefore warmly welcomed by the prison staff and the prisoners. Eager for human exchanges, to be addressed, watched, questioned, to participate in an event, such that our filming seemed to touch them as much as ourselves, and we spent time getting to know them in order to then be able to film real moments of sharing. It was completely chosen, it was out of the question to bring in professional actors or to dramatize. The sincerity comes from that of the exchanges that we had. We knew that our camera would be the eye of the narrator, who would explore and observe everything as we did ourselves.
8. What are you currently working on and do you have any ideas for upcoming projects? Also, are you planning to return to Madagascar to film again?
Georg: We are working on several projects at the moment, at least two of them would bring us back to Madagascar. Hôtel des Thermes is an ensemble film in an old colonial hotel in Madagascar that wants to create a panorama of the colonial history of the island. The Blue of the Forest on the other hand is more autobiographical, inspired by Maéva's childhood in the French countryside and her Malagasy dad working there as a veterinarian. Personally, I'm also in the post-production of a feature film called Godsterminal, a long-term project that I have shot on the Swedish island of Fårö over the course of 12 years, which combines the imagery of Ingmar Bergman with local histories and characters.
9. Now that you are filmmakers-in-residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU, how are you planning to spend your time here in New York City? What are some of your favorite things about the city (if you've been here before) and is there anything in particular that inspires you?
Georg: After the last two intense pandemic years, we really enjoy having a bit of time outside of Europe. Me, I will use my free time to continue with my yoga practice, something I wanted to do for a long time and there are great yoga clubs here in the city.

Maéva: A tiny side project we are working on is about Laterna Magicas, the old projection apparatus, and there is a great collection of slides at Columbia University that we want to check out.

Georg/Maéva: The most inspiring thing in the city is just wandering about, there are places to marvel and wonder on every corner.

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Interview with Georg Tiller & Maeva Ranaivojaona

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1. Zaho Zay (2020) tells the story of a young woman, who while working in an overcrowded jail in Madagascar, is haunted by the memories of her father, a man known as the "Dice Killer." How did you develop this story idea and the character, and what were your inspirations?

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While it's not large, the film industry of Madagascar produces some meaningful films with a significant amount of culture in them.

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Examples of houses in Madagascar, built with mud and straw. The video focuses on a project aimed at making a model out of village life that teaches visitors about Madagascar.

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Madagascar / Sustainable rural living as a collaboration between locals and visitors

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A video about how different Madagascan designers make cultural clothes using a variety of materials.

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Madagascar designers innovate, recycle and hustle for fashion

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This is a Madagascan ball game. The name comes from the French words ped tanco, meaning “closed feet”, in description of the way players stand when they throw the ball. The game usually is played with metal balls, but any spherical objects can be used.

Pétanque doesn’t require any special equipment or playing field. The playing field can be any piece of land that is flat and large enough for play. The simplicity of the game and its setup are what makes it popular in Madagascar.

(The link above, unexpectedly, does not work as of 2 January 2023.)

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The game of games: Pétanque - MADAMAGAZINE

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No matter where you travel in Madagascar: At some point, you will encounter people playing with silv

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Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo was a famous Madagascan poet from the 1900s who wrote poems in French and Malagasy.

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Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1901-1937), portrait du poète et écrivain malgache : biographie et bibliographie détaillées, liens…

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https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/ranavalona-iii-1861-1917
A biography of Queen Ranavalona III, queen of Madagascar from 1883 to 1897. During her reign, she tried to defend Madagascar from the French.

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The hiragasy dance is a special dance unique to Madagascar that is done to traditional music. Through dancing, the dancers can sometimes tell stories, but most of the time this dance style is used to bring entertainment to people at festival time.

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This video shows how Madagascan people might prepare their dinner in Madagascar, using very limited tools.

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Cooking in Madagascar. A traditional Malagasy dinner.

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This article describes the general structure of Madagascan houses. Of course, there is always some variation between individual groups of houses.

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For administrative purposes, Madagascar is divided into a system of decentralized territorial collectivities: provinces, regions, and communes. The provinces, the largest units, are further divided into regions, which are subdivided into communes. Each province is administered by a directly elected head of the province and an elected provincial council. Regional administrations follow a similar structure, with a directly elected head of the region and an elected regional council. Communes, which are classified as either urban or rural, have directly elected administrations.

Justice

The former Merina state that ruled the island throughout the 19th century had an elaborate system of laws, courts, and justice. The present legal system, however, is based upon French codes and practices. There is a High Constitutional Court, a High Court of Justice, a Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and tribunals.

Security

The army played no direct political role in Madagascar until 1972, although the presence of French army units had bolstered the former government. The French troops were withdrawn in 1973, and the French naval base at Antsiranana was handed over to Madagascar in 1975. The Malagasy armed forces consist of an army, a navy, and an air force. There is also a large paramilitary force, as well as a secret police. Detachments of local police are stationed at the headquarters of each administrative division, as well as in Antananarivo. The whole force is under unified command and falls within the responsibility of the ministry of the interior.

Health and welfare

The majority of Malagasy citizens live in rural areas. Conditions of life vary greatly from region to region; some regions, especially those where cash crops are grown, are relatively prosperous and well-linked with the cities, while others-particularly those in the south-are isolated and subject to periodic famine. All regions are dependent on agriculture, and the eastern regions suffer frequently from the devastating cyclones that are a feature of the Malagasy climate. Rural areas generally lack many of the amenities that are available to even the urban poor, including access to electricity, running water, and safe drinking water.

Although infant mortality remains significantly higher than the world average, infant deaths from malaria, which is endemic all over the island, have been much reduced. Debilitating parasitic diseases, such as schistosomiasis, an infection of the bladder or intestines, remain serious and are hard to control, since the parasites' breeding grounds are the irrigated rice fields and the streams that feed them. Sexually transmitted diseases are also widespread, although Madagascar has one of the lowest rates of HIV/ AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malagasy doctors began to practice Western medicine in the late 19th century, and a medical school was established in Antananarivo in 1897. The health system includes principal and secondary hospitals, dispensaries, and medical centres. Medical personnel include doctors as well as pharmacists, dentists, midwives, social assistants, visiting nurses, and health assistants. However, there is a significantly imbalanced patient-to-doctor ratio, in part because many of those graduating with health care-related degrees from Malagasy institutions have been drawn to other sectors or to more lucrative positions abroad. Furthermore, hospitals and specialists are located mainly in the towns, with the exception of some rural hospitals run by Christian missions, and it is difficult for many Malagasy citizens to access health care facilities. Health insurance and other social benefits are available mainly to better-paid workers and professionals among the employed population.

Housing

Houses are typically rectangular and crowned with steeply angled roofs. In the rural areas, most houses are made of either mud and wattle or woven matting supported by poles. In the eastern forest, they are built of interlaced split bamboo and are thatched with palm. In the south, overlapping upright wooden planks are used for walls. On the plateau, rural housing is constructed of earth blocks and thatched roofing, while upper-income and most urban housing consists of two- or three-story homes-typically with the kitchen at the top, living quarters in the middle, and storage below-all surrounded by wide balconies supported by brick columns and crowned with steep tiled roofs. This is the lofty Indonesian style of architecture, transformed by new techniques contributed by the missionaries. The original style survives in the house of King Andrianampoinimerina (reigned 1787-1810) at Ambohimanga and reached its pinnacle in the Queen's Palace built by Jean Laborde in the 19th century; the palace was destroyed by fire in 1995.

The government-sponsored housing authority conducts research into design, materials, and production methods and is seeking to promote inexpensive urban housing, but the problem of overcrowding is expected to increase with continued urban growth.

Education

The educational system consists of primary and secondary schools, technical institutes, teacher-training colleges, and a university system. Education is compulsory between ages 6 and 13. Primary education, which is free, begins at age six and consists of five years of study. Secondary education consists of a four-year cycle of study, followed by a three-year cycle. Universities in Madagascar include the University of Antananarivo (1961), the University of Mahajanga (1977), and the University of Fianarantsoa (1988). There has been an increased use of the Malagasy language in teaching, although some coastal peoples have objected because of the written language's close relationship to the Merina people.

The level of school attendance and educational attainment is higher on the plateau than in the coastal areas. Protestant and Roman Catholic missions have been providing education since the 19th century, and the missions continue to educate a large proportion of the schoolchildren, although the government maintains official schools at all levels and is attempting to phase out private education. In the main towns there are other privately run schools, which serve those unable to enter either government or mission schools. About two-thirds of women and about three-fourths of men in Madagascar are literate, a trend that indicates a remarkable increase in the country's overall rate of literacy since the mid-1960s, when less than two-fifths of the population was literate.

Cultural life

Cultural milieu

Malagasy culture is largely composed of Indonesian elements, with other influences evident. Arabic and Islamic contributions include sikidy, an intricate system of divination, and calendrical features, such as the Arabic-derived names of the days of the week, which also apply to the markets held on those days. The coastal areas of the west, north, and south might be expected to show African cultural elements, but, apart from some Bantu words, these are often difficult to identify conclusively.

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For administrative purposes, Madagascar is divided into a system of decentralized territorial collectivities: provinces, regions, and communes. The provinces, the largest units, are further divided into regions, which are subdivided into communes. Each province is administered by a directly elected head of the province and an elected provincial council.

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qQ7vdZy9vjIQ6gA9J1ixCqMT6dXMhu_x4T9XlrFHiFw/edit?usp=sharing

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A video of the 2016 Zegny'Zo festival, a very loud celebration with music, singing, and dancing.

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Festival Zegny'Zo 2016 - 10e édition - Diego Suarez - Madagascar

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Madagascar has some interesting festivals celebrating a lot of their cultural music, dance, art, and clothes.

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Madagascans wear special clothes that are suited for the island's climate.

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Madagascans have a special way of weaving cloths to make clothes. They decorate the cloths with unique colors, slightly inspired by Indian and Arab culture.

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The ROM is home to over 50,000 textiles and costumes. Fifty-four of these come from the African island of Madagascar. That number may sound small, but it represents the second largest collection of Malagasy textiles in North America. And among them are some of the most intriguing and admirable pieces, marvels of technical accomplishment and beauty. Together, they go a long way in illustrating the complex cultural history of this island nation.

The fourth largest island in the world, slightly larger than the province of Ontario, Madagascar lies off the coast of East Africa. The first permanent settlers of the island likely came from present-day Indonesia - some 6,000 km to the east - around 2,000 years ago. Linguistic and stylistic evidence suggests that these early Malagasy people brought with them the art of loom weaving.

Historically, women throughout the island wove and dyed fibres into striped rectangular wrappers. They extracted yarn from tree bark, banana-stem, raffia palm leaves, cotton and indigenous forms of wild silk ( Borocera), using handspindle types similar to those found on the African mainland. Sources for the vibrant dyes included plants such as turmeric, indigofera and indigenous nato trees, the bark of which produces the brick-red colour distinctive of many Malagasy textiles. Using backstrap or ground looms, they wove cloth patterned with stripes, in designs reminiscent of their Southeast Asian forebears. Ikat, a technique for tie-dyeing yarns before weaving to create patterned textiles, has been documented in the northwest corner of the island, and may have arrived with early migrants, together with warp floats and twining.

Madagascar is situated at the crossroads of western Indian Ocean trade routes that link Asia to Africa so it is hardly surprising that local weavers were constantly being exposed to and were integrating new materials and influences coming from India, southern Arabia, and Europe. They used imported coral, coins, glass beads, and local metal beads to decorate cloth. Particularly in the highlands, weavers came to work with "Chinese silk" (produced all over the world by domesticated silkmoths called Bombyx mori), initially brought by Arab traders, to add glossy stripes to their cloth, or figured motifs made with supplementary wefts.

The rectangular cloth was generally intended for clothing, for draping around the body in various fashions. Some groups, such as the Betsimisaraka, tailored raffia lengths into tunics. Other groups have used handwoven cloth to wrap revered ancestors for burial, or as ritual furnishings such as prayer mats.

To the present day, handweaving exists in isolated pockets scattered around the island, where women use techniques and replicate designs documented from hundreds of years ago, while also artfully adapting to the present with new designs, colours and fibres, including cast-off fabrics from local factories.

Our collections of Malagasy textiles here at the Museum are especially rich in items from the central highlands, particularly Imerina, the mountainous seat of the Merina monarchy that came to rule over much of the island after 1770.

Of special interest is a collection of some dozen items associated with the Reverend William Ellis of the London Missionary Society, who visited Madagascar in the 1850s and '60s. As custom dictated, when Ellis left the island, he was presented with gifts of cloth from Malagasy friends and the Merina court, which is probably how he obtained most of the sumptuous pieces shown here. Ellis' Canadian descendants donated to the ROM numerous items, including the world's only known complete examples of both a mandiavola ("covered in silver") - a great shawl of wild silk with metal bead designs across its length - and a totorano, handspun cotton with wild silk bands in blue and red. Ellis also collected incredibly fine checkered raffia cloth, likely an export item for the European market.

Another highlight of the ROM's large collection of historic Merina akotifahana (also spelled kotofahana) cloths, large brocaded shawls made from Chinese silk, which were produced by professional weavers. Of particular interest is a piece donated by the descendants of the missionary William Cousins. Its pristine condition reveals the bright colours that characterized akotifahana in the 1880s. More recent ROM acquisitions include a palette of magenta, blue, yellow and black that may have characterized early works, as well as rare anthropomorphic motifs.

Dye testing of the ROM's akotifahana cloth by the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) in Ottawa, using a novel gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methodology, developed at the CCI, reveals that most of the akotifahana's riotous colours come from natural sources, from plants that are widely available in the island: indigofera, turmeric, tannins. But the testing also produced some surprises: the presence of lac, safflower, cochineal, logwood, and Brazilwood, dyes which all originate in far away Asia and even South America. Their use in 19 th century Madagascar handweaving attests to the enduring and widespread trade networks of the island.

Dye testing at the CCI on this akotifahana cloth reveals that all the dyes - even the bright pink - of this cloth come from natural sources.

Blues = indigo
Yellow = turmeric
Black = tannins
Green = indigo + turmeric
Magenta = safflower
Rust red = turmeric + safflower

Intriguing representatives of lowland Malagasy textile traditions at the ROM are a series of raffia Islamic prayer mats. They were likely commissioned from local Sakalava weavers by the resident community of Indian merchants of the Bohra faith. Malagasy weavers used the ikat resist-dye technique to form the outlines of the mirhab niche, which people in prayer orient towards Mecca.

While no museum collection can represent the entire handweaving history of a nation, the ROM's 54 pieces are windows into the wide and wonderful world of Malagasy textiles, revealing the themes and variations of this little-known artistic heritage.

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In Living Colour: the ROM's unique collection of textiles from Madagascar

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The ROM is home to over 50,000 textiles and costumes. Fifty-four of these come from the African island of Madagascar. That number may sound small, but it represents the second largest collection of Malagasy textiles in North America. And among them are some of the most intriguing and admirable pieces, marvels of technical accomplishment and beauty.

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As an African island nation, Madagascar has not used "regular" materials like bricks to build houses until recently. Traditionally, Madagascan houses are made of wood, stone, or even leaves like bamboo.

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Madagascar is known for some small works of literature and legends.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibonia

https://glli-us.org/2021/12/30/ibonia-the-ramayana-of-madagascar/
It is transmitted orally, meaning parents tell it to their children and maybe the children will read the book later in life.

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https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/introducing-the-valiha
The valiha is a multi-stringed Madagascan instrument made from bamboo. It is similar to a guitar, but has a unique sound. The valiha is put on the player's lap while the player plucks the strings with both hands.

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The valiha: a musical instrument from Madagascar

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As someone with an interest in all types of music and musical instruments from around the world, the wealth of information that is on Europeana still continues to amaze me.

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https://pemburytours.com/7-malagasy-beliefs/
These things are only done in Madagascar.

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Madagascar is one of Africa' most exotic countries, here are seven Malagasy beliefs to give you some insight into their culture.

Burying the Umbilical Cord

After a baby is born, the midwife presents the father with the umbilical cord and attached placenta. Traditionally, it is his responsibility to bury them under a flat stone at the entrance of the ancestral home. In modern times in urban areas, it is buried somewhere around the house in an area unlikely to be affected by any form of pollution. When burying the umbilical cord, the father does not turn his head. This burial represents the continuation of family lineage. In Malagasy beliefs, a newborn whose umbilical cord is lost or not buried correctly, will grow up to be a forgetful adult.

Cutting a Baby's Hair After 3 Months

When a Malagasy baby is three months old, it will undergo 'ala-volo' - a hair cutting ceremony. A person in the family who has beautiful hair (a 'tso-bolo') is invited to cut the baby's hair and place it on a large bowl or plate. The hair is then mixed with tuberous roots, such as sweet potato, and honey. The family members then eat this mixture. This ceremony is carried out to fully initiate the baby into society.

All Houses Should Face West

When a Malagasy person builds a house, in line with rituals and cultural customs, the house should face west. Belief states that the best sunshine is in the afternoon so houses should open up facing west. In the traditional building process, the eastern side of the house has no windows or doors. Doors and windows face north due to the blessings associated with this direction.

The Head of the Bed must Face North

In order to initiate the flow of positive energies throughout the house, everything has to be in its correct place. The north is the point where power meets holiness. According to Malagasy belief, the north sends happiness and wealth. Therefore, the parents' bed should be position with the head facing north.

Traditional Engagement

Every couple, before getting married, need to have a traditional engagement. The first step of this ceremony is known as 'vodiondry' or 'lamb's rump' which is a Malagasy couple's formal engagement. The groom is invited to introduce himself to the bride's family and formally ask for her hand in marriage. He also presents gifts to the bride's parents and siblings.

Picking Up your Spoon After an Elder

Respecting one's elders is a Malagasy custom that is still strictly upheld, especially in the rural areas. During mealtimes, no one can pick up their cutlery until the elder does. Once they have started eating, the rest of the family can start eating too.

No Funerals on a Thursday

In Malagasy belief, every day of the week is favourable for a particular purpose. Thursday is the first day in the Malagasy calendar and is considered the best day to start anything you want to last, such as house building. In the same way, Thursday are not considered a good day to have a funeral because it may become the starting point of continuing deaths in the family.

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7 Malagasy Traditions - Customs in Madagascar

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Madagascar is one of Africa' most exotic countries, here are seven Malagasy beliefs to give you some insight into their culture. After a baby is born, the midwife presents the father with the umbilical cord and attached placenta. Traditionally, it is his responsibility to bury them under a flat stone at the entrance of the ancestral home.

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Some things in Madagascar, such as rituals and etiquette, are unique to the island nation and the surrounding African countries.

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http://www.handicrafts.nl/mapls1.html
This is a traditional Madagascan game similar to marbles. The "marbles" are made out of precious stones such as calcite and quartz.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_U5tMEF4uA
Description
This is a traditional martial arts style of Madagascar, originating from the west coast of the island. Matches in this style are rather short, only about 30 seconds per round (with 2 rounds).

Origin
One theory states that this style was invented by slaves who wanted to fight without getting caught doing so by their masters. The slaves would fight to the sound of music, so their masters would think the slaves were doing a special ritual dance and thus ignored them.(http://www.traditionalsports.org/traditional-sports/africa/moraingy-madagascar.html)
(Update: Above link does not work as of 2 January 2023. But you can still watch the YouTube video.)

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Madagascar has some interesting sports and games that people participate in when they want to have fun.

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This slideshow shows some festivals of Madagascar and some pictures from the festivals.

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Madagascan people speak a rather obscure language called Malagasy.

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As an island nation, Madagascar has some unique dishes with seafood, which are prepared uniquely compared to the rest of the world. Madagascan foods usually consist of rice and seafood, as well as some other plants that grow on the island. Beans, vegetables, and various animals that are native to Madagascar are also used in Madagascan foods.

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Madagascar has a lot of unique musical instruments and musical styles. The music created by these instruments is slowly getting less recognition than it deserves as "popular" music from the West is spreading around the world.

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Old Malagasy Folk Song: Diavolana (Steel String Valiha)

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This is a recording of a traditional Madagascar lullaby, played on a stringed instrument called the valiha.

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This slideshow shows some classic Madagascan foods, and what is in them.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8t_snz8B5A
A sample of spoken Malagasy.
There are English captions in the video.

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A collection of unique clothes from Madagascar, such as lambas, garments worn around the body.

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Lyrics are shown in the video, in English and Malagasy, the official language of Madagascar.

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National Anthem of Madagascar - "Ry Tanindrazanay malala ô!"

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The Immortal Poetry of Madagascar’s Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo

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Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

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The Immortal Poetry of Madagascar’s Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo

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Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (JJR) is generally acknowledged as the greatest twentieth-century poet of Madagascar and the first modern poet of Africa. He was born in 1901 in an impoverished but noble fa…

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Minimum Multimedia content requirement for the Padlet 

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Minimum Multimedia content requirement for the Padlet 

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You must use a multi-media approach in your communication of relevant content in your Padlet, including at least:

2 PPT slideshows
2 photo galleries with appropriate captions
2 audio files (one of which should be spoken (interview))
2 video files
2 text based files (poetry, literature, news or feature stories etc.)
2 relevant biographies of notable cultural figures
(C i, D i, ii)

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As a volunteer worker at the Kaleidoscope Project, I chose to preserve the culture of Madagascar because as an island country, it must have some pretty interesting customs that other African countries don't have. As cultures like American culture influence the world, these small island cultures might disappear simply because there are less people that practice island culture overall. My aim for this project is to record samples of Madagascar's culture, such as festivals, language, foods, and more, to ensure people of the future will not forget some of the interesting things that Madagascar has to offer.

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https://www.food.com/recipe/madagascar-koba-452426
A recipe for koba, a classic Madagascan dessert made of peanuts, rice, and mashed bananas, wrapped in banana leaves.

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"Also known as Kobandravina, it is a peanut dessert pate. It is considered the national snack. Pronounced KUBA"

cup ³⁄raw peanuts (green peanuts are best)₄

cup ¹⁄brown sugar ₂

cup ¹⁄sugar ₄

1 cup cream of rice

¹⁄₂ cup rice flour

1 cup water (up to 25% more as needed)

4 tablespoons peanut oil

4 tablespoons sugar

banana leaf

directions

Grill peanuts in a saucepan over medium heat without oil until golden brown. Chop finely in a food processor with sugars, approximately 20 seconds. Set aside.

Mix cream of rice, rice flour, 4 T sugar, water (1 C if using banana leaves, 1 1/4 C if using foil) and oil (3 T oil or less if peanuts are green, 5 T if they are not green).

Spread 3/4 of the rice batter on your wrapping material (foil or banana leaves. Heap peanut mixture in a line down the middle, leaving rice batter exposed in equal amounts on both sides. Lift sides of wrapping almost fully up and pour remaining batter on top, then complete wrapping to seal entirely so liquid will not penetrate.

Allow to boil gently over medium-low heat in a large pot of water, partly covered, for 24 hours. Remove from water. Koba is served in thin round slices while still warm.

REMARKS: This recipe is tricky because so much depends on the freshness of the peanuts and how you wrap the koba.

Most "raw" peanuts sold in stores are already rather old, while green peanuts are pulled from the ground within a week. If your koba falls apart or the peanuts remain tough, they were probably on the old side. The addition of peanut oil to the batter is not traditional but helps compensate for old peanuts.

Banana leaves are preferable because they allow steam to pass into the koba, which helps keep it properly moist, creating a dense, smooth, pâté-like texture. Tin foil blocks this moisture but requires less practice to wrap tightly.

Here is a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mKpWhWZTdc.

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"Also known as Kobandravina, it is a peanut dessert pate. It is considered the national snack. Pronounced KUBA" cup 3⁄raw peanuts (green peanuts are best)4 cup 1⁄brown sugar 2 cup 1⁄sugar 4 1 cup cream of rice 1⁄2 cup rice flour 1 cup water (up to 25% more as needed) 4 tablespoons peanut oil 4 tablespoons sugar banana leaf directions Grill peanuts in a saucepan over medium heat without oil until golden brown.