The Africa Centre Project

The Africa Centre is a London-based charity that educates about, connects to and advocates for Africa and its diaspora through arts, innovation, culture, thought leadership and education, and has been a proud custodian of African culture, heritage, and debate since its establishment in 1961.

The Africa Centre

Founded by Margaret Feeny who was previously the General Secretary of the ‘Sword of the Spirit' the Centre was funded by the Hinsley Memorial Fund, which had been set up on Cardinal Hinsley's death in 1943.

In 1962, the Africa Centre announced it had found new premises in King Street in Covent Garden. Margaret Feeny became the center’s first Director. In 1964, the Centre opened its doors to the public and had an inauguration which was presented by President Kaunda of Zambia, Cardinal Laurien Rugambwa, the first black African Cardinal and Margaret Feeny. Since 2022, the Centre has been at its new premises in Southwark, in a four-storey building designed by architects Freehaus and with an interior designed by Tola Ojuolape.

The Africa Centre was created to bring the history and culture of Africa to the forefront and to promote better awareness about the development of the continent. There has been a variety of leading African artists, politicians, academics, writers, and musicians were hosted, presented, and conversed at the Centre with different audiences. The Centre offered extracurricular courses on several subjects such as African literature, Arabic and Swahili, the political and economic development of the African continent and African dance and drama workshops.

The Project

The Centre deposited its archive at The London Archives in 2018 and in 2021 in partnership with us they received a £44,100 grant awarded from Archives Revealed. Archives Revealed is a partnership programme between The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust, and the Wolfson Foundation, and is the only funding stream in the UK dedicated to cataloguing and unlocking archives.

The records date from 1956 to 2017 and alongside minutes, annual reports and accounts highlights include records of the artists, musicians, writers, and educational speakers involved with the centre.

Music was and still is a big part of the center's focus and this cannot be diminished without the help of Zimbabwean musician, artist, and DJ Wala Danga. During the latter part of the 1970s club nights at the Centre were held and in the early 1980s the club became a regular fixture alongside the significant Limpopo Club which saw African artists from across the continent perform and where Wala would promote African music. A variety of posters from the Limpopo Club show the variety of artists and performances which were celebrated at the Africa Centre.

The Centre also had a wide range of visitors, and presenters such as Nigerian dramatist, writer, and poet Wole Soyinka, who delivered a lecture in 1975. Many authors also made appearances at the Centre such as Sembene Ousmane, Len Peters, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Alex Nguma. Literary festivals and collaborations between literary bodies were also a common part of the Centre's reach and this helped produce several literature festivals such as ‘Kulture Klash', an event which saw Black poets and authors present and read from their work. Noted artists who presented their art at the Centre include Sokara Douglas Camp and Houria Niat and Eddie Chambers.

The Centre features an important legacy which can be seen within the collection and within the new Southwark site. The Centre was originally created to foster ‘non-governmental relations between newly independent Africa and Britain' but now seeks to promote, educate, connect, and advocate for Africa and the diaspora. The collection can provide this historical relevance of a significant institution whilst allowing researchers to better understand the Centre as a business and cultural hub.

Using The Africa Centre Collection

The collection is available to browse on our catalogue and the archive has been made accessible for research at The London Archives. Search for The Africa Centre or reference code LMA/4816. Working in partnership with The Africa Centre, subsequent projects will focus on more detailed listing of photographic and audio-visual material.

Information from www.africacentre.org.uk, 'The Africa Centre in London' by Alastair Niven, 'New Africa Centre History' by Sheila Ruiz and 'Sword of the Spirit to Catholic Institute for International Relations 1940-1980' by Michael Walsh

Find out more about the Archives Revealed funding stream.