Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

Many of the documented celestial objects are known by numbers or letters, or a combination of both, which some people may find hard to remember; or by names, which they find hard to pronounce, so the objects in the Tamarind Galaxy series are named after plants; plants associated with Africa and the Caribbean.

During the workshop for the Oxford Sudanese Supplementary School, at the inauguration of their Astronomy in Africa project, I used Tarhaqa Dream and Starlit Chant, from the seventh instalment; and Guava Dust, from instalment eight. Guava Dust is about the dust storms on Planet Guava, one of the ten planets in the Tamarind Galaxy.

Biography:

In 2009, Natty Mark Samuels set up African School, offering African Studies to the general public. Teaching has taken place in varied settings; schools, youth and community projects, museums, carnivals, colleges, libraries, universities and botanic gardens.

The focus for the last six years has been on Folklore. Since January 2025, it has been on what he calls Celestial Folklore: celebrating the night sky, through an African lens. This is being facilitated through his Tamarind Galaxy writings, which he uses as a teaching aid, documenting contemporary astronomy in Africa. Workshops so far have taken place in schools and a project for the homeless. Excerpts from the writings have been published in Ghana, Italy and the UK.