The Africa Project

Map of Africa showing different regions with their respective months. West Africa in green (January - March), Morocco in orange (April - May), East Africa in blue (June - July), Southern Africa in yellow (August - October), Ethiopia in purple (November - December).
Map of Africa showing different regions with their respective months. West Africa in green (January - March), Morocco in orange (April - May), East Africa in blue (June - July), Southern Africa in yellow (August - October), Ethiopia in purple (November - December).

What started as a 90 day field inquiry in West Africa has grown into a year-long field project spanning multiple regions of the continent.

The locations were selected to explore how belonging is expressed across different cultural, linguistic, religious, and geographic contexts.

Designing a Place-based Inquiry

A handwritten note on lined paper discussing playing cards and watching through a screen, featuring scribbles and some crossed-out words.

This field project documents the questions, decisions, false starts, and discoveries involved in building my first place-based inquiry. The following notes come from my journal, Designing a Place-based Inquiry, where I document the planning process as it unfolds.

This work is supported by readers who believe careful observation still matters. If you'd like to help sustain the writing and fieldwork behind it, Support the Africa Project.

Tracy Smith Tracy Smith

Getting started

A few weeks ago I shared that I am designing a 90-day residency in West Africa and the process itself is worth documenting for anyone considering a place-based inquiry of their own. This is not a trip.

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