Raising awareness, deepening understanding, keeping heritage alive
Culturèm — Couleur Patrimoine was born from a conviction: African heritage deserves digital experiences worthy of its richness, depth and dignity.
A digital ecosystem in service of heritage
A significant share of African heritage content remains scattered, poorly accessible on mobile, insufficiently contextualised or disconnected from the communities that carry it. Young audiences, travellers, teachers and diasporas expect short, interactive and immersive formats — while also seeking reliable, respectful information.
Culturèm answers this need by bringing together, in a single application, in-depth and verified heritage entries, learning journeys, a reference glossary, a cultural passport and a research assistant. The platform currently covers all fifty-four African countries, from the Maghreb to Southern Africa and from the Atlantic shores to the Indian Ocean, each identified by a characteristic colour inspired by its heritage materials: the earth of Abomey, the gold of Giza, the granite of Great Zimbabwe, the turquoise of Zanzibar, the sand of Chinguetti…
Our ambition is threefold: raise awareness of the history and meanings of tangible and intangible heritage; deepen understanding of the contexts, values and rules of respect that surround it; keep these legacies alive through learning, restrained gamification and, in time, guided community contribution.
Documented, well-situated content
Each entry is written from reference sources, first and foremost the official UNESCO lists: the World Heritage List (1972 Convention) and the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2003 Convention). Inscription dates are systematically stated — from the Royal Palaces of Abomey (1985) to Ivorian attiéké (December 2024) — and historical uncertainties are flagged rather than smoothed over: at Loropéni, for example, the exact function of the interior spaces remains an open field of research, and we say so.
The application's illustrations are stylised graphic creations, deliberately distinct from photographs: they celebrate heritage without freezing or appropriating ritual images whose circulation requires consent. The 360° immersive views are symbolic renderings, presented as such.
Step by step
Seven simple steps, from your first visit to installing it on your phone.
Open the application
From this page, click "Open the application". The home screen presents the fifty-four countries, corpus statistics, learning journeys and a daily selection refreshed every day. No account is required, no sign-up: you go straight into discovery.
Choose your way in
Three paths are open to you: a country page (cultural overview, "Did you know?" anecdotes, related entries); the explorer, which filters the 842 entries by country, keyword or category — monuments, sites, empires, kingdoms, heroes and resistance figures, historical figures, languages, ethnic groups, tales and legends, traditions, dances, crafts, cuisines; or the interactive geographic map, with true-to-scale borders, which locates each territory by its characteristic colour.
Dive into a heritage entry
Each entry unfolds full content: a summary, UNESCO recognition where applicable, history and meaning across several sections, "at a glance" key figures, points of attention to observe on site, and a stylised 360° immersive view that you rotate with your finger or mouse, punctuated by numbered points of attention. The Previous / Next buttons move through the entries of the same country without returning to the list.
Follow a learning journey
In the "Learn" tab, twelve progressive journeys — from kingdoms and monuments to living heritage, from the women of Africa to island Creole cultures, from the Horn of Africa to the southern lands — each offer four written lessons followed by an eight-question quiz with explanations. You can cancel a quiz at any time, replay it, and your best scores are recorded in your passport.
Ask the cultural assistant
Ask a question in natural language — "What is zaouli?", "Which dishes are UNESCO-listed?" — and the assistant composes a synthesised answer citing its sources: entries, countries or glossary terms, accessible in one click. This generative search runs entirely on your device, offline, and sends nothing to any server.
Browse the glossary
Nearly 2,000 terms — banco, griot, kente, medina, mbira, famadihana, morna, incwala… — are defined and sorted into twelve filterable domains: general notions, architecture, spiritualities and rites, arts and oral tradition, textiles and crafts, cuisines, societies and institutions. An instant search takes you straight to the right term.
Track your progress and install the app
Your cultural passport gathers entries consulted, countries visited, quiz scores, favourites and fourteen badges to unlock — all stored solely on your device, resettable at any time. Finally, install Culturèm like a native app: your browser will offer to do so, and the help centre details the steps for each platform.
Design & development
Culturèm — Couleur Patrimoine is designed and developed by Josué TAMADAHO, founder of JT-Créa Dev., a digital creation studio based in Benin. His approach: putting technical excellence at the service of high-impact social solutions, in particular the preservation and transmission of national heritage.
Benin (BJ)