Alyssa K. Barry is a Senegalese architect and urbanist who graduated from the Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Marseille and the Ecole d'urbanisme de Paris. Her career is punctuated by various international experiences in the fields of architecture, urban planning, international cooperation, cultural heritage and contemporary art. Alyssa is particularly interested in the notion of "Africanity" in today's African cities and societies and their place within globalization, and strongly believes in the role of culture as a vector of sustainable development for the African continent. She currently works as an African cultural heritage specialist at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and is the founder of AFREAKART, a digital platform dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora.