In this review, we present the ethnomathematics investigations undertaken in the last three decades by Paulus Gerdes, a Mozambique mathematics educator. The author presents a variety of discussions with several examples that explains the relationship of mathematics to human activities. We present, among other things, the cyclic matrices and its interrelationships with the African cultural contexts, undoing the erroneous impression that mathematics can be seen disconnected from the feature, which makes the individuals in their socio-cultural environments. Gerdes shows us that there's mathematics in different cultures and this helps us to realize the beauty of the symmetries and patterns, in addition to allowing depth between mathematics and human actions in the art.