Opening Remarks | Colorful Threads: Interwoven Worlds of Art and Culture in the Western Indian Ocean 

The Africa Institute hosts the third symposium as part of its four-part series dedicated to Africa’s Indian Ocean rim, titled “Colorful Threads: The Interwoven Worlds of Art and Culture in the Western Indian Ocean.” The symposium, held from 14-16 December 2023 in Sharjah, UAE, explored diverse facets, from feminism and cinema to artmaking, echoing the dynamic complexities of the Indian Ocean rim.
This four-part series falls under the theme, “Thinking the Archipelago: Africa’s Indian Ocean Islands,” which is part of The Africa Institute’s year-round initiative, “Country-Focused Season,” dedicated to developing and supporting original scholarship and programming that expands understanding of African and African diaspora studies among the academic community and the broader public.
Organized by The Africa Institute in collaboration with leading scholars Jeremy Prestholdt, Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego; Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf, Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown University in Qatar; and Uday Chandra, Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University in Qatar.
Opening Remarks by co-organizers of the symposium:
- Prita Meier, Associate Professor of Art History, New York University
- Laura Fair, Professor of African History in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University
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