Africa Hall and The Africa Institute
Two new announcements came out of Sharjah earlier this week, the inauguration of the newly rebuilt Africa Hall and the establishment of The Africa Institute.
The Africa Institute will serve as a centre for African and African Diaspora studies that includes research, documentation, and postgraduate studies offering both Masters and Ph.D. programmes.
Africa Hall, which was initially opened in Sharjah in 1976 to host the Arab-African Symposium (December 14-18,1976) has been rebuilt on the same site as the original building and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, stage plays and performances related to the activities of The Africa Institute. An additional building which will later permanently house The Africa Institute will be constructed adjacent to Africa Hall, designed by Sir David Adjaye
Africa Hall, Sharjah, 2018. Image courtesy of The Africa Institute
There’s no website yet for Africa Hall of The Africa Institute, but you can follow The Africa Hall on social media:
Instagram - @africainstitute
Twitter - @theafricainst
Facebook - The Africa Institute
There’s a programme of performances, film screening and a symposium to celebrate the opening of Africa Hall, below is a summary of what’s lined up between 26 - 30 September and I look forward to seeing what other events will take place at Africa Hall.
Performances
September 26: Youssou N’Dour and Le Super Étoile de Dakar
September 27: Oumou Sangaré
September 28: Mulatu Astatke
September 29: Lisa Simone, DJ Peter Adjaye
September 30: Somi
Tickets can be bought here.
Film Screening
September 28: An Opera of the World (Manthia Diawara, 2017, 70 min)
In An Opera of the World, Malian filmmaker Manthia Diawara reflects upon the refugee crisis and the relationship between Europe and Africa. The film revolves around a performance of Bintou Were, a Sahel Opera in Bamako, around which Diawara builds a story about migration, interweaving interviews with documentary and archival footage.
Symposium
September 30: 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction
Presented by Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) and held in conjunction of SAF’s exhibition Frank Bowling: Mappa Mundi. The symposium is convened by Okwui Enwezor (curator, critic, and former director of Haus der Kunst), Hoor Al Qasimi and Salah M. Hassan. Detailed information about the symposium and the schedule can be found here.