Hosted by The Africa Institute at Global Studies University in Sharjah, UAE, “The Imagined New (or, What Happens When History is a Catastrophe?)” gathered artists, scholars and students for its third installment, themed “Confronting Violence and Catastrophe: War, Grief and Hope.” Over three days, participants engaged in immersive lectures, performances and conversations exploring the intersections of violence, historical trauma and the political imagination, with the goal of creating space for radical dialogue and alternative futures. The conference was organized in collaboration with the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD) at the University of Johannesburg and the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice at Brown.
The opening night featured a keynote lecture by Simmons Center Director Prof. Anthony Bogues. Entitled “The Present Conjuncture: Illiberalism, War and Violence – A Perspective,” the talk examined the current political and social landscape, the emergence of what he called “death-worlds” and how other forms of life could be imagined. Drawing from African and African diaspora intellectual traditions, Bogues asked pressing questions about the meaning of being human in the face of ongoing catastrophe.
Bogues’ lecture was followed by a discussion with M.A. students in Global African Studies, who also had opportunities to engage with Leora Farber, director of VIAD, and other workshop participants. As Surafel Wondimu Abebe, assistant professor of Performance Studies and Theory at The Africa Institute, described, “Artists, scholars, and thinkers came together to hold intense, moving conversations around war, grief and hope — thinking through their deep historical entanglements without losing sight of specific, lived experiences from across the globe. We pushed beyond the boundaries of panels and lectures into truly dialogic thinking.”
The closing evening featured a powerful performance by the AlMultaqa Afro-Arab Harmonic Orchestra at The Africa Hall. Blending traditional and contemporary musical forms, the orchestra’s work served as an emotional and intellectual reflection on the themes of the conference.
“The Imagined New” is a multi-year, international collaboration between VIAD and the Simmons Center. Volume III’s convening in Sharjah marks the latest chapter in the project’s interdisciplinary exploration of history, memory and artistic practice.