In this episode, Ibrahima Thiaw and Lamine Badji shed light on the often brutal ways in which knowledge was created at the Institut Français d'Afrique Noire. The agenda of the institute, better known as IFAN, was to study the people of the French West African empire. Ibrahima Thiaw and Lamine Badji discuss the urgency of addressing the colonial legacy of institutions such as IFAN in a sovereign Africa seeking to recover its humanity and dignity. They focus on the history of the remains of griots, which are still part of the collections of the Archaeology Laboratory of IFAN Cheikh Anta Diop. It is a particularly painful history. Not least, because it remains unresolved.
This is the English version of this podcast. You can also listen to the versions in French and Wolof.
Credits
Authors: Ibrahima Thiaw and Lamine Badji
Script editing: Sophie Schasiepen with support from Andri Burnett
Narrators: Tshiamo Moretlwe and Mamello Makheta
Producer / editor: Andri Burnett
Executive Producer: Sophie Schasiepen
Further Reading
References included works by Agbenyega Adedze, Julien Bondaz, Albert Charton, Sarah Croucher, Cameron Gokee, Deborah Mack, John Warne Monroe, Raymond Mauny, Marie-Albane De Suremain, Ibrahima Thiaw, Guy Thilmans. Please find the full references listed here.
Funding
The Mourning the Dead podcast was produced as part of the contribution by the University of the Western Cape to the research project “Reconnecting 'Objects': Epistemic Plurality and Transformative Practices in and beyond Museums”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.