The role of cultural heritage in recovering histories of the Indian Ocean Islands of Seychelles and Sri Lanka (Prof Shihan Jayasuriya, ICS-Univ of London)
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Frederick Noronha
Jun 20, 2024, 9:18:51 PM (9 days ago) Jun 20
to Goa-Research-Net
The role of cultural heritage in recovering histories of the Indian Ocean Islands of Seychelles and Sri Lanka
By Professor Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, PhD, FRAS, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, University of London)
The diversity in the Indian Ocean World follows from its vastness and the interactions caused by the movement of people engaged in transcultural and transoceanic trade.
Though separated by vast distances and shaped by a variety of contact situations driven by trade and religious motifs, phenomena such as colonialism and the slave trade draw some discrete geographical entities closer to each other. I will focus on the Indian Ocean islands of
the Seychelles and Sri Lanka where people of African descent have held on to their African heritage. Although the peopling of the Seychelles and Sri Lanka are varied, they share a history and legacy of colonialism which uprooted people and re-rooted them in unknown
lands. Cultural heritage is key to carving out an ethnic identity. What are the factors that have determined the recognition of cultural traditions carried over by African migrants in these two spaces separated by vast distances? In the small island state of Seychelles, the moutya dance with African roots, accompanied by song and music, was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage for Humanity in 2021. How does this scenario compare with manja, a chant-like song accompanied by remembered drum rhythms that initiate dancing performed by an Afrodescent community in the northwestern province of Sri Lanka? How have the divergent political, social and demographic dynamics of the Seychelles and Sri Lanka, affected the recognition of moutya and manja both nationally and internationally? What role does heritage play in recovering lost histories?
When: Friday 21 June 9 am – 10 am AEST
Zoom meeting link:
https://deakin.zoom.us/j/89895295322?pwd=fneBSouoPhLGbAozdaBM3Qd29iQxw9.1&from=add
on
Meeting ID: 898 9529 5322
Passcode: 75511569
Speaker Bio:
Professor Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, PhD, FRAS, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London). She is the Chair of the National Scientific Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICOMOS Sri Lanka) and an Expert on International ICOMOS, a recognised Expert on Afrodescendants in Asia for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – UN OHCHR (Geneva) and a former Rapporteur and Member of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route Project (Paris). She researches migration, commerce and cultural exchange in the Indian Ocean; African, Malay and Portuguese diasporas and has written 6 books, edited 5 books, guest edited 7 special volumes of academic journals, co-authored 1 book, and published numerous articles in international academic journals and produced four ethnographic films.
By Professor Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, PhD, FRAS, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, University of London)
The diversity in the Indian Ocean World follows from its vastness and the interactions caused by the movement of people engaged in transcultural and transoceanic trade.
Though separated by vast distances and shaped by a variety of contact situations driven by trade and religious motifs, phenomena such as colonialism and the slave trade draw some discrete geographical entities closer to each other. I will focus on the Indian Ocean islands of
the Seychelles and Sri Lanka where people of African descent have held on to their African heritage. Although the peopling of the Seychelles and Sri Lanka are varied, they share a history and legacy of colonialism which uprooted people and re-rooted them in unknown
lands. Cultural heritage is key to carving out an ethnic identity. What are the factors that have determined the recognition of cultural traditions carried over by African migrants in these two spaces separated by vast distances? In the small island state of Seychelles, the moutya dance with African roots, accompanied by song and music, was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage for Humanity in 2021. How does this scenario compare with manja, a chant-like song accompanied by remembered drum rhythms that initiate dancing performed by an Afrodescent community in the northwestern province of Sri Lanka? How have the divergent political, social and demographic dynamics of the Seychelles and Sri Lanka, affected the recognition of moutya and manja both nationally and internationally? What role does heritage play in recovering lost histories?
When: Friday 21 June 9 am – 10 am AEST
Zoom meeting link:
https://deakin.zoom.us/j/89895295322?pwd=fneBSouoPhLGbAozdaBM3Qd29iQxw9.1&from=add
on
Meeting ID: 898 9529 5322
Passcode: 75511569
Speaker Bio:
Professor Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, PhD, FRAS, Senior Research Fellow (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London). She is the Chair of the National Scientific Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICOMOS Sri Lanka) and an Expert on International ICOMOS, a recognised Expert on Afrodescendants in Asia for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – UN OHCHR (Geneva) and a former Rapporteur and Member of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route Project (Paris). She researches migration, commerce and cultural exchange in the Indian Ocean; African, Malay and Portuguese diasporas and has written 6 books, edited 5 books, guest edited 7 special volumes of academic journals, co-authored 1 book, and published numerous articles in international academic journals and produced four ethnographic films.
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