This illustrated lecture presents the arts of the Mourides, a contemporary mystical Islamic movement in the west African republic of Senegal, and focuses on imagery associated with the Mourides' founding Sufi saint, Sheikh Amadou Bamba (1853-1927). As a pacifist, poet, and mystic, Bamba has become a postcolonial hero in a nation known for its stability and industriousness. Artists honor Bamba's memory through art forms ranging from public wall murals and glass paintings to devotional calligraphy and contemporary installation art.Allen F. Roberts discusses how features of a 1913 photograph of Bamba taken by French colonial authorities as an instrument of surveillance provide visual piety to several million Mourides in Senegal and around the world in an ever-expanding diaspora.

This presentation is given in conjunction with A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal, an exhibition on view at UIUC's Krannert Art Museum October 27 through December 31.

Sponsored by: Krannert Art Museum

In conjunction with: Center for African Studies, Collaborative for Cultural Heritage and Museum Practices, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Department of Anthropology, Gender and Women's Studies Program, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, Office of the Provost, Program for the Study of Religion, School of Architecture, School of Art and Design

WILL-AM580 FOCUS interview with Allen Roberts