Transmission of Cultural Heritage of Slavery in the Indian Ocean on Film

Film

A Hidden Guarantee: Identity and Gule Wankulu between Mozambique and Somalia
by Francesca Declich (2008, 17 min)

Gule Wankulu  is an African Masquerade danced from Mozambique to Somalia. Francesca Declich films here, how this ritual dance continued to be practised by descendants of slaves in Somalia until the 1990s. It helped them to maintain their own heritage and to alleviate their uprooting. It was mostly danced within secret societies and in some specific cases even allowed some
slaves to run away.

Film

Sidis of Gujarat: Maintaining Traditions and Building Community
by Beheroze Shroff (2010, 53 minutes) - SEPHIS

The traditions of the Sidis (Afro-Indians) of Gujarat in North India: annual urs celebration to consecrate the sacred stream at the  shrine of the Sidi Saint, Bava Gor, Khichdi (rice) ceremony to Mai Mishra (sister of Bava Gor), Balka ceremony (where Sidi men & women are initiated as Fakirs) and goma dance (both as spectacle and as sacred ritual), are captured in the film. Along with the celebration and festivities, Sidis voice their concerns as they struggle to maintain their traditions and also earn a livelihood with dignity.

Film

Maldives: African Migration and Bodu Beru (Big Drums)
(5 minutes) introduced by Shihan de Silva

This film shows the musical traditions that were introduced to the Maldives by African migrants. Bodu Beru (meaning big drums) has now become a popular form of music and tourist attraction in the Maldives.

Film

Sri Lanka: Afro-Sri Lankans and Their Musical Traditions
(5 minutes) introduced by Shihan de Silva

In this film, members of the largest Afro-Sri Lankan community are playing manhas and singing in creolised Portuguese, the language  of trade and commerce for three hundred and fifty years on the island. Their unchoreographed dancing connects them to Africa, an imagined homeland.

Discussion

Chair: Marie Rodet (SOAS)
Francesca Declich (University Urbino)
Beheroze Shroff (University of California, Irvine)
Shihan de Silva (Institute of Commonwealth Studies)