Conference: The Cultural Images in and of Africa, Uppsala – Sweden

We were about sixty scholars and researchers at the international conference organized by The Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) of Uppsala, Sweden from the 15th to 18th June 2009 on What’s Culture got to do with it ? The central idea was about African images today. The NAI was created in 1962 by the Nordic nations: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to promote African studies in their area through seminars, conferences, research in the field, etc. It has a big and specialized library.
Among us who attended the conference, some came directly from Africa or like me from the diaspora. We were from the Republic of Benin, Cameroun, Mali, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands Norway, Sweden and the United States of America were represented.
We worked in panels and in assembly.
Four key notes illuminated the discussions: one by professor Karin BARBER, director of the West African Studies at the Birmingham University (GB) and the other one by professor Elleke BOEHMER from Oxford University. I gave my paper on New religious cultures in Africa, on June 16th There were also some cultural moments like a guided tour in Uppsala and at Carolina Rediviva library and a performance show at Slotts Cinema. Uppsala is a peaceful place, reachable in forty minutes by train from Stockholm, the capital. It has an old and well known university (the University of Uppsala).