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Dakar is a thriving cosmopolitan city with a vibrant tapestry of history and creativity. It is the main cultural and intellectual hub of francophone West Africa, capitalizing on a long heritage of cross-cultural relations with the American, Caribbean, European, Middle Eastern and Asian world regions, and, of course, with the vast and diverse African continent itself. The city is located at the most western tip of the continent. The label ‘Teranga’ (hospitality in Wolof) best characterizes the capital of Senegal, where arts, music, dance, gastronomy, and the legendary Senegalese conviviality combine to capture any visitor’s imagination.
Senegal is one of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa most open to international cultural and economic interactions, including with Asian partners. It is among the most peaceful societies on the continent, one of its most vibrant and stable democracies. This is particularly true in the aftermath of the recent presidential elections, which again saw a peaceful political transition as well as new hopes of transformation for a predominantly young population.
Geographically speaking, Senegal, with its capital Dakar, plays the role of a regional hub, located a relatively short flight away from other major airports in Africa, America, Europe, and the Middle East. It is now well connected to many Asian capitals as well. The climate is maritime with a warm sunshine weather throughout the year.
Thus, Dakar offers an ideal location for the third edition of Africa-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge, and we look forward to meeting you there!
The proposal submission deadline has passed and the review stage has been concluded. More information will follow soon the upcoming months.
Building on the multiple encounters, interactions and dialogues initiated at the first Africa-Asia Conference (Accra, Ghana, 2015) and the second Africa-Asia Conference (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2018), this third edition of the ‘Africa-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge’ event seeks to deepen the explorations of new realities and long histories connecting Africa and Asia.
The collaborative mission of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD, Dakar, Senegal), Collective Africa-Southeast Asia Platform (CASAP, Bangkok, Thailand) and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS, Leiden, The Netherlands) aims to stimulate inquiry into the rich resources offered by the city of Dakar and its surroundings. In this way, the city itself enables the materialisation of an experiential Conference-Festival (ConFest) that celebrates diversity within academia, but that also extends beyond academia into civil society and the arts.
The ConFest aims to solidify an infrastructure of engagement, bringing together participants from a broad array of disciplinary backgrounds and regional specialisations including scholars, artists, intellectuals and educators based in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere around the world. Over the course of four days in Dakar, participants will be encouraged to think both comparatively and holistically about the challenges and possibilities of cross-continental and trans-regional encounters.