Through the figure of the silk worm, hiba ali’s exhibition maps family stories that feature swahili-indian ocean afterlives including sufi saint, bava gor, “roshan rui’, the cyclone, indian ocean servitude and slavery and the role of silk. Featuring videos, sound, weavings, and more, the work builds off of ali’s extensive research on the black indian ocean, which explores the history and continued presence of afro-descent communities from the black indian ocean and maps relationships between the arab world, south asia and the swahili coast of east africa. The exhibition is accompanied by a newly commissioned essay on ali’s work by […]