African-Indian Alliance
by Pashington Obeng
Contemporary African Indians are descendants from various dispersed Africans who arrived in India as part of the ancient trading patterns across the Arabian and Red Seas and the Indian Ocean. African Indians all together form a numerically small social group of about forty thousand on the Indian subcontinent.
“The Siddis of Karnataka are the descendants of early African immigrants to South Asia and enslaved Africans brought to India’s west coast from the 16th century. While they have adopted, adapted, and integrated many aspects of Indian cultures, Siddis have also retained and transformed African traditions. In the visual arts, one stands out: the patchwork quilts known as kawandi.
“Soulful Stitching” is co-curated by Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of African and African Diaspora Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Sarah K. Khan, and organized for the Davis Museum by Assistant Curator Amanda Gilvin.
