Ibrahima (Ibou) Niang joined the NYU Gallatin community as the Gallatin Global Faculty in Residence for the Fall 2023 semester. Ibou is originally from Senegal and is a political scientist, writer, artist, musician, and poet. He was a 2018 Yale World Fellow and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science an MA in International Governance and an MA in International Public Law from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. He also holds a BA in International Relations and Economics from the University of Reading, England. Ibou provides over 16 years of expertise in the areas of human rights, arts, politics, and society, West African politics, restitution of African heritage, and comparative politics. Professor Niang taught Back to Africa: Restitution of African Heritage this fall 2023 semester. He also created, staged, and performed an original play titled, The Singing Masks at the Jerry H. Labowitz Theatre for Performing Arts.
Tiffany Golding (Assistant Director of Global Programs): Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Ibou Niang: I am from Senegal, in West Africa. I define myself as a citizen of the world because I’ve traveled and worked in many different places, mainly, on the African continent, but I studied, in England, where I did my undergraduate, and then moved to Senegal, to do my master and my PhD, and then just worked across the region. I worked in Africa as a consultant and permanent staff of organizations working on human rights and democracy building. I’ve had 15 years of experience in the field of governance. I have different identities, I’m an academic, an activist for human rights, a democracy activist, and also an artist, a poet, a writer, and a musician to some extent, and all those identities make who I am, the person I am today. I am also passionate about writing about fishing, traveling, and anything that has to do with the ocean, I’m an absolute lover of the ocean, water just makes me feel at peace.
Tiffany Golding: Could you describe the work that you do?
Ibou Niang: I am working on the restitution of African heritage. It means supporting all the actors across the African continent, who are fighting to bring back objects and treasures that were looted from Africa during colonization. But it goes beyond colonization because as we speak, more objects are being looted. It’s not only objects, it’s also intangible heritage, like music and ways of thinking and doing things. My work is to help connect the different actors around the world who are working on this issue but also to help develop knowledge on this issue, to raise interest both in Africa and in the global north, so that more actors can be interested in this topic, to lend a hand and provide support. It’s not only financial support, it’s technical support. It’s symbolic support. It’s supporting campaigns of activism.
I also think what I’m doing right now at NYU Gallatin is extremely important. Even actors in the field, feel that it’s a way of recognizing the importance of the work, and having a curriculum on this issue is extremely important for them, because they feel that it’s a way of respecting the work that is being done and sharing the knowledge with a larger audience who can, in turn, be good advocates for the work. I work at the intersection of arts, culture, and politics when it comes to this issue, and do a lot of advocacy supporting the African Union, and the regional economic communities, supporting civil society groups, working to file claims, but also helping them understand how to navigate international politics, to have quick wins, how to go about negotiations, how to reach out to key organizations for additional support.
Tiffany Golding: How has your transition coming from abroad to work and teach with Gallatin students?
Ibou Niang: My transition has been extremely smooth. I had a similar experience in 2018, as a Fellow at Yale University. But this experience, I must say is quite different because, for the first time, I’ve had to sit and design a curriculum, learn how to evaluate students, and be evaluated by them and learn how to use strategies to make students interested in this topic. I can say it’s not the sexiest topic. When I say I work on restitution, people always ask me, several questions, what is restitution? what are you doing? what is this? What is that? So it’s not like one of those things you understand on the first go. But I must say that the faculty at Gallatin has been extremely welcoming and supportive, and the students have been extremely amazing. I’m learning more from students because they are just so engaging, and I think Gallatin is the best place where I could be doing this work.
Tiffany Golding: Can you tell me about the course you taught this semester?
Ibou N: This semester, I’m teaching a course called Back to Africa, the Restitution of African Heritage. The course is about the looted artifacts from the continent. It has a very heavy component in history. I explain what was in Africa before colonization, challenging theories saying that there was nothing in Africa before colonization, but also talking about the injustices and the violence of current colonization, in Africa, before trying to understand the importance of those objects that were looted, not only for Africa, but for the world.
Tiffany Golding: Can you tell me about you’re Singing Masks event? What is its significance?
Ibou Niang: The Singing Masks is a play about restitution. It is centered on two main characters, the African prince, and a European or Western ethnographer, who fell in love when the ethnographer came into the Kingdom on an ethnographic mission. Later, the prince was promised to one of his cousins, and his father decided to marry him by force because he felt that if he didn’t do so, he would get married to the Western ethnographer. This would have a social impact on the kingdom.
The prince didn’t want to be in an arranged marriage. He stayed true to his feelings and decided to just disappear. Everyone thought he died. The king expelled the ethnographer and ethnographic mission from the kingdom. As they were leaving the kingdom, she was sold a very important mask, which was the symbol of love, hope, and, you know, prosperity, hoping that it would connect her with her lover in the other world. Years passed, and then she realized that the mask wasn’t bringing her all those things she had hoped for. Maybe because she wasn’t properly using them, because she met the ghosts of the prints, and they engaged in a conversation that helped her perform rituals that ultimately led her to bring the object home, to Africa, reconciling herself with the people from the community. Ultimately, she met again, her lover, the prince, who, throughout all these years was not dead.
The story is really about the looting, but it’s also about the processes, negotiations, and engagements that can help the repatriation of these important objects. Doing so without shaming people, without creating conflict, and still maintaining the good relationships that we have between Africa and the West. It’s also about the real meaning of some of these objects, explaining that, for a European or a Westerner, the understanding of the perspective they have about these objects is completely different from what these are for Africans. They are art artifacts, they are objects for exhibition, and objects that are used for religious purposes, and social purposes in African countries. It’s about posing all those complex issues, but then using love and this relationship between the two to show that there is a possibility of bringing back those objects. It’s important to reconcile people without having to shame anyone or having to create more conflict than there is already in the world.
Tiffany Golding: You are also currently working with the Dean’s Honors Society, one of our Scholars groups, and are planning a trip to Dakar, Senegal. What are you most excited for the Gallatin students to experience in Senegal?
Ibou Niang: I’m excited that they can experience an African country that is not going to fit the stereotypes many people have about Africa. Senegal is quite an advanced country with a relatively stable democracy. I’m happy that they will be meeting other students and young people in Senegal, who are also very passionate about the same things, and values and promote the same rights as them. They can understand that at the end of the day, this world citizenry is something concrete. Senegal is an eight-hour flight away from the US, but people have the same values, these young people have the same passions, they speak English, they are bilingual, they make things happen, and are also committed to doing things for their country. I’m also excited that they will get to experience elements of Senegalese culture, like the music, the food, and Senegalese fashion. I think it’s going to be a mutual enrichment. They will go to enrich Senegalese kids and people. I’m also really excited about the fact that they will be visiting, a garbage plant, or a place where they can also understand the environmental issues that we are facing in Africa. Maybe they can also share thoughts and ideas and even have ideas for projects that they could implement or suggest to help address some of those issues, which are not only Senegalese issues. These issues of waste, and the environment, are global, but experiencing them in another context will be interesting for them.
Tiffany Golding: Any words of advice for Gallatin students going forward?
Ibou Niang: I would just encourage Gallatin students to continue to be dreamers. Most of the Gallatin students I meet remind me of myself because they dream big. They don’t have any limitations. Usually, you would meet a law student and if you asked them what they want to do when they leave university, they want to be a lawyer. If you meet someone doing medicine, they would say I want to become a doctor. Gallatin students, they’re like I could be anything. It just depends on what I’m interested in. I think those are the people who are going to make an impact in the world because they will not be focused on the skills they’ve been taught at university, but they’ll be using the skills and the attitude that they’ve been able to nurture throughout their lives to do things that they feel are meaningful. For them and the global community. I believe that those are the people who are going to make a difference. People who think out of the box, people who dream big, and who don’t restrain themselves to certain things and codes. I feel that Gallatin students are like that, and they are amazing.