Felwine Sarr

Saint-Louis/Senegal — Novelist, Economist & Musician

Antoine Tempé

Felwine Sarr is a Senegalese scholar and writer. He teaches at Université Gaston-Berger, Saint-Louis, Senegal. His essay Afrotopia (Philippe Rey 2016, Matthes & Seitz Berlin 2019), which was received to international acclaim, repositions African knowledge and thinking. In 2016, together with Achille Mbembe, he founded “Les Ateliers de la pensée” in Dakar. In 2018, together with Bénédicte Savoy, he published the report On the Restitution of African Cultural Heritage commissioned by French president Macron, a globally discussed milestone in restitution politics. Sarr’s first novel Dahij appeared in 2009 with Gallimard.

Articles with and by Felwine Sarr:

Editorial

Membrane – Boundary & Connectedness

by Schlosspost

A membrane is employed as a boundary-object and as a site of connectedness. Looking at this dual character of the membrane, the discussion in this issue is about flows, exchange, permeability, and translations, as well as about restraint, rejections, and protected areas.

Interview

Afrotopia or The Future is Open

with Felwine Sarr by Deniz Utlu

Felwine Sarr talks about his essay »Afrotopia« and the need for a »cultural revolution« in Africa: »Now is the time to dream the utopia in Africa itself, and to design the continent ourselves!«

Curator’s Statement

Porosity: Pulse, Flow, Ebb

by Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard, Felwine Sarr, and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The three curators of the festival »Membrane – African Literatures and Ideas« intend to refresh the flow of words, images, ideas, people, and notions from Africa, from the many Africas into the rest of the world.