World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean

The exhibition World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean debuted at the Krannert Art Museum (KAM), University of Illinois, before traveling to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Coorganized by KAM senior curator Allyson Purpura and former University of Illinois assistant professor of art history Prita Meier, the installation of this exhibition at the Krannert—the project's home venue—may be considered closest to the scholars' original vision. Purpura and Meier emphasize the arts presented as being reflective of a “world on the horizon,” which introductory wall text defines as “an outward looking ethos—one of encounter and possibility … connecting people on the Swahili Coast with faraway places.” The sprawling installation, showing many intricately detailed objects, reinforced this attitude by encouraging exploration and close looking. Meandering sightlines and glimpses into adjacent galleries through wall cut-outs at selected corners and odd angles in...