World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean

World on the Horizon: Swahili Arts Across the Indian Ocean is an enormously important contribution to the field of art history. This opinion does not stem from the vantage point of a seasoned African art historian or the authority that accompanies such a position. It is informed instead by a different but equally important perspective: that of a very new scholar, tenaciously scouring and gathering insights from those who have eminently forged the trails of knowledge ahead of her. However, armed with earnest and fresh inquiries, this particular scholar studies a segment of the field in a region of the world where such pathways have been relatively faint or wispy at best. Thankfully, a solid foundation is now established in the groundbreaking work of editors Prita Meier and Allyson Purpura, who begin to address this lacuna with their hefty and expansive compilation of essays. Twenty-one diverse writers (including the editors)...