New Currents Symposium

Join us for the day-long New Currents symposium, presented by the Nieuwe Instituut and its international partners. The event will explore the shared histories and futures of the Indian Ocean region through panel discussions, film screenings and artworks, as well as an evening keynote. Bringing together historians, architects, artists and curators from across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Indian Ocean diaspora, theprogramme will examine how artistic, spatial and memory practices can foster new forms of connection across oceans, coastlines and communities.

Through four ‘currents’ or themes – Ports as Portals, Oceanic Resonances, Water Preparedness and the film programme Coasts as Companions – the symposium reimagines the Indian Ocean as a connected archipelago rather than a collection of nation states. It will also explore Rotterdam’s place within these interconnected histories. Discussions will address topics such as colonial legacies, migration, climate justice, urban development, ecological knowledge and community-led futures, highlighting practices of archiving, listening, care and solidarity across the region. New Currents will invite audiences to build lasting collaborations beyond the symposium.

Contributors include MADEYOULOOK (Nare Mokgotho), Vidya Shivadas, Zahra Malkani, Urbz (Kareena Kochery and Samidha Patil), Traci Kwaai, We Are From Here (Firi Rahman and Lojithan Ram), Sarojini Lewis, Ola Hassanain, The Packet (Sandev Handy and Abdul Halik Azeez) and Lou Mo. The programme concludes with an evening keynote by Mpho Matsipa.

The event is supported by the Nieuwe Instituut’s International Visitors Programme, the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in India and Sri Lanka, and the International Institute for Asian Studies in Leiden.