100 for 100: Allen Roberts
Prof. Allen Roberts reflects on connections forged between the university & Senegalese artists
On the occasion of UCLA’s Centennial, UCLA Arts is proud to present 100 for 100—a collection of stories that celebrate the rich history of the arts at UCLA over the past century. Each monthly newsletter throughout the yearlong celebration will feature a new story that reflects on our past and imagines what’s possible for our future. We invite our community to explore these stories and contribute their own to the collection.
This month's contribution is by Professor Allen Roberts, UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance
July 23rd, 2019, marked the sixteenth Sheikh Amadu Bamba Day, as recognized by a proclamation of the Los Angeles City Council on behalf of the Senegalese community of Southern California. Amadu Bamba (1853-1927) was a Sufi saint whose life lessons of generosity through hard work inspire many Senegalese Muslims.
Assisting in creation of this poignant day of remembrance were the late Mary “Polly” Nooter Roberts (1959–2018), then Chief Curator and Deputy Director of the Fowler Museum of Cultural History and later Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and Allen F. Roberts, Professor of World Arts and Cultures. Such outreach was central to the Robertses’ exhibition and book program called “A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal” that was sponsored by the Fowler through major funding from the National Endowment of the Humanities.
Senegalese artists and members of the LA community brainstormed and otherwise assisted every aspect of the project, for their collaboration was the point: what would they like American audiences to know about their creative lives? “A Saint in the City” opened at the Fowler in 2003 and traveled to five more US museums through 2008. The New York Times deemed it one of 2003’s ten best exhibitions on any theme at any American museum, while its accompanying book won the two most significant prizes in African Studies.
Polly and Allen Roberts with Senegalese dignitaries on opening night of Saint in the City
The cataclysm of 9-11 occurred as the “Saint in the City” program was in its late stages of preparation. When, in response to this fearful moment, WAC Chair Christopher Waterman invited the Robertses to organize a departmental teach-in about Islam as a faith of peace, Senegalese friends asked to participate so as to explain how Amadu Bamba was a pacifist and proponent of religious tolerance as are they. Over subsequent years, grandsons of Amadu Bamba have come from Senegal to lead the annual celebration of the saint in Los Angeles.
Once again on July 23rd, 2019, thanks and blessings were offered to the Robertses and their UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture colleagues for helping to create an event so deeply meaningful to the Senegalese community, and especially in today’s difficult days when Islam is sometimes disparaged by US government authorities and others as anything but a religion of peace.