Philip Kwame Boafo, theatre and performance studies scholar and Spring 2026 fellow in the Restitution and Reparation: Africa and the Post-Colonial Condition program at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, facilitated a session for incoming residents of the Library of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) on March 22, 2026, as part of the West African Road Residents program.
Titled “Road Curiosity: On Knowing While in Motion,” Boafo’s session explored knowledge as fluid and evolving rather than fixed in traditional archives. Using the road as both metaphor and method, he encouraged participants to engage all their senses and to build connections with people, places, and experiences. The session also addressed knowledge extractivism and the importance of ethical, reciprocal research practices.
Boafo’s research examines religious processions in Accra, Ghana, as sensuous and performative archives that transmit memory, knowledge, and social relations beyond text-based frameworks. As a resident fellow, he investigates the ritual afterlives of restituted sacred objects, exploring how their return generates new performances, obligations, and forms of recolonization in postcolonial African contexts.
Alongside his scholarship, Boafo maintains an active practice as a movement maker and performance curator. His performances, workshops, and participatory projects have been presented internationally, highlighting embodied and sensory ways of knowing.
Philip Kwame Boafo, theatre and performance studies scholar and Spring 2026 fellow in the Restitution and Reparation: Africa and the Post-Colonial Condition program at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, facilitated a session for incoming residents of the Library of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) on March 22, 2026, as part of the West African Road Residents program.
Philip Kwame Boafo, theatre and performance studies scholar and Spring 2026 fellow in the Restitution and Reparation: Africa and the Post-Colonial Condition program at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, facilitated a session for incoming residents of the Library of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD) on March 22, 2026, as part of the West African Road Residents program.
Titled “Road Curiosity: On Knowing While in Motion,” Boafo’s session explored knowledge as fluid and evolving rather than fixed in traditional archives. Using the road as both metaphor and method, he encouraged participants to engage all their senses and to build connections with people, places, and experiences. The session also addressed knowledge extractivism and the importance of ethical, reciprocal research practices.
Boafo’s research examines religious processions in Accra, Ghana, as sensuous and performative archives that transmit memory, knowledge, and social relations beyond text-based frameworks. As a resident fellow, he investigates the ritual afterlives of restituted sacred objects, exploring how their return generates new performances, obligations, and forms of recolonization in postcolonial African contexts.
Alongside his scholarship, Boafo maintains an active practice as a movement maker and performance curator. His performances, workshops, and participatory projects have been presented internationally, highlighting embodied and sensory ways of knowing.
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