HIGHLIGHT:    Launch of the « Archaelogy in Senegal » Exhibit

On Wednesday, Feb 3^rd in the afternoon, the West African Research Center (WARC) opened its doors to the public to attend an unprecedented exhibit offered by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), the Cultural Engineering and Anthropological Research Unit (URICA) of University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD-IFAN), the NGO ImagiNation Afrika and WARC.

The event kicked off with the words of welcome from the Director of WARC who strongly laid emphasis on its decades of collaborative work with the Smithsonian NMAAHC and URICA, but he also saluted the delegation representing the US Embassy by stressing the continued support of the US diplomatic representation to WARC’s initiatives and achievements in the worlds of learning, education, cultural cooperation and expressions etc…..

Taking the floor subsequently, Professor Ibrahima Thiaw of URICA, after his accolades to WARC and the Smithsonian, stated that archaeology, with all the artefacts it can display to illustrate the inventiveness of human genius and its adaptive abilities, should be used (along with other fields of knowledge) to help people (particularly the grassroot populations) to come to terms with their past and history and better understand and appropriate their identities.

The US Embassy representative, press attaché Fareed A. Abdullah, expressed words of greetings and appreciation from the Ambassador in Dakar and promised the US diplomatic representation’s eagerness to support endeavors of this kind for the further promotion of cultural and academic cooperation between the US, Senegal, West Africa, and the rest of the continent.

The head of the Smithsonian delegation, Dr Deborah Mack, joined the podium to expatiate on the many years of productive collaboration between her institution, URICA and WARC with a strong pledge to continue the good work with such reliable and professional partners. She then invited the dozens of attendees, including many reporters from national and international media, to visit the exhibit which, subsequently, would be moved to the UCAD campus and to other parts of Senegal for school children and other members of the communities to visit for their best edification on their roots, cultures and identities.