Ivan Vander Biesen

KU Leuven | ku leuven · Research unit for History

Starting from the nineteenth century descriptive literatures on Zanzibar by authors such as Sir Richard Burton and Charles Guillain, and Salima bint Said-Ruete's autobiography, we can draw a rather detailed picture of the relationship between the different social layers, cultures and genders on Zanzibar. Describing and differentiating the complexit...

This article presents an analysis of the invention of tradition within musics created by and related to Swahili culture. We focus on the ways the local tourist industry deals with musical heritage. Through the analysis of history and praxis of the traditional music of Zanzibar, we will showcase how the musical heritage is dealt with in four cases:...

Since the beginning of the Christian era, the Indian ocean constitutes, assuredly for those who dwell on its shores, the beginning of a world rather than the end of one. This world was created and supported by an economic system which extended to all communities around this vast ocean, comprising Oman, East Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. These...