Omani Presence in East Africa

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On behalf of the Omani cultural magazine "Nizwa Magazine", an international team of filmmakers and experts explored the topic of mutual cultural and social exchange between Oman and East Africa from 2018 to 2023. To this end, the core team of the project (Friedrich Klütsch, Juma Al Maskari, Georg Popp, Joachim Puls and Michael Dickinson) undertook research trips to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Descendants of the Omani traders still live there today and are part of local society, not only in Zanzibar, the centre of the Omani trading empire in the 19th century.

In addition to three documentary films produced by deMAX GmbH, a non-fiction book with many illustrations was also produced, written by Georg Popp, in which the findings from the project and statements by renowned experts are summarised.

The book deals with the mutual influence and exchange between the two cultures, for example in the areas of clothing, agriculture, politics, art, religion, society and music, but also includes topics such as the ivory and slave trade. Also largely unknown in the West is the role of the Omani merchant Tippu Tip, who provided decisive assistance to almost all European African explorers, be it David Livingston or Morton Stanley.

The institutions involved in the project included the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium, and the national archives in Oman and Zanzibar.

The book is only printed in a small edition and is not commercially available. However, the English version is available here on our website as a free download pdf.

►download link "Omani Presence in East Africa"
320 pages, many illustrations