Curating a transnational intellectual space: A conversation with Dr Kumar Mahabir and Shalima Mohammed about the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre’s Thought Leaders’ Public Forum

In 2020, scholars and community organizers, Dr Kumar Mahabir and Shalima Mohammed, co-founded the weekly Zoom webinar programme, the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Centre’s (ICC) ‘Thought Leaders’ Public Forum’. In conversation with Gabrielle Jamela Hosein, they reflect on the series’ history and contribution, their intellectual collaboration over six years and their curation of more than 300 sessions. The interview traces their aspirations and commitments to heritage preservation, and the global reach of the Forum – geographically as well as thematically. It also highlights some of the challenges and sacrifices behind the production of this community-based, participatory, digital archive. Finally, the interview documents these collaborators’ expanded efforts to build community and knowledge through tours to sites of Indian indenture. Both on and offline, they offer insight into their ‘real-world engagement’ with indenture’s legacies.