Max Diallo Jakobsen is one of four Princeton University seniors who have been awarded the Henry Richardson Labouisse 1926 Prize to pursue international civic engagement projects for one year following graduation.

Diallo Jakobsen, a history major from Conakry, Guinea, will return home to trace indigo dyeing practices.

The Labouisse Prize, which awards $35,000 to each recipient, enables graduating seniors to engage in a project that exemplifies the life and work of Henry Richardson Labouisse, a 1926 Princeton alumnus who was a diplomat, international public servant and champion for the causes of international justice and international development. Labouisse’s daughter Anne Peretz and family established the prize in 1984. It is administered by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS).

“Henry M. Labouisse’s dedication to global service, work and diplomacy is more relevant than ever in a world that is effectively deglobalizing with increasing political, economic, social and cultural compartmentalizing at the international and national levels,” said Emmanuel Kreike, professor of history and chair of the Labouisse selection committee. “International development cooperation is on the decline, war dominates diplomacy, and nations close borders in the face of waves of human migrants displaced by political and economic crises and invading microbes pushed by climate change. A telltale sign of these trends at the local Princeton level is that our average students’ international educational exposure has declined in duration from a semester or summer abroad to a break week. This year’s Henry M. Labouisse Fellows through their commitment to a year of service to help make our world a better place, demonstrate that Henry M. Labouisse’s ideals remain a powerful inspiration.”

Max Diallo Jakobsen

Diallo Jakobsen will return to the west African nation of Guinea — a country to which he has close personal ties and that he has conducted research in through various experiences at Princeton. “Although I had spent a couple of years of my childhood in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, my connection to my mother’s home country had always felt tenuous,” he said. With the support of the Alex Adam ‘07 Award, Diallo Jakobsen traveled to Guinea in summer 2023 to retrace the life of his grandfather who had been an indigo dyer before fleeing the country in the 1960s due to political instability. “Immersing myself in the art of indigo dyeing, a long-standing tradition and practice in the region, I traversed the country, seeking out artisans and communities working with indigo and indigo dyed fabrics.” Through this research, he “was able to meet with elected officials, businesswomen, artists and artisans,” he said. “On a deeply personal note, this research also allowed me to begin healing a rift in my heritage caused by my grandfather's exile. In retracing my family’s history with indigo, I was able to pick up what my grandfather was forced to give up.”

Diallo Jakobsen’s senior thesis traces indigo’s material, cultural and socio-political history in Guinea: from its emergence as a discursive Fulani cultural symbol to how it colored the formation of Guinean national identity in the postcolonial period. His art practice — he is earning a minor in visual arts — which spans sculpture, painting, video, and installation, has coalesced around explorations of and with indigo. He has made an organic indigo vat in his studio that he uses to dye fabrics and is co-directing an experimental short film exploring the interwoven histories of cotton and indigo across the Black diaspora.

During his fellowship year, in partnership with Guinea’s National Office for the Promotion of Arts and Craftmanship, Diallo Jakobsen will continue his research on indigo dyeing in Guinea and across West Africa. He will translate some of the acquired knowledge and skills into his own art practice, and use this opportunity to enable and establish linkages and relationships among local and international stakeholders passionate about promoting African craftsmanship and creativity. “My life’s mission is to engage deeply with the emotional and historical truths of this place I call home,” he said. “I hope that my contributions in research and art open doors to further explorations of indigo dyeing and African art more broadly. This is the type of comprehensive research that could only be conducted through a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like the Labouisse prize and it is the type of research that is long overdue for my community, country and continent.”