In Libreville, Brussels, Ségou, Saint-Denis, Paris, Sharjah, Marrakech, Ivry-sur-Seine, Cotonou, Ouidah, Poitiers, Berlin, Ouagadougou, indoors or outdoors, here are sixteen meetings of Afro culture or not to be missed in this month of February. Don’t hesitate to send us your next “must-see” cultural events at [email protected].
In Gabon, the Black History Arts Festival invites us to reflect on the history of black cultures and arts. From February 1 to 28, at the National Museum of Arts, Rites and Traditions of Gabon and at the French Institute of Gabon, in Libreville, the stated ambition is to give ” a place for the value of art by making a historical connection for the preservation of black culture “.
Since February 1st, the European House of Photography (MEP) in Paris offers us the first retrospective in France dedicated to the South African visual activist Zanele Muholi. Her very committed work aims to promote, make visible and document the lives of members of the black LGBTQIA+ community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersex, asexuals +).
From February 3 to 5, the Menart Fair Brussels open their doors. As 42% of the artists exhibited are women, the fair will raise the question of the status of the female artist in the regions of North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf.
In Ségou, Mali, until February 5, Segou’Art, the Festival sur le Niger, opens its doors on the theme “Heritage and creativity”. On the program: Contemporary art fair, theatre, dance, workshops, master classes, conferences, giant concerts on the banks of the Niger River, cultural caravan for peace…
On February 6, the Panorama of cinemas in the Maghreb and the Middle East (PCMMO) in Saint-Denis offers the first film, recently rediscovered, by Mostafa Derkaoui, a pioneer director of modern Moroccan cinema: Of some meaningless events (1974). The session will be followed by an unpublished documentary by Sophie Delvallée on the filmmaker: Freely, Mostafa Derkaoui (2022).
From February 7, the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris paints a portrait of the writer, poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor (1909-2001), through his cultural policy in the aftermath of Senegal’s independence. Senghor and the arts. Reinvent the universal brings together the reflections and achievements in the cultural field of this champion of Negritude.
From February 7 to 11, the 15th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates, conceived by Okwui Enwezor and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, looks at Enwezor’s visionary work under the title: Thinking Historically in the Present. More than 150 artists from 70 countries are expected. The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg is participating by offering works by South African artist Gabrielle Goliath, Angolan artist Kiluanjui Kia Henda from Angola, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum from Botswana and Yinka Shonibare who grew up in Nigeria before moving to settle in the UK.
February 9 will open in Paris The Windows, a new space dedicated to African arts. Its particularity consists in bringing together a center of specialized skills both in ancient African arts and in the contemporary scenes of the continent. The inaugural exhibitions are provided by the 31 Project gallery (Group effect) and by Charles-Wesley Hourdé (Selected pieces).
From February 9 to 12, the largest international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora, 1:54 Marrakesh is back. La Mamounia will host more than 20 galleries from around the world to present the work of more than 60 African and diaspora artists.
From February 10 to 12, the Aleph Theater in Ivry-sur-Seine presents By meeting Godot by Ivorian author Tiburce Koffi, Grand Prix RFI du Théâtre in 1996. Conceived as an echo of the famous play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket, the show interpreted by Cie Culture du Monde 2007 and directed by Bello Elisabeth Oseini, wishes to give an unexpected follow-up to expectations and hopes never realized.
the Benin International Arts Festival (Finab) in Cotonou Porto-Novo and Ouidah welcomes from February 14 to 19 art enthusiasts, professionals and art dealers of all disciplines.
From February 14 to March 12, the exhibition African Workplaces shows the work on the African continent. What images attract the attention of image professionals? Researchers and photographers cross their eyes on their professional practice of photography of Africa and work. What are these “areas of the photographable”? How to make shadow workers visible? Event offered as part of the Filmer le Travail Festival and the Institut des Afriques Season, in partnership with Espace Mendès France in Poitiers.
From February 16 to 26, the Berlinale will open its doors. Several films from the African continent have been selected for this 2023 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, one of the biggest film festivals in the world.
Until February 18, the Parisian gallery Christophe Person, in collaboration with the South African gallery Guns & Rain in Johannesburg, presents an exhibition on textile artists from South Africa: Flag bearer for women and the LGBTI community. A comparison between the figurative and abstract expression of Sizwe Sama and Bev Butkow, as well as an encounter between the intimate work and the work of the archive of Hannah Macfarlane and Jo Rogge.
The German Ernst Barlach Haus museum in Hamburg pays tribute to the Beninese artist Georges Adeagbo. Until February 19, the German institution exhibits the works of the artist born in 1942 in Cotenou and considered today as one of the most important artists in Africa and a pioneer of an art of the “Global South”. . His exhibition includes a deep exchange with the work of the expressionist Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) who left many traces in the work of Adéagbo.
From February 25 to March 4, the 28th edition of the Fespaco in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The largest pan-African film festival is this year dedicated to “African cinema and the culture of peace”. 170 cinema and television films and series were selected under the direction of General Delegate Alex Moussa Sawadogo. Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha will chair the jury that will award the Golden Stallion, the supreme award for African cinema.
► Do not hesitate to send us your must-haves of African culture at [email protected].