In Abidjan, Cannes, New York, Marseille, Ouagadougou, Paris, Tangier or Burgundy, indoors or outdoors, here are 15 African culture events not to be missed this May. Don’t hesitate to send us your “must-see” cultural events at [email protected].
Memoria: stories of another History gathers until August 21 at the Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara (MuCAT) in Abidjan works of contemporary African art for ” the (re)construction of a common whole, a universal whole “. Among the 14 artists from the African continent: Joana Choumali, Myriam Hihindou, Rachel Marsil, Enam Gbewonyo, Selly Raby… “ This exhibition embodies the idea of a collective memory made up of a myriad of stories, stories, questions and experiences scattered throughout our individual, personal and intimate memories. »
Under the title World Unbound, MoMA in New York is devoting an exhibition to an Ivorian artist for the first time. Until August 13, the work of Frederic Bruly Bouabre is honored from the 1970s until the artist’s death in 2014. The focal point of the exhibition is the Bété-Bouabré Alphabet, the artist’s invention of the first writing system for the Bété people , an ethnic group of present-day Côte d’Ivoire to which the artist belonged.
From May 2 to 8, the 3rd edition of the Ouagadougou Contemporary Art Market. Under the title Transition, the initiative aims to make artists visible, but also the role of art in social cohesion. This atypical exhibition, combining art and nature, brings together in the Bangr Wéogo Urban Park some fifty painters, sculptors, graphic artists, photographers, caricaturists and designers from different countries on the African continent.
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On May 7, Benjamin Stora opens at the MuCEM in Marseille an afternoon of meetings under the theme ofAlgeria France, seen by… Historians, artists and younger generations are invited to share their views and their stories, “ thus questioning the complexity of collective and individual legacies “.
From May 5 to 22, the association For art for Africa invites us to the second edition of African crossings. This thematic route offers a discovery of artists from the African continent and its diaspora in 19 galleries and art centers in Paris and Île-de-France, from Romainville to the Marais district.
As part of the memories around slavery, ten exceptional performances of the play by Aimé Césaire, Notebook of a return to the native land, await spectators at the Théâtre de l’Épée de bois at the Cartoucherie de Vincennes, from May 5 to 15. At the origin of the project, the former president of the Memorial ACTe, Jacques Martial, actor, director, current adviser in charge of overseas since 2020.
On May 10, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, will inaugurate the first statue of a black woman erected in Paris. The inauguration of the statue Solitude will take place in the garden of the same name on Place du Général Catroux in the 17th arrondissement in the name of remembrance to this Guadeloupean resistance fighter against slavery, born in 1772 as the daughter of an African slave, raped by a sailor on the boat that took her deported to the West Indies.
The 9th edition of the Nollywood Week in Paris will offer between May 5 and 8 9 feature films and 5 short films at the L’Arlequin cinema. Nigerian director Moses Inwang opens the Festival with his new film Lockdown.
From May 13 to 15, the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris is offering The UFOs of Cameroonian cinema. A program proposed by the Cameroonian avant-garde director Jean-Pierre Bekolo, including his film The bleeding onesbut also Bikutsi Water Blues by Jean-Marie Teno or Sango-malo by Bassek Ba Khobia or Muna motorcycle by Dikongue Pipa.
This year, Boy From Heaven by Egyptian director Tarik Saleh, will be the only film from the African continent in the running for the Palme d’Or at the biggest cinema event in the world. What place will African cinema have in Cannes film festival ? To follow on rfi.fr between May 17 and 28.
From May 19 to 22, Menart Fair Paris pays homage to Western and Arab-Muslim, Mediterranean and African culture, among others with some twenty artists from North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt). ” Its specificity is the cultural mix specific to North Africa and the Mediterranean basin, which can be both a source of wealth and an obstacle. »
The Burgundy Tribal Show brings together dealers in classical African art from May 19 to 22. It is the first international art fair to be held in the countryside. The David Serra gallery offers, for example, an nkisi fetish, Cisola, from the Chokwe people of the Bas-Congo region, late 19th century. The Afrique & Kanem gallery exhibits a statuette of the Mambwé people there, from the 19th century, now the DRC.
1-54, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African Diaspora, returns May 19-22 to New York. The international lineup includes 25 galleries from Africa, Europe and the Middle East, with a particular focus on galleries in New York and Harlem.
From May 27 to June 5, the African Film Festival (FCAT) opens its doors in Tarifa, Tangier and in several branches in Cadiz and Ceuta making ” appeal to the notion of identity and balance between cultures “. The 19th edition of the festival will be marked by cinematography from the Dominican Republic, “ where the cultural heritage of Africa is present in all aspects of the life of its inhabitants “.
On May 28, the call for applications for the 2nd edition of the Ellipse Art Projects Award, dedicated this year to artists residing in Côte d’Ivoire. The project aims to support a collective awareness of the environment that surrounds us through the messages conveyed by the artists. The winner benefits, among other things, from an exhibition on the ellipse art projects stand at the international fair. AKAA – Also Known As Africa in Paris from October 20 to 23, 2022.
► Thank you to all the artists and professionals for their proposals. You too can send us your must-haves » of African culture in 2022 at [email protected].