In Niger, the authorities announced a few days ago the creation of the Moustapha Alassane Cultural Center of Niger, named after a Nigerien director who died in 2015 in Ouagadougou. For over 60 years and until last June, the Cultural Center was Franco-Nigerian and named after Jean Rouch, a French director and ethnographer.
1 min
Affirmation of Nigerien sovereignty? Rewriting part of the country’s cultural history? The choice to rename the Franco-Nigerian cultural center raises questions in Niamey. A name change that causes debate “, headlines the Nigerien newspaper The Investigator. Cultural sovereignty is essential, the newspaper states, but it must not erase figures who have worked to promote Nigerien heritage. Like Jean Rouch, a French filmmaker and ethnologist who has travelled across Africa, and a lover of Niger, where he has worked for a long time.
It is his name that bore the Franco-Nigerian Cultural Center, an institution for more than sixty years that ceased to function as a binational establishment at the end of June, a decision that came at a time when Franco-Nigerian relations are at their lowest, since last year’s coup d’état.
The cultural center is now renamed. According to the press release from the Council of Ministers, the creation of the Moustapha Alassane Cultural Center of Niger is part of the strengthening of the national cultural identity. The Nigerien filmmaker Moustapha Alassane was a friend of Jean Rouch who was also his mentor. He and other Nigerian filmmakers must be turning in their graves. “, writes the former trade unionist Issoufou Kado Magagi. For him, ” Niger should not confuse certain French citizens who have given a lot to the country with certain misguided elements of the French government. »
Also listen toNiamey – Accra: the Jean Rouch adventure