Rencontres AKAA

A panel discussion moderated by Samba Doucouré, with:

• Géraldine Faladé: Author of Turbulentes
• Artur Da Costa: Co-translator of La génération de l’utopie de Pepetela
• Mamadou Diouf: Director of the History, Politics and Society collection
• Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo: Co-author of Afrika N’ko

Cheikh Anta Diop stated in his fifth book, Antériorité des civilisations nègres : Mythe ou vérité historique ?, which was published by Présence Africaine in 1967: “We cannot escape the constraints of the historical moment to which we belong.” 

The struggle for emancipation of Afro-descendants, women and the voiceless have brought their share of disillusionment, given that liberation is never the result of a fixed moment and rather reveals itself in the course of time through interwoven struggles. Deconstructing, building and rebuilding. Taking one’s place in a world in movement. The aim is to recognise and comprehend the itinerary of these struggles and their effects on re-appropriation, whether it is ontological, national or identity-based.

In French

Reading time with Hemline Bellini (voice) and Stéphane Castry (bass).
Extract from Ode humaniste pour Chibok pour Leah (Wole Soyinka)

A panel discussion moderated by Samba Doucouré, with:

• Teddy Kossoko: Founder of MASSEKA GAME
• Cheick Oumar Kanté: Author of Il n’existe de paradis qu’au paradis
• Michel Lobé Ewané: Author of Être milliardaire en Afrique
• Flore Agnes Nda Zoa : Editor – Association la Cene littéraire

Since its creation, Présence Africaine has been deeply rooted in the present and serves as a freeing platform where all voices and their challenges, whether dissident or avant-garde, can express themselves. A new question has emerged after yesterday’s unrest: how to protect ourselves within an Africa that has been freed from colonial domination? Beyond the importance of the healing of Africa and the consequences of such an unstable continent, the new discourses must not be constructed around a blind Afro-optimism.

It is about changing the paradigm. Making your voice heard. Reclaiming the power. In an interconnected world where representation is crucial, the new generation is altering the dialectic through the creation of new, positive images, which challenge the classic depictions of a poor and idle Africa. Social media allows these voices to be heard, for building communities, and for recreation through the discovery of a multifaceted Afro-culture. It is the diatribe of today’s and tomorrow’s world that will enable the creation of a definite and realistic Afro-future. Whereas it is constantly evolving to the rhythm of the agents shaping it, by what means is Africa being created and recreated? What will be the Africa of the 21st century?

in French

Reading time with Helmie Bellini (voice) et Stéphane Castry (bass).
Extract from Leurres et lueurs, Birago Diop.

A panel discussion moderated by Stéphanie Hartmann, with:

• Eugénie Ndiaye : Urbanist
• Séverine Kodjo Grandvaux : Author of Devenir vivants
• Jean Phillippe Verdol : Author of de Le chlordécone aux Antilles françaises

The greatest challenge of the century is the preservation of the environment and is currently at the heart of global concerns. Yet, while ecology has been considered an external problem for years, environmental disparities are not exempt from social injustices, and sometimes even contribute to them, both as causes and vectors. How does domination continue through an environmental ideology? What imaginaries and ideals are being projected onto the African continent to make it a receptacle for oppression by the earth? How is the domination of the Black body also the domination of territories, an ideological framework, at the origin of an erroneous representation of Africa and the Caribbean? Between intersectionality and environmentalism, the decolonial ecology, hence, becomes central in the battle against climate change, as the key to breaking free from imagery that is both outdated and harmful.

in French

Reading time with Helmie Bellini (voice) and Stephane Castry (bass).
Extract from Eclaboussure, Véronique Kanor.

A panel discussion moderated by Kwabena Ndié, with:

• Souleymane Bachir Diagne: Author de De langue à langue. L’hospitalité de la traduction
• Abibatou Kemgné: Author of L’homme de la maison
• Kara Diaby: Fondateur de REPAT AFRICA

Through words, dreams will be unleashed. Those dreams are from here and elsewhere, the odes to freedom and humanism. In the era of globalisation, migration and population movements, Africans and Afro-descendants encountered a moving world, in which they equally move along. There are movements of return, movements of departure, and movements of their will to find their place. In regards to romanesque epics, human frescoes or documented enquiries, what about the movement of the world’s Afro-descendants? How do we deal with an always developing elsewhere? How can we be at home, when we are away from home? What about the significance of the relationship to its language?

In French

A panel discussion moderated by Stéphanie Hartmann, with :

• Armelle Dakouo : Artistic Director of AKAA
• Emmanuelle Courreges : Author of Swinging Africa – le continent mode
• Abd Al Malik : Author of Le jeune noir à l’Epée

As art allows for revolutionising to reappropriate one’s history, through its use of various aesthetic tools. Literature, fashion, visual arts: how has art become the new norm of emancipation? And who are these architects of transformation?

In French.

Reading time with Helmie Bellini (voice) & Stéphane Castry (bass).
Extract from Soundjata, Djibril Tamsir Niane.

A panel discussion moderated by Stéphanie Hartmann, with:

• Lucile Cornet Vernet : Founder of La Maison de l’Artemisia
• Arnaud Zohou : Author de Une histoire de Vodoun
• Bolewa Sabourin : Dancer

With its undeniable cultural wealth, traditions, practices and customs and the African heritage are at the heart of a new dialectic. Discovering oneself, and living properly, is above all a process of connecting one’s roots to the present, discovering what yesterday has in common with today. African heritage is the product of abundance, and its riches, constantly rediscovered, bring well-being and self-awareness. Rediscovering heritage also means restoring Africa’s credentials: dance, logic games, works of art… The aim is to analyse the extent to which the African heritage has progressively become an essential instrument in the service of tomorrow in a period of great change.

In French

Reading time with Helmie Bellini (voice) et Stéphane Castry (bass).
Extract from de Une histoire de Vodoun, Arnaud Zohou.

Writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr in conversation with Tirthankar Chanda.

In French

A performance that symbolises the African Diaspora’s innate pursuit of cultural awareness, a deciphering of popular culture to trace ancestral lineage via image & sound. Smooth jazz instrumentation, complimented by thought provoking lyrics, walk the audience through inner conflict & victories. In the words of Maya Angelou, UNAJI&Co steps forth as one but stand as 10000, seamlessly weaving ancestral lineage with contemporary sensibilities.
Seekers shall find.

This vocal performance expresses violence and gentleness. Through a selection of feminist texts and two poems written by Annabel Guérédrat she explores with Christiane Prince, the drummer musician, their bodies as a performers and as a subject matter. They examine their political entities to reclaim their power and from which they break down the barriers, from physical expression to vocal expression, in order to fully capture the space. They are in their own enunciation autonomy and build a musical composition, a path of women’s bodies through the ambivalence, the ambiguity of beings, the ephemeral fragility of cultures to finally explode the identity myth towards a post punk afro form.

HABILITATE, in its first definition is to clothe. To clothe, to dress, to sublimate with simplicity. A subtly sharp simplicity from all worlds of fashion.
HABILITATE also means to make capable, to give ability. doKKe is resolutely committed to slow-fashion Made in SENEGAL with manufacturing procedures and design choices inspired by my roots and my openness to the world. The result: a unique allure that anyone can make their own.

INCITATE, FACILITATE, then HABILITATE.

– Ramatoulaye Diop, Founder

An encounter between the islands of the Caribbean and the Amazon. As the famous poet and essayist Aimé Césaire stated: “In us, all men. Within us, the animal, the plant, the mineral. Man is not only man. He is the universe”. Through the magma of David Gumbs’ digital flowering and Jacqueline Sierra de la Libi Na Weli’s body immersed in the virtual artwork, it is the beauty of the Black body which allows itself to be both consumed and sublimated by tropical nature, its natural habitat and its ally through time, history and the traditions of the communities from these territories.

Papytsho Mafolo presents Afro-dite and angel of light in the performance Paradigme nouveau. It is a form of interpellation to create public awareness towards recycling as well as responsible consumerism, by taking into account the current environmental and social challenges. According to Mafolo, visual arts and creativity in all its forms can contribute greatly to the deconstruction of many patterns and beliefs.