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Hip-hop in Senegal, Mozambican painting in South Africa, African cinema in Ouagadougou, New York or Cannes, Algerian photography in Tourcoing, contemporary African art in Douala, London or Paris, puppets in Porto Novo ... What will be the highlights of African culture in 2019? Send us your "must-haves" to rfipageculture@yahoo.fr. Here are 28 proposals.
January
At the 27th Festival Suresnes Cités Danse (January 11 - February 3), in the Paris region, hip-hop is fusing with contemporary international creation including a Moroccan set choreographed by two big names in hip-hop, Kader Attou and Mourad Merzouki.
In Senegal, the association Africulturban will present on January 12 the grand finale of the springboard Hip Hop Flow Up Vol6 . The event will take place as part of the 30-year-old Hip-Hop Galsen celebration, on the esplanade of the Grand Théâtre de Dakar / Museum of Black Civilizations.
After discovering during the previous edition the decline of the fishmongers and the increase of emigration in Senegal, what will be the look this year on Africa and the look of African filmmakers on the world at the International Festival of Programs Audiovisuals (FIPA) in Biarritz? Answer between January 22nd and 27th. The 32nd edition will be transformed in 2019 for the first time into Fipadoc (International Documentary Film Festival) to present " exceptional works selected around the world " and " the best documentary ".
February
In Ségou, from February 2nd to 9th, the 2nd edition of Ségou'Art, the Biennial of Contemporary Art of Mali, opens its doors to unearth new figures of contemporary African creation and "to engage in a reflection on the development of visual arts in Africa, and to create the optimal conditions for their emergence . "
In Burkina Faso, from February 23 to March 2, Fespaco, the legendary panafrican film festival of Ouagadougou, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. The theme for the 26th edition is Memory and Future of African Cinema . Beyond the 200 films presented, the international competition and the special programs, a special selection will celebrate the iconic films of the last 50 years.
Photograph Algeria . This unique exhibition conceived by the Institute of the Arab World in Turcoing, in the north of France, exposes the eyes of famous photographers like Marc Riboud, Mohamed Kouaci, Thérèse Rivière, Karim Kal or Bruno Boudjelal. A hundred photos, from the colonial conquest to the twentieth century. From February 28th to July 13th.
March
On March 20th, the prizes will be awarded for the first edition of the RFI-AUF Young Writing Prize . Cooperation between the world radio and the university agency of la francophonie. The literary work must start with the phrase "Every story begins one day, somewhere".
Tutankhamun, the treasure of Pharaoh will be admired from March 23 for six months at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris. On the occasion of the centenary of the discovery of the tomb, this may be the last opportunity to (re) discover the history of the most famous pharaohs before the permanent installation of this collection in the new Egyptian Grand Museum of Cairo .
In Morocco, the 25th edition of the International Festival of Mediterranean Cinema in Tetouan will award at the end of March its Tamouda prize. Between March 23rd and 30th, 10,000 spectators are expected during this film event "for the purpose of revealing and promoting Mediterranean cinematography in a spirit of exchange, sharing and conviviality ".
At the Zeitz Mocaa Museum in Cape Town, South Africa, the exhibition Five Bhobh - Painting at the End of an Era closes on March 31st. 29 artists from Zimbabwe will have interviewed for seven months daily life in their country, but also their society through painting under the theme " painting at the end of an era ."
April
The 35th Vues d'Afrique International Film Festival will be held April 5-14 in Montreal, Quebec. The event sees itself as a reference organization for the information and the diffusion of cultural productions on Africa, the Creole countries and their diasporas.
It is the most important film event of Madagascar, organized in association with the French Institute of Madagascar and RoziFilms, between April 19th and 27th. The 14th edition of the Madagascar Short Film Encounters invites all Pan-African directors and producers to show Antananarivo and several cities in the provinces their shorts, fiction, documentaries and animations and compete for the Golden Zebu.
May
The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from 14 to 25 May. Since 1975 and the Chronicle of the fiery years of the Algerian Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina, we are still waiting for the second Palme d'Or won by an African filmmaker. In 2018, despite a " very small presence of films from French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa ", there was a real desire to put the African continent on the world cinema map, with the remarkable presence of Yomeddine by the Egyptian director AB Shawky in competition and three other African directors enrolled in the prestigious section Un Certain Regard: South African Étienne Kallos, Franco-Moroccan Meryem Benm'Barek and Kenyan Wanuri Kahiu with his incredible success of Rafiki .
Mid-May begins the 26th New York African Film Festival (NYAFF), first at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, followed by programming at the Maysles Cinema and the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Cinematek. A meeting known for its clever mix of contemporary films, cult films and debates with the public.
June
From May 31 to June 2, the Douala Art Fair highlights 100 works of art by artists from Central Africa under the theme: Flying Over Central Africa: Exploding Clichés . A fair of contemporary art and design under the direction of the new Cameroonian artistic director Viviane Maghela.
From June 1st to 30th, the 17th Dakar Fashion Week becomes the center of fashion in Africa by celebrating the cultural riches of the continent, but also the emancipation of the black woman.
In Yaoundé, Mis Me Binga ("The Eye of Women") will celebrate its tenth edition in June. After having awarded the Golden Binga to the Silences de Lydie of Burkina Faso in 2018, the International Women's Film Festival promises to put women back in the heart of cinema.
July
The 72nd edition of the Avignon Festival will take place between July 4th and 23rd. RFI will present again It's okay, it's going the world ! , a cycle of readings of six texts by contemporary French-speaking authors from Africa, the Near East and the Indian Ocean.
The Africajarc festival will celebrate from July 18th to 21st its 21st edition in the south of France. It all started in 1997, when a troupe of Burkinabe and Togolese artists gave a concert in Cajarc, in this small town located in the Lot. Between exhibitions, literature, dance, theater, music and cinema, the programming is always eclectic and centered around African cultures.
August
In August, the Tunisian city Tazarka will host the 23rd Tazarka International Comic Book Show . Located 66 kilometers south-east of Tunis, it is a historic rendezvous of the "Ninth Art" on the African continent.
September
From September 25 to October 5, the Festival of Francophonies in Limousin will celebrate its 36th edition. This unmissable event of French-speaking creation still reserves a great place for African creators. On this occasion RFI will again award its RFI-Théâtre prize . Who will succeed the Beninese author Sedjro Giovanni Houansou and his sublime style, both muscular and cut?
October
Founded by Touria El Glaoui in 2013, the 1-54 fair has become the most important meeting place for contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The 2019 edition will take place from October 3 to 6, preceded by editions in Marrakech (February 23/24) and New York (May 3-5).
From October 24 to November 24, the 6th edition of the Biennial of Lubumbashi will put art in the spotlight. Under the artistic direction of Sandrine Colard (Belgium / USA), she will explore the contemporary creation of the artistic scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the world under the theme Future Genealogies. Stories from Ecuador.
November
The Carthage Film Days (JCC) is the oldest film festival in the South, promoting cinema in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world. It is also defined as a laboratory for freedoms. Which film will take over at the end of November from Fatwa by Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud (Tunisia)?
Akaa, the contemporary art fair around African creation will organize from November 7th to 10th the fourth edition Also Known As Afrika at the Carreau du Temple, in Paris, for an Africa without borders.
December
In Benin, this month, puppeteers are eagerly awaiting the tenth edition of the Teni-Tedji International Festival in Porto Novo, dedicated to puppets and street arts.
In Senegal, during the first two weeks in December, the Partcours festival will bring together cultural initiatives to make it a cultural activity on a continuous basis. The goal is also to " know the neighborhoods of Dakar through the existence of art spaces ."
Also in December, the 16th Mantsina-on-stage theater festival will be in full swing in Congo-Brazzaville. Created in 2003, among others by Dieudonné Niangouna, the festival is now led by Sylvie Dyclo Pomos.
► Send us your "essentials" of African culture in 2019 to rfipageculture@yahoo.fr.