Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

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70 Country-Specific Information — GENERAL INFORMATION — Mauritania is located at the hinge of North and West Africa. With 90 % of the territory lying within the desert, the vast majority of the population lives along the southern coast. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, home to one-third of the country’s population. Mauritania is an eminently multiethnic country, although strife has tainted the formation of a peacefully pluralistic society. The country’s demographics today are made up of three main groups: Bidhans of Arab-Berber origin; the Haratin, descendants of former slaves, also Arabic speakers; and people of West African descent, among them Soninke, Bambara and Wolof. Arabic is the official language of Mauritania, with Hassaniya the local spoken dialect. French is used in the media and educated classes. English is making inroads. Social hierarchization based on skin colour and ethnicity is strong, with black Haratin assigned to the lowest caste. While Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981 (the last country in the world to do so), the practice is still in place. Ethnic discord and slavery were at the heart of the Mauritania-Senegal Border War of 1989 and continue to permeate political discourse in the country. Mauritania has been rocked by a series of coups or attempted coups since independence from France in 1960. A series of military rulers succeeded one another between 1978 and 2005. After a transitional government was instituted in 2007, General Abdel Aziz seized power in 2008. He was elected in 2009 through an irregular election process. He is currently president. Mauritania is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite important natural resources. Droughts, most notably the Great Sahel droughts of the early 1970s, have devastated the country. According to Freedom House, the country is not free. While the government has adopted laws to address the problem of institutionalized slavery and discrimination, it continues to arrest antislavery activists. — M A U R I T A N I A — In February 2011, the Arab Spring spread to Mauritania, with thousands of people taking to the streets to denounce slavery, corruption and human rights abuses. The protests did not generate full-scale revolution or reform. — ARTS AND CULTURE SECTOR — The arts and culture sector in Mauritania is precarious but dynamic, borne by dedicated artists and activists working without official support. The Ministry of Culture has the capacity to offer project support. However, most of the budget is allocated to festivals, which respondents say are essentially showcases for the Ministry. The modern-traditional divide still figures strongly in discussions of art and culture, but cultural actors are working to bridge art forms and audiences. Dominated by oral cultures, Mauritania is most closely associated with the music of the Amazigh griots. As nomadic memory-keepers, they traditionally traveled through the desert to share their music and stories. The droughts and political upheavals of the 1970s irremediably impacted these traditional modes of creation and transmission, forcing nomadic peoples into the cities and subsequently repressing their forms of expression. Today, traditional musicians belong to the lowest social caste and are only able to monetize their creative work through performances at weddings. Organized by Mauritanian-Canadian Atigh Ould and hosted annually or bi-annually outside Nouakchott, the Festival Nomade creates a platform for traditional musicians to share their music with local and international audiences, who come from Europe, Canada and across Africa. Moreover, the internationally known singer Maalouma has recently opened a foundation, funded by AFAC and the Ministry of Culture, which offers a studio and recording space. Nouakchott is home to a dynamic hiphop scene. It is celebrated every year at the massive Festival Assalamalekoum, which has been known to draw audiences of up to 15.000. Performance spaces in Nouakchott are rare,
71 Country-Specific Information Mobility projects: many having been destroyed or abandoned by successive authoritarian regimes. The Institut Français continues to have the most comprehensive facilities, although the Egyptian and Moroccan cultural centres are used as well. Some cultural centres and youth centres are used by local artists but lack equipment. In the literary field, Traversées Mauritanides organizes literacy initiatives, publishes books and organizes a yearly literary festival. La Maison des cinéastes is one of Nouakchott’s most vibrant associations, organizing film screenings, trainings and an annual festival. Other art forms are marginalized, being associated with colonization. Nevertheless, small galleries and visual art spaces are emerging. Échos du Sahel and painter Amy Sow’s ArtGallé are two such spaces to watch. Finally, Centre Diadie Tabara Camara is creating music projects for formerly enslaved peoples in Nouakchott, using music as a vehicle of empowerment, expression and human rights defense. — MOBILITY TO / FROM MAURITANIA — HAMEDINE KANE MOHAMED IDOUMOU Mauritanian artists travel principally to three destinations: France, Morocco and Senegal. However, exchange with Mali, Tunisia and Egypt has become more common in recent years. Artists are drawn to Tunisia for its theatre scene, while Casablanca and Dakar’s dynamic music scenes attract contemporary Mauritanian musicians. Despite long distances, artists travel to Dakar, Bamako and Banjul by car. Most flight connections are to Dakar and Casablanca, but TunisAir now also connects Nouakchott to Tunis. Filmmaker Hamedine Kane participated in Kaw-Kaw residency at Le18 in Marrakech. Poet, journalist and filmmaker Mohamed Idoumou has visited roughly 38 countries, including meetings across North Africa. — QUOTE: « The Ministry of Culture organizes a festival in each of the 4 historic cities; those are the events that are the best funded by banks, cooperation institutes and local companies, but they’re very poorly organized. They are made for the President to give a speech; they bring big artists from the Arab world who don’t necessarily need to travel » Mohamed Idoumou Poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker and cultural operator, Maison du cinéma de Nouakchott* —
Page 1:
Retracing Roots and Tracing New Rou
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4 Acknowledgments and Imprint This
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6 Foreword FORE — WORD In a world
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8 Introduction 1 — Fact : AMA did
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10 Introduction 1.1 Background of A
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12 Introduction 1.2 Purpose of the
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14 Introduction Arab identity was r
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16 Introduction 1. 4 Overview of mo
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18 Methodology 2 — Fact: This stu
Page 20 and 21: 20 Methodology — NORTH AFRICA —
Page 22 and 23: 22 Methodology 2.2 Limitations 1. T
Page 24 and 25: 24 Sunmmary of Outcomes 3 — QUOTE
Page 26 and 27: 26 Summary of Outcomes course remai
Page 28 and 29: 28 Summary of Outcomes The program
Page 30 and 31: 30 Summary of Outcomes Two programs
Page 32 and 33: 32 Summary of Outcomes — 3.1. 3 T
Page 34 and 35: 34 Summary of Outcomes As such, con
Page 36 and 37: 36 Summary of Outcomes High costs :
Page 38 and 39: 38 Summary of Outcomes — 3. LACK
Page 40 and 41: 40 Summary of Outcomes — 6. LACK
Page 42 and 43: 42 Summary of Outcomes — QUOTE:
Page 44 and 45: 44 Country-Specific Information 4
Page 46 and 47: 46 Country-Specific Information 4.1
Page 48 and 49: 48 Country-Specific Information des
Page 50 and 51: 50 Country-Specific Information CHE
Page 52 and 53: 52 Country-Specific Information —
Page 54 and 55: — A L G E R I A — Visas · Alge
Page 56 and 57: — GENERAL INFORMATION — Spannin
Page 62 and 63: 62 Country-Specific Information 4.
Page 64 and 65: 64 Country-Specific Information whe
Page 66 and 67: 66 Country-Specific Information Mus
Page 68 and 69: 68 Country-Specific Information the
Page 72 and 73: 72 Country-Specific Information Moh
Page 78 and 79: 78 Country-Specific Information Com
Page 86 and 87: 86 Country-Specific Information L
Page 90 and 91: 90 Country-Specific Information 4.7
Page 94 and 95: 94 Conclusion & Recommendations 5
Page 96 and 97: 96 Conclusion & Recommendations Ins
Page 98 and 99: — QUOTE: « There’s a growing c
Page 100 and 101: 4. Support the structuring of the a
Page 102 and 103: 102 Introduction Mapping and Backgr
Page 104 and 105: 104 Mapping TUNISIA MOROCCO ALGERIA
Page 106 and 107: 106 Mapping Installations & Equipme
Page 108 and 109: 108 Mapping Events & Festivals Alge
Page 110 and 111: 110 Mapping Tunisia Carthage 1 Jazz
Page 112 and 113: Events & Festivals Algeria Algiers
Page 114 and 115: Events & Festivals Venues Kelibia F
Page 116 and 117: Venues Falaki Theatre American Univ
Page 118 and 119: Venues Mahal Art Space 122, Avenue
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120 Acronyms APPENDIX A — QUOTE:
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122 Respondents APPENDIX B — Fact
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124 Respondents · Mohammed Hassan
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126 Bibliography APPENDIX C — Fac
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128 Bibliography 8. El Bennaoui, Kh
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130 — artmovesafrica.org —
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Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa

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