Art Moves Africa – Retracing Roots and Tracing New Routes: Mobility and Touring in North Africa
A study by Lara Bourdin for Art Moves Africa, October 2019
A study by Lara Bourdin for Art Moves Africa, October 2019
- No tags were found...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
71<br />
Country-Specific Information<br />
<strong>Mobility</strong> projects:<br />
many hav<strong>in</strong>g been destroyed or ab<strong>and</strong>oned by<br />
successive authoritarian regimes. The Institut<br />
Français cont<strong>in</strong>ues to have the most comprehensive<br />
facilities, although the Egyptian <strong>and</strong><br />
Moroccan cultural centres are used as well.<br />
Some cultural centres <strong>and</strong> youth centres are<br />
used by local artists but lack equipment.<br />
In the literary field, Traversées Mauritanides<br />
organizes literacy <strong>in</strong>itiatives, publishes<br />
books <strong>and</strong> organizes a yearly literary festival. La<br />
Maison des c<strong>in</strong>éastes is one of Nouakchott’s<br />
most vibrant associations, organiz<strong>in</strong>g film<br />
screen<strong>in</strong>gs, tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> an annual festival.<br />
Other art forms are marg<strong>in</strong>alized, be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
associated with colonization. Nevertheless, small<br />
galleries <strong>and</strong> visual art spaces are emerg<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Échos du Sahel <strong>and</strong> pa<strong>in</strong>ter Amy Sow’s <strong>Art</strong>Gallé<br />
are two such spaces to watch. F<strong>in</strong>ally, Centre<br />
Diadie Tabara Camara is creat<strong>in</strong>g music projects<br />
for formerly enslaved peoples <strong>in</strong> Nouakchott,<br />
us<strong>in</strong>g music as a vehicle of empowerment, expression<br />
<strong>and</strong> human rights defense.<br />
—<br />
MOBILITY TO / FROM MAURITANIA<br />
—<br />
HAMEDINE KANE<br />
MOHAMED IDOUMOU<br />
Mauritanian artists travel pr<strong>in</strong>cipally to three<br />
dest<strong>in</strong>ations: France, Morocco <strong>and</strong> Senegal.<br />
However, exchange with Mali, Tunisia <strong>and</strong> Egypt<br />
has become more common <strong>in</strong> recent years. <strong>Art</strong>ists<br />
are drawn to Tunisia for its theatre scene, while<br />
Casablanca <strong>and</strong> Dakar’s dynamic music scenes<br />
attract contemporary Mauritanian musicians.<br />
Despite long distances, artists travel to<br />
Dakar, Bamako <strong>and</strong> Banjul by car. Most flight<br />
connections are to Dakar <strong>and</strong> Casablanca, but<br />
TunisAir now also connects Nouakchott to Tunis.<br />
Filmmaker Hamed<strong>in</strong>e Kane participated <strong>in</strong><br />
Kaw-Kaw residency at Le18 <strong>in</strong> Marrakech.<br />
Poet, journalist <strong>and</strong> filmmaker Mohamed<br />
Idoumou has visited roughly 38 countries,<br />
<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g meet<strong>in</strong>gs across <strong>North</strong> <strong>Africa</strong>.<br />
—<br />
QUOTE:<br />
« The M<strong>in</strong>istry of Culture organizes a festival<br />
<strong>in</strong> each of the 4 historic cities; those are the<br />
events that are the best funded by banks,<br />
cooperation <strong>in</strong>stitutes <strong>and</strong> local companies, but<br />
they’re very poorly organized. They are made<br />
for the President to give a speech; they br<strong>in</strong>g big<br />
artists from the Arab world who don’t necessarily<br />
need to travel »<br />
Mohamed Idoumou<br />
Poet, journalist, documentary filmmaker<br />
<strong>and</strong> cultural operator, Maison du c<strong>in</strong>éma de<br />
Nouakchott*<br />
—