meetings in February 2023

In Gabon, the Black History Arts Festival invites us to look at the history of black cultures and arts. From February 1 to 28, at the National Museum of Arts, Rites and Traditions of Gabon and the French Institute of Gabon, in Libreville, the stated ambition is to provide ” a place for the value of art by making a historical connection for the preservation of black culture “.

Since February 1st, the European House of Photography (MEP) in Paris offers us the first retrospective in France dedicated to the South African visual activist Zanele Muholi. Her highly committed work aims to promote, make visible and document the lives of members of the black LGBTQIA+ community (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersex, asexuals +).

From February 3 to 5, Menart Fair Brussels will be open. As 42% of the artists showcased are women, the fair will raise questions about the status of female artists in the North African, Middle East and Gulf regions.

In Ségou, Mali, until February 5, Segou’Art, the Festival sur le Niger, opens its doors on the theme “Heritage and creativity”. On the program: Contemporary art fair, theater, dance, workshops, master classes, conferences, giant concerts on the banks of the Niger River, cultural caravan for peace…

On February 6, the Panorama des Cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient (PCMMO) in Saint-Denis presents the first film, recently rediscovered, by Mostafa Derkaoui, a pioneer director of modern Moroccan cinema: Of some meaningless incident (1974). The session will be followed by an unpublished documentary by Sophie Delvallée on the filmmaker: Free, Mostafa Derkaoui (2022).

From February 7, the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris paints a portrait of the writer, poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor (1909-2001), through his cultural policy after the independence of Senegal. Senghor and the art. Change universal again brings together the reflections and achievements in the field of culture of this champion of Negritude.

From February 7 to 11, the 15th Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates, designed by Okwui Enwezor and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, looks at Enwezor’s visionary work under the title: Thinking History in the Present. More than 150 artists from 70 countries are expected. The Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg is participating by offering works by South African artist Gabrielle Goliath, Angolan artist Kiluanjui Kia Henda from Angola, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum from Botswana and Yinka Shonibare who grew up in Nigeria before move to live in the UK.

Opens February 9 in Paris The windows, a new space dedicated to African art. Its particularity consists in bringing together a center of special skills both in ancient African art and in the contemporary scenes of the continent. The inaugural exhibitions are presented by the 31 Project gallery (Group effect) and by Charles-Wesley Hourdé (Selected pieces).

From February 9 to 12, the largest international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora, 1:54 Marrakech is back. La Mamounia will host more than 20 galleries from around the world to showcase the work of more than 60 African and diaspora artists.

From February 10 to 12, the Aleph Theater in Ivry-sur-Seine is performing On meeting Godot by the Ivorian author Tiburce Koffi, Grand Prix RFI du Théâtre in 1996. Conceived as an echo of the famous play Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket, the show interpreted by Cie Culture du Monde 2007 and directed by Bello Elisabeth Oseini, intends to provide an unexpected follow-up to expectations and hopes that were never realized.

The Benin International Arts Festival (Finab) in Cotonou Porto-Novo and Ouidah welcomes art lovers, professionals and art dealers from all disciplines from February 14 to 19.

From February 14 to March 12, the exhibition Workplaces in Africa showing work on the African continent. What images attract the attention of image professionals? Researchers and photographers cross their professional skills in African photography and work. What are these “photographable areas”? How to make shadow workers visible? The event is offered as part of the Festival Filmer le Travail and the Institut des Afriques Season, in collaboration with Espace Mendès France in Poitiers.

From February 16 to 26, the Berlinale will open its doors. Several films from the African continent have been selected for the 2023 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, one of the largest film festivals in the world.

Until February 18, the Parisian gallery Christophe Person, in collaboration with the South African gallery Guns & Rain in Johannesburg, presents an exhibition on textile artists from South Africa: Flag bearer for women and the LGBTI community. A juxtaposition between figurative and abstract expression by Sizwe Sama and Bev Butkow, as well as an encounter between intimate work and the work of the archive by Hannah Macfarlane and Jo Rogge.

The German Ernst Barlach Haus museum in Hamburg pays tribute to Beninese artist Georges Adéagbo. Until February 19, the German institution presents the works of the artist who was born in 1942 in Cotenou and is now considered one of the most important artists in Africa and a pioneer of an art of the “Global South”. . His exhibition included an in-depth exchange with the work of the expressionist Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) who left many traces in Adéagbo’s work.

From February 25 to March 4, the 28th edition of Fespaco will take place in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The largest pan-African film festival is this year dedicated to “African cinema and the culture of peace”. 170 films and series in cinema and television were selected under the direction of General Delegate Alex Moussa Sawadogo. Tunisian producer Dora Bouchoucha will preside over the jury that will award the Golden Stallion, the highest award for African cinema.

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