Season Africa 2020 launched
FRENCH Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian presented Season Africa 2020, a project that forms part of a renewed partnership between France and Africa.
This was at an event held at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town’s Silo District at the weekend.
Initiated by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Season Africa 2020 will take place over six months from June 2020 in metropolitan France and overseas regions, and is an invitation to look, learn and understand the world from an African perspective.
N’Goné Fall from Senegal will take on the role of general commissioner of the Season Africa 2020.
Several South African creatives, such as Jay Pather, will be looking at “Performance Art and Contemporary Theatre in English throughout Africa”.
Season Africa 2020 will cover the 54 countries of the African continent, with a strong focus on youth and education, and will include mentorship programmes for young African and French professionals.
It is based on four pillars: Pan-African and multidisciplinary programming intended for all audiences whereby projects will not be conceived around a single artist, country, region, linguistic area, or artistic discipline; a programme co-produced by African professionals and French institutions, conceived in such a way as to avoid programming thought through a Franco-French prism; projects designed as spaces for sharing knowledge and experiences; and providing a platform for learning and participative production of knowledge.
The disciplinary fields for Season Africa 2020 are the arts, research and economy, and the art of living.
While in the Mother City, the minister paid tribute to Struggle icons by visiting Robben Island.
“Season Africa 2020 is an ambitious, celebratory showcase, a dialogue between cultures that has never been attempted before. It will influence the way France and Africa see each other and will simultaneously strengthen ties,” said Le Drian. For details visit www.pro.institutfrancais.com