Moments of the Past: Fesman 66 & Festac 77

The recent focus on the origin and evolution of African and African-inspired design, fashion, music, and art inspires a renewed discussion of the past and even more, demanding a reconsideration of African history.

In 1966, the First World Festival of Black Arts – FESMAN 66 – was held in Senegal, hosting guests from more than thirty-seven countries. Many well-known artists were invited, among them were Duke Ellington, Arthur Mitchell, Alvin Ailey (American Negro Dance Company), Mestre Pastinha, Marion Williams, and the Queen of Samba, Clementina de Jesus and Josephine Baker. It was the first attempt to unify artists from all over the African continent and their diaspora, to celebrate their convergence and cultural origins. In times where most African nations were still struggling with the aftermath of colonization, the festival marked a turning point for the African community within and outside the continent.

Eleven years later, the second edition of the festival was organized in Nigeria and drew even more participants, media attention and guests. To date »The Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC 77«, remains the largest festival of this kind, with guests including Stevie Wonder, Gilberto Gil, Bembeya Jazz National, Mighty Sparrow, Les Ballets Africains, and Franco Luambo Makiadi, to name only a few.

While decolonization had progressed in most of the African nations, a rising self-awareness of the African community all over the world manifested in Black Power and Black Identity movements. The festival was yet another attempt to strengthen notions of identity and heritage for all those in the African nations as well as those living in the diaspora - fostering the concept of Pan-Africanism as a unifying movement for all those of African decent. FESTAC 77 provided a platform for the discussion and presentation of the enormous diversity of African contribution to world culture. The Panafrican community experienced a thriving renaissance of their own heritage and culture through this festival.

Despite the success of FESTAC 77 within the general public and media, dissenting voices were raised as well: iconic artist Fela Anikulapo Kuti publicly boycotted the festival and openly criticized the dictatorship of Olusegun Obasanjo in Nigeria. Fela, who had been promoting African culture and music around the world, was belonging to the most critical African artists during this time. His political activism was openly attacking Nigerian politics.

»So FESTAC came for one month, January to February ’77. I didn’t go to that thing-o! I stayed at Shrine and made my counter-FESTAC there! All the big musicians and artists FESTAC brought in wanted to see me, man. For one whole month, man, every night, Shrine was packed with Blacks from all over the world. And since they wanted to know what was happening in Nigeria I told them. I used the stage at Shrine to denounce all of the shit and corruption of that government which had invited them. That one they never forgave-o!«
(Fela Kuti in Carlos Moore »Fela: This Bitch of a Life«)

Sources:
Carlos Moore „Fela: This Bitch of a Life“ (Lawrence Hill, 2009)
Babasehinde Augustine Ademuleya & Michael Olusegun Fajuyigbe „Pan-Africanism and the Black Festivals of Arts and Culture: Today’s Realities and Expectations“ (Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 2015)