More photos - these are from the first few days of the festival.
The opening FESMAN conference, on the festival's theme, "La Renaissance Africaine." This was held at the super-swanky Hotel Meridien, which offered a super spread of food for us at the break.
A couple of panels in one of the rooms - it was lined on all sides with these, each one covering a different subject pertaining to the theme of the "African Renaissance."
The opening ceremonies, before I had to flee... This was the beginning of the "Spectacle Son et Lumière" (Sound and Light Show).
Toumani Diabate, world-renowned master of the kora.
The crowd: 50,000+
The Renaissance Statue at night. Questions were raised as to why the man is pointing away from Africa (and across the Atlantic) rather than towards it. Some found this further reason to scorn the whole project (incredibly expensive - $27 million!, built North Koreans rather than locals, etc.). Others chose to read it more optimistically, saying that the man is beckoning the diaspora toward the Motherland. A key topic at several conferences has been the integral relationship between the diaspora and the continent, and the necessity of the former for the development of the latter.
The Renaissance Statue is on one of two hills called "Les Mamelles" ("the breasts" - go figure). The various flags of Africa line the stairway up to the statue. I took this at some point maybe three-quarters of the way up.
The Ugandan flag.
Bouganvilla on the way up the stairs.
A baobab tree and a view of the city overlooking the ocean.
Taken from the top of the monument.
President Wade's dedication message: "Foreign or African visitors: If, one day, your steps bring you to the foot of this monument, think of all of the sacrifices that have torn Africa from multisecular obscurity to propell itself into the light of liberty!" (I have no idea what Wade means by "multisecular obscurity" (l'obscurité pluriséculaire), but it sounds better in French, at any rate.)
At the foot of the Renaissance monument the night of Archie Shepp's concert.
A poster I watched a guy put up on a wall close to the Renaissance monument's stage. It's a pro-Gaddafi poster promoting the Libyan leader's vision of a pan-Africanist utopia with himself at the helm. I thought that the sun rising over Gaddafi's head was a nice touch.
This is Florent, the journalist from Bordeaux I mentioned in an earlier post. He's such a nice, friendly person and has been incredibly helpful with my research, introducing me to many important new contacts.
Florent getting ready for his lecture. This is at one of the exhibition halls of the Buiscuiterie in Medina, which is a collection of buildings that host various art and multi-media exhibitions.
Florent and I after his last lecture.
This is an adjacent wall in the same hall where Florent gave his talk. The whole wall is covered from floor to ceiling with books!
A closeup of the other wall.
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