Twenty-five thinkers and artists from Canada, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and Belgium, together with sixty students from art colleges, have gathered at Les Halles for these 11 days. They're here to talk with you, to meet you, and to sketch out collective artistic proposals based on your stories and the materials you bring with you.
The resurrection of the idea of freedom, the question of Greek debt, the complex twists and turns of democracy-building in Mali, false consensus in the age of austerity, the hijacking of spontaneous popular protest, alternative modes of development, the influence of Microsoft on strategic choices in higher education... These are just some of the topics on which you can discuss with the speakers.
You can hear them at 6.30pm, and then chat with them more informally over dinner or lunch the following day. Every evening after these meetings, the students will present ephemeral creations on the theme of democracy and freedom. Some of these creations will be inspired by the students themselves, some will be inspired by the speakers, and some will be woven from a process of direct exchange with you, both at Les Halles and throughout Brussels.
As part of its brand new Belgium's Global Citizenship and Solidarity Education programmeAfricalia has entered into a five-year partnership with Les Halles. For 2017, this collaboration will see two guest speakers and young people from three artistic training centres in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
Yacouba Konaté (Director of Market for African Performing Arts - MASA(Côte d'Ivoire) will reflect on notions of cultural identity and the relationship between art and politics in Africa (24 April 2017 at 6.30pm) and Adama Traoré (Chairman of Malian Coalition for Cultural Diversity(25 April 2017 at 6.30pm) will trace the complex construction of democracy in Mali, especially when it has to reckon with a former power that was a 'specialist' in human rights.)
The young designers who will be taking part in this event come from the following organisations: theImagine Institute (training in the film industry), the Centre for Training and Research in the Living Arts (theatre training) and the Cartel (training in theatre and speech arts).
These exchanges will help to give a place to contemporary African creativity and its authors, bearers of critical and emancipatory potential in both the South and the North.
Download the calendar and the full programme of the April meeting.
Practical info
Dates : 18/04 > 28/04/2017
Speech Yacouba Konaté (Director of MASA, Côte d'Ivoire): 24/04/2017 - 6.30pm
Adama Traoré speech (President of Coalition Malienne pour la Diversité Culturelle, Mali): 25/04/2017 - 6.30pm
Location Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Rue Royale Ste Marie 22b, 1030 Brussels
More info : www.halles.be
