Montpellier is putting itself “on African time” this fall on the occasion of a first Europe-Africa biennial, the ambition of which is to “transform perspectives” on contemporary African realities, areas of cooperation and the role of diasporas. . This biennial, which takes place from October 9 to 15, is intended to be an extension of the Africa France summit of October 2021, in a new format, during which French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in Montpellier, in an electric climate, with hundreds young Africans and in the absence of other heads of state.
This meeting will be both cultural and focused on innovation. It is, for the seventh city of France, a way of reaffirming its international influence in the run-up to the designation in December of the city chosen as European capital of Culture in 2028. On this occasion, it faces applications from Clermont-Ferrand, Rouen and Bourges.
Exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, dance…
“This first Europe-Africa biennial in Montpellier will be a multi-faceted event with multiple speakers which will once again put the territory on African terms and reaffirm Montpellier’s desire to be the place where a new relationship is invented to Africa,” said the city’s mayor, socialist Michaël Delafosse, on Monday.
In its general public cultural component, the organizers have scheduled exhibitions, film screenings, concerts, dance, artists, hip-hop evenings, African radios. A “festival of ideas” will be the occasion for around “twenty debates around current African thought”, specifies the program. With the presence of around thirty African creative entrepreneurs, emphasis will also be placed on the cultural and creative industries (video games, 3D animation, etc.), a sector in which Montpellier hosts internationally renowned studios and schools.
The challenges of water management
The development and innovation component will take the form of a congress, the Euro-Africa Waters Days (October 9 to 11), where the issues related to water management faced by African countries and those in the Mediterranean basin will be addressed. . A campus for young African entrepreneurs is also taking place from October 1 to 11, still in Montpellier. Finally, during the duration of the biennial, several city squares will be animated by representatives of the African diasporas.