The festivals were planned as Pan-African celebrations and ranged in content from debate to performance — particularly dance and theatre. The filmmaker
William Greaves made a 40-minute documentary of the event entitled
The First World Festival of Negro Arts (1968). Italian journalist
Sergio Borelli produced
Il Festival de Dakar (1966) a 50-minute documentary for
RAI. Senegalese director
Paulin Soumanou Vieyra also produced the documentary
Le Sénégal au festival national des arts nègres (1966). Directors from the USSR, Irina Venzher and Leonid Makhnach, produced the Russian-language documentary
Ритми Африки (
Ritmi Afriki) about the festival.
Summary The First World Festival of Black Arts (French:
Premier Festival Mondial des Arts Noirs) or
World Festival of Negro Arts (French:
Festival mondial des arts nègres) was held in
Dakar, Senegal, 1–24 April 1966, hosted by former President
Leopold Segar Senghor, and supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (
UNESCO), along with the French government. The festival involved around 2,500 participants from 30 independent African countries and other nations with diasporic communities, such as the US, Brazil, The Caribbean, France, and the United Kingdom. It featured black literature, music, theater, visual arts, film, and dance. It was the first state-sponsored festival to showcase the work of African and
African diasporic artists, musicians, and writers to a global audience. Under President Leopold Senghor, the festival was intended to place culture at the forefront of African diasporic renaissance. The main goals of the jubilee were to (1) advance international and interracial understandings, (2) tie the African homeland to external diasporic members, (3) promote the philosophy of Negritude, and (4) allow Negro artists to meet and showcase talents to members/outlets of the international art world. In preparation for the event, Dakar underwent major reconstruction via internal funding and contributions from participating nations. Dakar built new roads, an airport terminal, and two new venues – the
Theatre National Daniel Sorano and the
Musée Dynamique – for incoming participants and visitors. Dakar repurposed existing buildings such as the Palace de Justice (law courts), the Cathedral, Dakar Town Hall, and various beachfronts to accommodate the wave of performances that month.
Proceedings The festival kicked off with an eight-day colloquium (co-organized by UNESCO) that organized philosophical and theoretical presentations on the function/importance of Negro Arts. Held in the National Assembly Building [Povey, 1966, p. 5]. The opening presentation was given by President Senghor's speech "The Defense and Illustration of
Negritude" while other participants provided material for discussion such as
Langston Hughes' "Black Writers in a Troubled World". For the rest of the month, festival attendees explored the city by going to various exhibitions in various venues.The Cinema Palace held screenings of submitted films and documentaries, the newly built Musée Dynamique showcased national art exhibits, and the Theatre National Daniel Sorano staged dances, plays, and jazz gigs. International judges also awarded festival prizes in the Daniel Sorano Theater [Povey, 1966, p. 6]. Participants such as poet
Tchicaya U Tam'si [France] and playwright
Wole Soyinka [Nigeria] left with awards in their respective categories.
US participation A North American committee organized US participation in the festival. This delegation was led by H. Alwynn Innes-Brown (president) and John A. Davis (vice president) from the American Society of African Culture. Helping to facilitate US involvement were the US Senegal ambassadors, musician
Mercer Cook, and French Literature scholar
Ousmane Diop Socé. The US State Department funded the committee and the chosen participants, providing $150,000 in funding, and appointed then-President
Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife as honorary members. Key US participants include
Ralph Bunche,
Alvin Ailey,
Marian Anderson, Fred O'Neal,
Leontyne Price,
Sidney Poitier,
Hale Woodruff,
Ossie Davis,
Duke Ellington,
Langston Hughes,
Margaret Danner,
Rosa Guy,
Katherine Dunham,
Arthur Mitchell, and
William Warfield.
Festival critiques While the festival was considered a success – with 50,000 people in attendance total – there was criticism from prominent black scholars and participants before and after the event. The lack of discourse and illustration of the current political struggles and African Liberation was a main source of disparagement. The event avoided deliberation on anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism, highlighting ideas of culture over politics and economy. The festival was also condemned for its selection of participants as mainly nation-states were allowed to contribute, and delegations had to receive approval before submitting representatives. Black scholars such as Afro-Brazilian writer
Abdias do Nascimento were denied entry due to not being official members of approved delegations. Moreover, contemporary musicians and radical Black scholars from America – such as James Brown – were not allowed to join as US Representatives. American editor, educator, critic, and author
Hoyt Fuller also pointed out the heavy government influence that hung over the event from the US State Department, CIA, and French government. {{multiple image == Continuing festivals ==