The Africa2020 Season opens with an exhibition dedicated to ghanaian artist El Anatsui at the Conciergerie in Paris

Depending on the evolution of the sanitary situation and on the confirmation of the reopening of museums on December 15th, the Africa2020 Season will be launched with In quest of freedom, an exhibition by the Ghanaian visual artist El Anatsui, a carte blanche given by the Centre des monuments nationaux at the Conciergerie in Paris. This will be the first solo exhibition in France by one of the most fascinating artists in Africa.

Several major Africa2020 events should be able to take place in December, and these will all be organised in compliance with sanitary regulations. These events will mark an opportunity to discover the work of African artists, intellectuals and scientists during such an unusual end of the year.

In the words of N'Goné Fall, General commissioner of the Season, Africa2020 is "an invitation to look at and understand the world from an African perspective". Africa2020 is a pan-African, multidisciplinary project centered around innovation in the arts, science, technology, entrepreneurship and the economy, bringing together more than 200 events all over France.

MAJOR PROJECTS FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER

OPENING OF THE AFRICA2020 SEASON

* En quête de liberté (In quest of freedom) - Carte blanche to El Anatsui
* The Conciergerie (Paris)
* 16 December 2020 - 5 April 2021.

- The Africa2020 Season will be launched on December 16th at the Conciergerie (Paris), where the Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN) presents In quest of freedom, a carte blanche given to Ghanaian artist El Anatsui.

- This carte blanche is a site specific creation which draws inspiration from the site and the building's history. Under the monument's vaulted cellars, the artist conceives a poetic setup ideal to meditate on the passing of Time, echoing the history of the Palais de la Cité, its setting and medieval architecture. Immersed in a subdued light, punctuated by the pillars and vaults of the monument, this installation taps into five elements of nature: water, wind, wood, metal and stone.

- N'Goné Fall, General commissioner of the Season, is also the curator of the carte blanche given to El Anatsui by the Centre des monuments nationaux.

- Born in Ghana and based in Nigeria, El Anatsui is one of the most recognised and fascinating international contemporary artists of our time. Throughout a distinguished forty-five-year career as a sculptor and teacher, he has addressed a wide range of social, political and historical concerns and embraced an equally diverse range of media and creative processes.

Touka Danses - CDCN Guiana

* 16th Edition of the Rencontres de Danses Métisses
* 1st - 6 December 2020

- For its 16th Edition, the "Rencontres de Danses Métisses" will turn their focus to Africa and will invite three young Bushinengue dancers to take part in artistic creations with three renowned African choreographers.

- Conferences will be organised at the conservatory and museum of Cayenne, as well as a round table on the state of play of creation in Africa, initiation workshops and master classes together with dance schools and the general public.

- Project designed by Souleymane Ladji Koné (Burkina Faso), Serge Aimé Coulibaly (Burkina Faso/Belgium), Amala Dianor (Senegal).

SCIENCE FOCUS (1/2)

* Launch of the Week of African Scientific Young Talents
* Universcience - Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, Paris
* 8 December 2020

- Organised by Universcience, and following a day-long online preparation on 8 December 2020, this residency programme will bring together at the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie 40 young scientists from Africa who are engaged in the dissemination and communication of scientific knowledge.

SCIENCE FOCUS (2/2)

* Sustainable Development Goals Hackathon
* Universcience - Cité des sciences et de l'industrie, Paris
* 12 and 13 December 2020

- Universcience features an original focus on the place of maker culture within scientific culture and, more broadly, within culture at large. On the weekend of 12 and 13 December 2020, the Cité des sciences et de l'industrie will host a 100% digital (remote) Hackathon. During that time, participants will prototype their ideas to produce, in a short timeframe, models of effective solutions to one of the seventeen global UN goals.

It will gather African students, project proponents for the creation of cultural and digital spaces in Africa, and members of French and French-speaking networks and maker communities.

Creative challenge games will be held in parallel on these topics in a dozen FabLabs across Africa.

Compagnie La Part du Pauvre / Nana Triban

* Afropea Nomade
* 15 - 17 December 2020: Faro-Faro and Kwasa-Kwasa

- The Théâtre des Bains Douches and the Cirque Théâtre in Elbeuf partner for the first stopover of this travelling project. The event is sponsored by the City for the co-hosting of Faro-Faro - an entertainment event by choreographer Massidi Adiatou. The slam reading of Kwasa-Kawsa will be the start of a collaboration between the Franco-Comoran-Malagasy slam poet Mbaé Soly and Nigerien theatre actor Oumarou Boukari, aka Béto.

- Project designed with the Compagnie N'Soleh (Côte d'Ivoire), Achille Mbembé (Cameroon), Arène Théâtre (Niger).

Musée régional d'art contemporain / MRAC Occitanie

* Distance ardente
* 15 December 2020 - 21 March 2021

- The Distance Ardente exhibition will attempt to portray remaining challenges to overcome in order to build a strong relationship between African States and France - one which is freed from the stigmas of the past. The title is, in a way, an invitation to "measure the distance" that separates France from the people on the African continent. The three main stages of the exhibition - « Corps invisibles », « Routes, exils, et imaginaires », « Attraction et déchirement » ("Invisible bodies", "Roads, exile and imaginary worlds", "Attraction and despair") - will bring together ten projects produced specifically for the exhibition

- Curator: Hicham Daoudi (Morocco), curator and Director of the Comptoir des Mines.

Les Abattoirs, Museum - FRAC Occitanie Toulouse

* Au-delà des apparences. Il était une fois, il sera une fois (exhibition as part of the "Women Focus")
* 16 December 2020 - 30 May 2021

- Beyond appearances ... is an exhibition which raises a number of questions. How can we convey ideas, pass on knowledge and advance understanding? What was, is, and will be the role of orality in the past, present, and future? What is the power of imaginative literature in storytelling? If we look at the status of an author and the making of history, and if we dig beneath their surface, will we be able to broaden our understanding of archives? And will we find something to hope for, and realise that we are all, in fact, libraries and storytellers?

- Curator: Missla Libsekal (Ethiopia/Eritrea), writer, curator and independent cultural producer.

Théâtre Jean-Vilar of Vitry-sur-Seine

* Plaidoirie pour vendre le Congo (A case to sell the Congo)
* 18 - 20 December 2020

- Plaidoirie pour vendre le Congo is a "Sinzo Aanza style" story by a young Congolese author who speaks out against the absurdity of life in his country and of religion.

- Text by Sinzo Aanza (DRC), staged by Aristide Tarnagda (Burkina Faso) with la Compagnie Théâtre Acclamations (Burkina Faso), and co-produced with Festival d'Automne.

THE AFRICA2020 SEASON

Initiated by the President of the French Republic, the Africa2020 Season is an outstanding project designed around the major challenges of the 21st century: social progress, technology, climate/environment, citizenship, economic challenges. This Season is an invitation to look at and understand the world from an African perspective.

The Season is dedicated to the 54 States of the African continent. Africa2020 will take place from December 2020 to July 2021 in the entire French territory. It will include more than 200 events organized in all of the national territory - in Continental France as well as the French overseas departments and territories.

The Africa2020 Season is organised and operated by the Institut français with the support of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, public financers of the Season. The Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Agence française de développement (AFD) also contribute to the financing of the Season.

The Institut français is the public institution in charge of France's international cultural actions. Under the dual auspices of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, the Institute contributes actively to France's cultural diplomacy.