The French Institute of Côte d'Ivoire is organizing a series of debates on the theme of "Independence, decolonization and identity" from January to June 2021. The cycle is based on a set of seven debates and is accompanied by the production of podcasts to deepen the discussions.

The cycle of debates proposed by the French Institute of Côte d'Ivoire questions independence, decolonization and their impact on our identities, our thoughts, our creations. This cycle is part of a fundamental cultural, societal and artistic movement that has made questions related to independence, decolonization and their legacies an essential part of French and international public debate.

For several years now, the subject of the decolonization of thought, augmented by reflections on the decolonization of artistic creation and the production and dissemination of knowledge and cultural practices, has emerged as an essential element of reflection in France and abroad. The theme of the decolonization of thought and creation has gradually emancipated itself from a tradition that artificially concentrated it in the field of social and political sciences.

As Achille Mbembé wrote, in the hands of jurists and historians, decolonization has become an "ill-defined" concept and historical event, rather than being considered as a fundamental process and dynamic. A chronological definition of decolonization, which would end with "the suns of Independence", as Ahmadou Kourouma put it, has many limitations. It freezes in time. It makes the subject a pure object of history. It does not make the link with its heritage and its impact on identities today. Yet it is the progressive recognition of this essential dimension that has taken the subject beyond its chronological boundaries and into the public arena.

Artists, museums, academics, philosophers and the media have all taken up this theme. This is the result of two concordant groundswells: the desire to understand and the need to explain. Talking about this theme means occupying the public space by promoting discourse based on collective intelligence, so as not to leave this space uncultivated or in the hands of actors with exclusionary logics: if "memory divides, History can bring people together", wrote Pierre Nora in a beautiful phrase. To dialogue on these themes is also to deconstruct and reconstruct our respective identities on the basis of a vision defined in common.

This cycle is therefore part of a current period marked by the work of numerous authors and thinkers on these subjects, with the desire to advance the understanding of our common history, past and present. " The return of often antagonistic memories, around the colonial question and slavery, has put the spotlight once again on a part of French national history that has long been neglected," writes Benjamin Stora in the report recently submitted to the President of the Republic. Young people, in France as in the former colonized countries, are " today burdened by the weight of history, which they shun," recalls Pierre Nora. Providing spaces for dialogue makes it possible to create " the necessary counter-fires to the burning of memories ", to " open up the possibility of moving from a communitarian memory to a common memory ", to " get out of the dilemma between too much and too little memory ", to " try to explain the colonial event together, without believing that everything can be settled in a final verdict ", and finally, " to move towards understanding our own past ", to quote the conclusions of the Stora report.

This cycle of debates is now also part of the perspective of the new Africa-France summit that will take place in Montpellier in July 2021. The President of the Republic has entrusted Achille Mbembé with the task of working on an open and direct dialogue with the young generations of the African continent in order to bring out strong proposals for the future of the relationship between France and the continent. This is the logic behind the debate cycle at the Institut français de Côte d'Ivoire: to question the fundamentals of this relationship, to engage in free and uninhibited dialogue in order to build a common future, and to decolonise mentalities on both sides. Achille Mbembe explained to Jeune Afrique that " rebuilding a relationship means learning to look together from several pairs of eyes at the same time by giving equal dignity to the intellectual heritage of both sides. There is an important desire in this work to propose useful content in France, with the conviction recalled by Jean-Marc Ayrault, President of the Foundation for the Memory of Slavery, that " the memory of slavery and colonization is not self-flagellation but a healthy and necessary process ".

The novelty of this cycle also lies in its format. Exclusively based on debates "outside the walls", the cycle wants to honor the word of the youth in its neighborhoods and social spaces. All the debates will take place in different sites (museums, town halls, schools, universities, galleries, public squares, sports complexes), in different neighborhoods (Abobo, Treichville, Koumassi, etc.), with different audiences, on different themes. The unity of the cycle comes from its general theme and its operational mode: dialogue (and rejection of the lecture format), proximity between the panelists and the public, strong mobilization of local actors, freedom of tone. The whole framework is designed to encourage young people to speak out. The Institute's teams have a very light touch: they provide a framework but never intervene in the exchanges.

7 appointments

Night of Ideas
January 28th, 2021
Watch the Facebook Live

The launch of the cycle took place on 28 January 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Cultures Adama Toungara (MuCAT) in Abobo, as part of the 6th international edition of the Night of Ideas, devoted to the theme "Near(s)". The debate aimed to question the impact of the legacies of colonization and decolonization on our identities. The two hundred participants from Abobo, a very popular commune in Abidjan, and the panelists took full ownership of these issues. Five personalities made up a panel of speakers: Binda Ngazolo, a Cameroonian storyteller, acted as master of ceremonies; Maboula Soumahoro, a Franco-Ivorian lecturer, and Blick Bassy, a Cameroonian artist, were live in France via the Zoom platform; Roukiatou Hampâté Ba and Yacouba Konaté were present at MuCAT. Performances by Adama Dahico and the Collectif Au Nom du Slam completed this evening of exchange.

Decolonizing the Arts
February 25, 2021
Watch the Facebook Live

The second debate allowed a hundred students from INSAAC, an institute that groups together training institutions for cultural professions in Abidjan, to discuss their practices, their views, their identities and artistic and professional careers. They were surrounded by the Ivorian novelist Gauz and the art critic Isabelle Zongo in a sculpture workshop at the school. Anna-Alix Koffi moderated the discussion, while Françoise Vergès and Karim Miské also provided insight and questioning from a distance.

Women and independence
March 9, 2021
Watch the Facebook Live

As part of the Women's Rights Week, a debate was held at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan. It focused on the role of women in the decolonization and independence processes. With Sylvia Serbin, Désirée Dénéo, Sylvie Gougoua and Orphelie Thalmas as moderators, the debate highlighted the little-known history of women's involvement in the independence of their countries.

The future of the French language and the French-speaking world

It is in the Abidjan town of Treichville, named after a former colonial administrator of Côte d'Ivoire, that the fourth debate is taking place. It is part of the French language week. French is the official language of Côte d'Ivoire. It adapts to the contact of local languages and realities, diversifies and enriches itself. With Michel Foucher, geographer and author of the Atlas des mondes francophones, Professor Jérémie Kouadio, and the slam artist Amee, the aim will be to highlight this adaptable tool, bearer of ideas and values, which is our common language, and to understand its major dynamics. Creativity, multilingualism, emancipation, plurality and identity will be the themes at the heart of the discussions.

In April 2021

Restitutions

The question of the restitution to Africa of the heritage acquired during colonization has become a major issue in the public debate in Africa and in France, and has been widely discussed since the report by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy. The laws adopted to enshrine restitution in Senegal and Benin were an important step forward. In Côte d'Ivoire, the authorities have expressed the wish to receive the "Ebrié drum", which is in the collections of the Quai Branly Museum. On this political and heritage subject, there has not yet been an in-depth debate in Côte d'Ivoire, open to the general public, and led by actors who are familiar with the issues.

In May 2021

Legacy

The question of the heritage of the colonial period and colonization for young French people is crucial today. As it is also crucial for the new generations of the African continent, it is particularly interesting to discuss this topic in Abidjan, in the presence of participants who represent these new generations and their aspirations, whether or not they carry a dual identity. Questioning subjective experiences, family histories, anchored stories and events that are kept silent, is also to define common bases to deconstruct our views and prejudices and reconstruct what makes the cement of our identities. How to evoke this past that often does not pass? How can we find the right examples to work on a common, objective approach to this past and its heritage? How does it continue to shape our identities?

In June 2021

Closing of the cycle Independence, Decolonization, Identity

This event will mark the closure of the cycle "Independence, Decolonization, Identity", in a place emblematic of Franco-Ivorian friendship, the Agora WinWin Koumassi, a space designed for sport and culture with easy access for young people of the popular town of Koumassi (Abidjan). This event will not only take stock of this unprecedented cycle: it will also propose solutions to review the fundamentals of the relationship between France and the continent.

To go further: podcasts made in Institut français de Côte d'Ivoire

The cycle of debates proposed by the French Institute of Côte d'Ivoire is resolutely oriented towards digital technology and the new spaces for broadcasting and creating content. In partnership with the association Making Waves, specialized in the creation of podcasts, young Ivorian influencers and journalists were trained to produce podcasts.

Episode 1: Let's decolonize the bodies

Discover the other episodes!

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Project leader: Clément Hervé, Deputy Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Action at the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire