The Cameroonian Night of Ideas will last a week!

The French Institute of Cameroon has chosen to extend the Night of Ideas both in time and space: Nuits des Idées have been held throughout the territory, from Garoua to Douala, from Yaoundé to Bandjoun and every day for a week, from January 28 to February 3, 2021.

In Douala, the French Institute of Cameroon has decided to organise a Night of Ideas each day of the week in a different place with a specific partner: in the Bonassama district with the cultural space Le Somewhere, in the Bali district with the space The ForestIn the Bonapriso district with the Carré des Artistes, in the Camp Yakassi district with the Bolo cultural space, and finally in the Souza commune with the Fabrique de Souza . More than 80 Cameroonian speakers (researchers, writers, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists, sportsmen...) participated, some of them from a distance like Achille Mbembe (in South Africa) and Felwine Sarr (in the USA). Others came especially from France such as Bernard Toulier (heritage curator), Thierry Grillet (cultural director of the French national library and essayist), François Abélanet (architect, landscape designer and artist), Séverine Kodjo-Granvaux (philosopher and head of Le Monde Afrique) and the duo of musicians Majnun. Conferences, including a conference-concert, workshops, talks, cinema, shows including a show for young people, concerts, exhibitions, Cameroonian wrestling, the Night of Ideas took many forms and allowed to gather very diverse audiences.

In Yaoundé, 4 places were simultaneously proposed: the Ethnographic and History Museum of the Peoples of the Central African Forest, the International Centre for African Cultural Heritage (CIPCA), the Quartier Mozart and the French Institute of Cameroon. A variety of formats were on display from morning to evening : café-philo, conferences, cinema, storytelling, micro-trottoir, workshops, apero-concerts, etc. COP15 biodiversity, a conference to prepare and train civil society for international negotiations on biodiversity, was also on offer with workshops, round tables and an exhibition by CIRAD.

In Garoua, at the Alliance Française, a meeting with the very active artistic community took place in the gardens of the association. A school conference on digital education, a film theater to raise awareness among young people on forced marriages and civil status, a round table on economic intelligence for prosperity completed the discussions in the green theater.

In BandjounIn Bandjoun, in the cultural center Bandjoun Station, nearly 200 people had been gathered around the Cameroonian artist Barthélémy Toguo for performances, exhibitions, readings and talks on contemporary art and the profession of art curator.

The French Institute also took part in the "24 hours of Night and Ideas", the online operation devised by the French Institute in Paris. The interview with Djaïli Amadou Amal, winner of the Goncourt Prize for high school students, was clearly one of the highlights of this global Night of Ideas, as was the micro-trottoir conducted by Ousmanou Sali, actor and director, on the funny, lively, touching (and aesthetically very successful) interpretation by a popular audience interviewed in the street, on the markets, in the neighbourhoods, on the theme of proximity.

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Project leader: Yann Lorvo, Cooperation and Cultural Action Advisor at the French Institute of Cameroon