Kenya's Christine Kamau to play Festival Afropolitain Nomade in Kigali

Kamau will be one of 40 acts from the music, visual and digital art disciplines taking part in the roving pan-African event.

Rwandan acts set to perform include Ange Kagaju, I Am Blameless, Salim Idibia, Paccy, Charly na Nina, Sintex and Babou.

Artists from the rest of Africa and around the world include Ndabott Family (Cameroon), Fanie Fayar (Congo-Brazzaville), Sultan Guy (Chad), TK Russel (DRC), Mariaa Siga (Senegal), Sage Soldat (Niger), Koudy Fagbemi (Benin), Emde (Mali), Tyrane (Ivory Coast), Sarab (Tunisia), Manu Militari (Canada), Nicole Musoni (Canada), Joël Akoustik (France) and Ekinoxx (Belgium), among others.

Kamau told Music In Africa that she was looking forward to creating new connections with artists and cultural practitioners from the 20-plus countries represented at the festival.

“What appeals to me most about Afropolitan Festival is its multidisciplinary approach with strong artists both in music and the visual arts, which makes it a great platform for unique collaborations and innovative artistic expression,” she said.

“I think there is a lot to be gained from this approach because the African continent has vibrant and diverse cultural expression across the various art forms.”

Festival Afropolitain Nomade is held in a different African city to develop and support initiatives that foster intercultural exchange, promote education and use art as a platform for action.

Apart from the performances, Festival Afropolitain Nomade 2020 will also host panel discussions and workshops facilitated by arts professionals from the DRC, Benin, Chad and Senegal.

“The festival intends to pursue its objective of fostering intercultural rapprochement between artists from the north and the south, touring the major African cultural capitals,” the festival said.

“For the past five years, several artists, 85% from diverse backgrounds, have taken part in the project and emerged from it growing and strongly transformed in their art ‒ their way of getting involved socially as well.”

Festival Afropolitain Nomade was founded in Montreal, Canada, in 2011 by Cameroonian singer Vanessa Kanga. The 2019 edition was held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.