Program Synopsis
Front cover, Vu magazine, special issue, 1954
50th Anniversary of the 1st International Congress of Black Writers and Artists 1956-2006
September 19-22, 2006
Co-Sponsored by: CommunautŽ Africaine de Culture;
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, Harvard
University; and UNESCO
Location: The Sorbonne and UNESCO
The 50th Anniversary celebration, which will take place in Paris on September 19-22, 2006, will examine the legacy of the 1956 Congress, encouraging comparative approaches to the work of contemporary black writers and artists in the diaspora. It will investigate black cultural creativity as it is practiced, displayed, and considered. The 2006 Anniversary Congress will also address the question of race and culture in the context of globalization. The central question may well be: What does it mean to be a Black writer and artist in 2006?
The original Congress, which took place in 1956, was a watershed gathering of writers and artists who came together in Paris to discuss the international influence of black cultural and artistic production. A diverse array of luminaries from Africa, the Caribbean, North America and elsewhere converged at the invitation of principal organizer Alioune Diop, the then editor of Présence Africaine. The delegates discussed a rich texture of issues including colonialism, the emancipation of non-European peoples, race and racism, capitalism and communism, as well as history, literature, and poetry. Please see our 2006 Congress Program for more information.
