The Cultural Season of Cameroon is an initiative created by the Route des Chiefdoms and supported annually with many partners. The first edition was held in 2022, in Paris, from April to July, around places and strong events. The aim of this concept of cultural season is to highlight all the talents and creativity of Cameroon in the eyes of an international audience, by integrating the traditional aspect. Cameroon’s Cultural Season offers multidisciplinary activities, oriented around ICC and heritage issues, which can be found during: economic days, through the rich and varied live performance, but also through temporary exhibitions, and strong events such as the Night of Chiefdoms.
The first edition: the cultural season of Cameroon in Paris, April to July 2022
From April to July 2022, the Route des Chefferies organized the first cultural season of Cameroon in Paris. A season placed under the sign of the discovery of Cameroon, its culture and its talents. This first edition was marked both by major cultural highlights (Route des Chefferies exhibition, Civilizations parade, chefferies night) and by events that implemented them (masterclass by Djaïli Amadou Amal, but also economic days). Hailed by all, this great season has fulfilled its objectives of introducing Cameroon to an international audience and its diaspora in a new way. Let’s go back in detail to these highlights and events.
The exhibition in a nutshell
Visitors
Shows
Conferences
Artists
Traditional authorities
Personalities
The exhibition and around the exhibition, events organized with the musée du quai Branly
The exhibition, presented for 4 months, welcomed more than 100,000 visitors. Around the latter were organized many events to present Cameroon differently. First days stopovers, dedicated to a particular chiefdom in order to discover in more detail the specificities of the latter, were organized on three occasions. The Foto, Fondjomekwet and Bazou chiefdoms were thus honored. This exhibition was also an opportunity to meet the two copies of the Tukah mask, one of which is used in the Bamendou chiefdom, and the other currently kept in the Louvre. This meeting was a historic and unique moment in the world of heritage.
Other temporary events took part in the program around the exhibition: a conference on comics in Cameroon, on the Ndop, a Cinema cycle organized by Jean Pierre Bekolo etc. The idea being to present several parts of Cameroon, not only on heritage aspects and no longer specifically targeting the Grassfields.
Performing arts at the heart of the season: from the musée du quai Branly to Focus Cameroun at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris
Blick Bassy, a multidisciplinary artist
The carte blanche granted by the musée du quai Branly to Blick Bassy allowed access to a rich and varied artistic proposal, presented from May to June 2022 by the artist. Multidisciplinary himself, he surrounded himself with other Cameroonian and African artists for his programming. Dance with the fabulous show Bikutsi 3000 – currently presented in other corners of the world -, music with its own show and the promotion of African female artists (Kareyce Fotso, Poundo, Ami Yeremolo), but also the promotion of preserved instruments by the musée du quai Branly, the creation of a contemporary lullaby and the sung story of the history of independence are the proposals he presented. It was so successful that Bikutsi 3000 was sold out the three nights it was scheduled.
The Cameroon focus and its artists
In direct partnership with the French Institute of Cameroon and the theater of the city of Paris, a four-day “Focus Cameroun” was organized in a theater in the heart of the Champs Elysées. More than forty artists made the trip to a rich program around several performances: dances with Agathe Djokam, music with several artists including Lydol and Myname but also the tenor Jacques Greg Belobo, fashion shows by young designers, meetings with chefs and personalities, storytelling, performances with Keulion, shows with giant puppets etc. The richness of the program filled the theater of the city of Paris. The focus also discovered the chiefdoms during a costumed gathering, where the communities paraded, where the Giants of Mboa performed, in front of chiefs from all over Cameroon.
The Night of the Chefferies at the Théâtre de la Ville de Paris
Concept developed by the Route des Chiefdoms, this night of chiefdoms was dedicated to the traditional authorities of Cameroon. Presented in the great hall of the theatre, it consisted of promoting the art and traditional culture of the country. Following a creative residency organized in Yaoundé, young Cameroonian designers presented their collections on the theme of the country’s traditional costumes. Then, the ballet of the Cameroonian diaspora presented an original show, created for the occasion, with more than twenty traditional dances of the country.
Conferences on heritage, master classes and meetings
A cycle of conferences was organized during the season, focusing mainly on heritage, its discovery and reflection on this theme. “The Sacred” with Dr. Philippe Charlier, for example, highlighted the work he is doing in Bapa. A day was also devoted to meeting the two Tukah masks and a conference on this emblematic Bamendou mask.
A conference day closed this cycle on July 8 and was organized around the theme “Heritage and development” over two half-days. The morning allowed the intervention of representatives of the Ministry of Culture in France, the French Institute, the AFD, but also ICESCO and the musée du quai Branly. The Minister of Sports, traditional chief, also intervened to talk about the importance of the Water Museum (link to associated page ) in the development of the Bonanja Siga Bonjo chiefdom. The afternoon was devoted to the importance of women in the development of Cameroon. Organized with RIPREM, this conference welcomed Minister Célestine Ketcha Courtès, Ségolène Royal, and many speakers who play a major role in Cameroon.
This season, under the sign of discovery, has also been a way of exchanging. A dialogue between traditional leaders and the diaspora was organized. Djaïli Amadou Amal, for her part, gave a masterclass to talk about her career and her struggles with many women present to draw inspiration from her.
Economic days (JEC)
From July 5 to 8, 2022, the Cameroon Economic Days in Paris were organized jointly with the Cameroonian Embassy in Paris and within OnePoint, a partner of the Route des Chefferies. During four half-days, investment opportunities in Cameroon were discussed, particularly in the heritage and ICC sector. The presence of many economic actors allowed rich and varied exchanges. Let us note for example the Feicom, the CVUC, the mayors of Douala, Bafoussam, or Mbouda, the president of the West region, but also the AFD. These exchanges have contributed to strengthening the links between the diaspora and the actors in the field.