Senghor, Léopold Sédar (1906–2001)
Poet, politician, and cultural theorist, Léopold Sédar Senghor was the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. His devotion to the arts as a…
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Samb, Mamadou Pape (1951–2014)
Mamadou Pape Samb, better known as Papisto Boy, was a Senegalese street artist celebrated locally and internationally. He moved to Dakar as an orphan of…
Acogny, Germaine (1944--)
In a career that has spanned over forty years, Germaine Acogny has contributed to modernism in dance by merging culturally situated West African dances from…
Négritude
The literary and cultural movement known as négritude was started in Paris in 1932 by Black students from French-speaking colonies in West Africa, the Caribbean…
Dalman, Elizabeth Cameron (1934--)
In a career that has spanned over sixty years, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman has been shaped by a politically progressive view of the role of dance…
Black Girl (1966)
Black Girl is the first feature-length sub-Saharan African production directed by Ousmane Sembène, also known as the father of African cinema. The film traces the…
Valentim, Rubem (1922–1991)
Rubem Valentim was born in 1922 in Salvador in the state of Bahia. A self-taught artist, Valentim starts his career in the 1940s acting alongside…
Bretyenbach, Breyten (1936–)
Breyten Breytenbach is the foremost poet among the ”Sestigers,” a prolific painter, and also a controversial public figure. He was born in Bonnievale, South Africa,…
Keita, Fodéba (1921–1969)
Fodéba Keita was a poet, playwright, musician, choreographer, impresario, anti-colonial activist, and statesman. As the leader of several musical bands, author of poems and essays,…
Bouabré, Frédéric Bruly (1923–2014)
Frédéric Bruly Bouabré is one of the best-known contemporary African artists. His drawings first gained international exposure in 1989 when exhibited in the groundbreaking show…
Tekle, Afewerk (1932–2012)
Afewerk Tekle was Ethiopia’s leading modern artist, famously known for introducing Western techniques of painting and sculpture to Ethiopia, and for his government commissions under…
African Hip-Hop
There are several features that distinguish African Hip-Hop music from the genre’s American origins. Principal targets of its social critique such as disenfranchisement and social…
Boghossian, Alexander (Skunder) (1937–2003)
Alexander Boghossian, better known as Skunder, was one of the most prominent figures of African modernism. Born in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in 1937 to…
Walker, Aida Overton (1880–1914)
Aida Overton Walker (born Ada Wilmore Overton) was one of the first female African-American stars of vaudeville, and perhaps the first to be recognized as…
Dunham, Katherine Mary (1909–2006)
As a choreographer, anthropologist, educator, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of dance in the twentieth century. In the mid-1930s she conducted anthropological research…
Primus, Pearl (1919–1994)
Dancer and choreographer Pearl Primus made significant strides toward securing a vital role for dance artists of color in American modern dance. Sparked by the…
Ailey, Alvin (1931–1989)
Alvin Ailey counts among the most significant American choreographers of the second half of the twentieth century, and his company the Alvin Ailey American Dance…