FESTAC ‘77 - Journal Entry 9 Xiongyue Yu

FESTAC'77 - the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture

 

Video from the UNESCO Multimedia Archive captures the spectacle of FESTAC '77, also known as the Second World Festival of Black and African Arts and Cultures, a cultural carnival held in Lagos, Nigeria, from January 15, 1977 to February 12, 1977. It is a long-standing event that celebrates African culture and showcases African music, art, literature, theater, dance and religion to the world.

 

As you can see in the video, people are participating in this feast in a carnival atmosphere, with extremely rich forms of art and entertainment. It can be seen that this is also an event that hopes to unite the people of Africa with a sense of participation and cohesion through art and culture. Although the festival is polarized among both locals and onlookers, the majority of those who have experienced it or are close to it say that it plays an important role in their lives and livelihoods.

 

Although the festival has been cancelled, perhaps Africans and their descendants around the world need a festival like FSESTAC'77 more than ever. Because Africa is now facing and needs to solve many problems, they need another chance to unite their people and make everyone aware of each other's wholeness. And it is in this way that art has always played a very important role in Africa, and African art with its unique passion and talent has given birth to the many art forms that the world has today. After a history of cultural dispossession and invasion by colonizers, it is time for Africa to start telling their own stories and cherishing this unique and precious heritage.

 

Although skeptical, there are still many African people who are looking forward to seeing if such a festival will ever happen again.

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