Global Africas: Congolese Literature, Music, and Art in the 21st Century
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. 鈥 The Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, the 糖心vlog Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, and the College of Arts and Sciences will welcome some of the 21st century鈥檚 most prominent voices for a two-day virtual symposium exploring Africa鈥檚 past and present global interconnections, Thursday, Nov. 5, and Friday, Nov. 6.
鈥淕lobal Africas: Congolese Literature, Music, and Art in the 21st Century鈥 examines the cultural, linguistic, political, and historical realities of Francophone regions of Africa from a range of academic and artistic perspectives. This event, the initial iteration in the Global Africas series, includes virtual discussions and a roundtable that focus on the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Congolese diaspora and feature internationally renowned author Alain Mabanckou, the Paris-based artist Pat Masioni, and Belgium-based musician and director Baloji.
The Winthrop King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies鈥 Global Africas series works against the ubiquitous tendency to reduce Earth鈥檚 second-largest continent to a single nation by exploring the many ways in which Africa鈥檚 countries and peoples have always been globally interconnected.
鈥淭his inaugural event highlights the interplay between the local and the global in contemporary literature, music, film, and comics and at the same time explores the twinned legacies of colonization and diaspora,鈥 said series organizer and FSU assistant professor of French Michelle Bumatay.
The events are free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. Visit to register. Discussion will be conducted in English and French as indicated below. View the event for full details, and contact Bumatay at mbumatay@fsu.edu with questions.
Events will include:
Thursday, Nov. 5
10 a.m. Discussion with artist Pat Masioni (in French with English translation provided)
11 a.m. Discussion with musician and filmmaker Baloji
12:30 p.m. Discussion with author Alain Mabanckou
Friday, Nov. 6
12:30 p.m. Roundtable with Alain Mabanckou, Baloji and Pat Masioni (in French) Moderated by assistant professor of French Michelle Bumatay and modern languages graduate student Alexis Finet, with French-to-English translations provided in the chat.
糖心vlog the speakers
Belgium-based musician Baloji works on audiovisual representations of the cultural wealth of his Congolese roots. Made famous with his post-modern 2011 rap cover of the popular rumba classic Ind茅pendance Cha-Cha-Cha, Baloji鈥檚 creations also function as a commentary on the current sociopolitical status of Congolese society. He explores linguistic diversity relevant to this region, and his work vibrantly explores sounds and colors of Congolese heritage through the medium of music videos. Baloji鈥檚 15-minute musical epic, 鈥淶OMBIES,鈥 won the Principle Prize at the 2019 Oberhausen short film festival.
Renowned author, professor, and intellectual Alain Mabanckou鈥檚 work is richly dense with allusions to world literature, political discourse, comics, music, and fashion, and not only spans space and time, but also literary genres and mediums. Most notably, drawing from his 2009 novel 鈥淏lack Bazar,鈥 about a Congolese sapeur in Paris, Mabanckou collaborated with musicians Modogo Abarambwa and Sam Tshintu to generate a 2012 album of the same name that brought Congolese rumba to an international audience. Mabanckou, originally from the port city Point-Noire in the Republic of the Congo, has been a longtime critic of France鈥檚 bifurcated vision of the Francophone world and co-authored the famous 2007 鈥淧our une 鈥榣itt茅rature-monde鈥 en fran莽ais,鈥 (For a World Literature).
Paris-based artist Pat Masioni is originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and studied painting and ceramics before attending the Acad茅mie des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa, where he received a degree in architecture. Since the mid-1980s, Masioni has worked professionally as an illustrator in Congo-Kinshasa, producing comics and textbook illustrations for Kinshasa-based publisher M茅diaspaul. His detailed, hyper-real, and dramatic style attracted the attention of French documentarian C茅cile Grenier and the pair collaborated on the two-volume graphic novel 鈥淩wanda 1994鈥 about the Rwandan genocide. In 2009, Masioni began working with American Joshua Dysart on the DC Comics/Vertigo series 鈥淭he Unknown Soldier,鈥 making him one of the only African Francophone cartoonists published in the U.S.