The singer and flautist from Niger is conveying a message. It is addressed at France, a former colonial authority that forbade cultural institutions from working with artists from his nation.
“The French should respect us. If we say “ah I’m not going to give a visa” that’s like saying to a child “ah if you don’t do that, I can’t buy you a sweet.” We are not at that level, we have gone beyond that.” Yacouba Moumouni says. He is not alone with this view and message.
Artists in Niger are responding to these and other challenges, such as France’s decision to stop issuing visas to citizens of the nation.
“We will not beg. We are companies of the world. We are artists of the world. And the world has to deal with us. We can’t remove our cultures from the world’s culture”, Rachid Ramane, President of the Federation of Artistic and Cultural Associations of Niger says.
“Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali are experiencing problems today, and not the least of them. It’s not too much to ask for independence and autonomy. People should understand us” Ramane stressed.
In a letter distributed to national theatre and choreography centers on Thursday, the French General Directorates for Cultural Affairs demanded an immediate halt to any initiatives involving citizens of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
Garba Mahamane Lawali, director of the Niger musical training and promotion center believes any culture that doesn’t open up, that closes in on itself, is a culture destined to die. “In Africa, we thank God we are open to everyone, and if it’s not because we can’t go to France, we have Africa, we have the other parts of the world. All they have to do is close themselves off. They will see if they can evolve. All they have to do is to be more moderate. It’s a time… it’s a time when they need to have the intelligence to face up to this new era.”
Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso are currently embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with their former colonial power France under the leadership of military juntas that ousted democratically elected presidents from office.
All of France’s funding support and development assistance programmes with Niger and Burkina Faso were put on hold on July 29 and August 6. In November 2022, it had already done so for Mali.
