International records / OpenAlex research

Culture and religion, 1940–1985

For two weeks in the spring of 1966, Dakar was the cultural capital of Africa. The First World Festival of African Arts and Culture brought writers, musicians, sculptors, artisans, and griots from every corner of Africa to the capital of Senegal on the tip of Cape Verde. President Léopold Senghor, the renowned poet of négritude , inaugurated the festivities. Performances, celebrations, lectures, and debates ensued in the conference halls, on the streets, in restaurants, and in the artisanal village of Soumbedioune, constructed at the seaside especially for the festival. African culture had reg…