Jenny Mbaye participates in the Festival on the Niger

Earlier this month, Jenny was invited to and participated in the Segou Symposium of the Festival on the Niger in Mali (3rd-8th Feb.).

Despite the national curfiew, the 12th edition of this one of its kind festival in the West African region did offer a wonderful popular celebration and well-attended, under the banner of ‘Youth and Citizenship’. Jenny presented a paper reflecting on ‘The political culture and cultural policy de facto of Senegalese Hip Hop’. She was also invited to join the scientific committee of the Symposium for the subsequent editions.

The Festival on the Niger remains one of the rare examples of a citizen-led cultural initiative in a secondary African city, which manages to tackle into its resources to sustain an integrated development through this yearly event – something that the founding director, Mamou Daffe, refers to as ‘Maaya entrepreneurship’, i.e. a form of communal entreprenership for the sustainable development of the city.

More information on the festival can be found: http://www.festivalsegou.org/