FESTAC '77
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Festac '77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (the first festival took place in Dakar, 1966, the second in
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
in July 1969) was a major international festival held in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, from 15 January 1977 to 12 February 1977. The month-long event celebrated African culture and showcased African
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
,
fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
, drama,
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
to the world. Around 16,000 participants, representing 56 African nations and countries of the
African Diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...
, performed at the event. Music artists who performed at the festival included
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
from the
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,
Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...
from
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Bembeya Jazz National Bembeya Jazz National (originally known as Orchestre de Beyla) is a Guinean music group that gained fame in the 1960s for their Afropop rhythms. They are considered one of the most significant bands in Guinean music. Many of their recordings are ba ...
from
Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
,
Mighty Sparrow Slinger Francisco Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, ORTT Chaconia Medal, CM Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 9 July 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian Calypso music, calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitar ...
from
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
,
Les Ballets Africains Les Ballets Africains is the national dance company of Guinea and is based in Conakry. It is one of the first African national dance companies. It has toured extensively around the world. Although the French name might suggest the idea of European ...
, South African singer
Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...
, Congolese
Franco Luambo Makiadi François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese singer, guitarist, songwriter, bandleader, and cultural revolutionary. He was a central figure in 20th-century Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cong ...
, and Liberian singer
Yatta Zoe Yatta Zoe (born 1942), previously known as Victoria Snetter and affectionately called Ma Yatta, is a Liberian folk singer, percussionist, dancer, and cultural icon from Bomi County. Dubbed the "Queen of Liberian Folk", her music career spanned fou ...
. At the time it was held, it was the largest pan-African gathering to ever take place. The event attracted around 500,000 spectators. The official emblem of the festival was a replica royal ivory mask. The mask was crafted by
Erhabor Emokpae Erhabor Ogieva Emokpae, OON, (9 May 1934 – 16 February 1984) was a Nigerian sculptor, muralist, graphic artist and painter who is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern arts in Nigeria. Some of his notable works include the a bronze repli ...
of
Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...
. The hosting of the festival led to the establishment of the Nigerian National Council of Arts and Culture, Festac Village and the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. A majority of the events were held in four main venues: the National Theatre,
National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...
,
Surulere Surulere is a local government area located on the mainland in Lagos State, Nigeria. It has an area of . At the 2006 census, there were 503,975 inhabitants, with a population density of 21,864 inhabitants per square kilometer. The local governm ...
, Lagos City Hall and
Tafawa Balewa Square The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) is a ceremonial ground (originally called "Race Course") in Lagos Island, Lagos. History Lagos Race Course now TBS, was a sports field that hosted horse racing, but included a section for football and ground t ...
.


Preparation


Background

The inspiration for convening FESTAC can be traced to the development of ideas on
Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, mainly developed by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians in the Africa ...
and
Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atla ...
. In the 1940s,
Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...
and
Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...
, inspired by the Pan-Africanism of
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...
and
Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, and educator. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect—the acknowledged " ...
's concept of the
New Negro "New Negro" is a term popularized during the Harlem Renaissance implying a more outspoken advocacy of dignity and a refusal to submit quietly to the practices and laws of Jim Crow racial segregation. The term "New Negro" was made popular by Al ...
, started a journal and publishing house in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, France, called ''
Présence Africaine ''Présence Africaine'' (French for ''African Presence'') is a pan-African quarterly cultural, political, and literary magazine, published in Paris, France, and founded by Alioune Diop in 1947. In 1949, ''Présence Africaine'' expanded to include ...
''; both Césaire and Senghor were also members of the Société africaine de culture.Enahoro, Ife (1977). "The Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture: Lagos, Nigeria", ''
Black Scholar ''The Black Scholar'' (''TBS'') is a journal founded in California, in 1969, by Robert Chrisman, Nathan Hare, and Allan Ross. It is the third oldest Black studies journal in the US, after the NAACP’s ''The Crisis'' (founded in 1910) and the ...
'', Vol. 9, No. 1. September, pp. 27–33.
''Présence Africaine'' and the Society of African Culture were facilitators of two congresses, one in 1956 and the other in 1959. The forums were convened with the intention of promoting black culture and civilisation. The first congress held was the
Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
of Black Writers in Paris and the second was a black writers forum in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy. Attendees of the forums included writers of African and Afro-descendant heritage such as Alioune Diop,
Cheikh Anta Diop Cheikh Anta Diop (29 December 1923 – 7 February 1986) was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician who studied the human race's origins and pre-colonial African culture. Diop's work is considered foundational to the the ...
, Léopold Senghor, and
Jacques Rabemananjara Jacques Rabemananjara (23 June 1913 – 2 April 2005) was a Madagascar, Malagasy politician, playwright and poet. He served as a government minister, rising to Vice President of Madagascar. Rabemananjara was said to be the most prolific write ...
, Richard Wright, Césaire,
George Lamming George William Lamming OCC (8 June 19274 June 2022) was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. He first won critical acclaim for '' In the Castle of My Skin'', his 1953 debut novel. He also held academic posts, including as a distinguished ...
,
Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned graduate and doctoral degrees from Universit ...
, Jacques Alexis, John Davis,
William Fontaine William Thomas Valerio Fontaine (born William Thomas Fontaine; December 2, 1909 – December 29, 1968) was an American philosopher. Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1967, he was an American Professor of philosophy i ...
,
Jean Price Mars Jean Price-Mars (15 October 1876 – 1 March 1969) was a Haitian medical doctor, teacher, politician, diplomat, writer, and ethnographer.James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...
,
Chester Himes Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the '' Harlem Detective'' series of novels for which he i ...
,
Mercer Cook Will Mercer Cook (March 30, 1903 – October 4, 1987), popularly known as Mercer Cook, was an American diplomat and professor. He was the first United States ambassador to the Gambia after it became independent, appointed in 1965 while also ...
and
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the ...
. Members of both forums were engaged with discussing ideas about the resurgence of African culture and the convocation of a festival of arts. In 1966, with leadership provided by Senghor and subsidies from outside, notably France, and
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
, the
First World Festival of Black Arts The World Festival of Black Arts (French: ''Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres''), also known as FESMAN or FMAN, has been a series of month-long culture and arts festivals taking place in various parts of Africa. The festival features participant ...
was held in
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
,
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, 1–24 April 1966. At the end of the first festival, Nigeria was invited to hold the second festival in 1970 so as to promote a continuation of black unity through cultural festivals. The host nation would be responsible for providing the necessary infrastructure and facilities for a successful staging of the festival. However, a
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and changes in government led to the postponing of the festival to 1977. Preparation for a second festival began in Lagos, Nigeria, on 3 October 1972, when the International Festival Committee met for the first time and decided that the festival would be held in November 1974. The name of the festival was changed from "World Black Festival of Arts and Culture" to "Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture" so as to accommodate the realities of
African unity Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...
. The date was further changed to November 1975. The organizers divided countries into 16 geographical zones, with each zone having a committee made up of representatives of peoples of African descent; the chairman for each zone would become a member of the International Festival Committee. The committee acted as the administrative arm of the Festival. The desire to improve on the Dakar festival led to Nigeria's intention to create an extravagant show fueled by new-found oil money. A new regime replaced the Gowon administration and the date for the festival was thus changed to 1977. To generate publicity for the festival, the international committee advised the zones to encourage preliminary festivals. Some mini-festivals did take place, such as
Carifesta Caribbean Festival of Arts, commonly known as CARIFESTA, is an annual festival for promoting arts of the Caribbean with a different country hosting the event each year. It was started to provide a venue to "depict the life of the people of the Regi ...
hosted by
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
, the Commonwealth Festival in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
's national exhibition of arts and crafts and Nigeria's Nafest. The festival committee also chose as the festival emblem a replica by
Erhabor Emokpae Erhabor Ogieva Emokpae, OON, (9 May 1934 – 16 February 1984) was a Nigerian sculptor, muralist, graphic artist and painter who is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern arts in Nigeria. Some of his notable works include the a bronze repli ...
of the 15th-century Benin ivory mask (the mask itself was last worn by
Ovonramwen Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, also called Overami, was the thirty-fifth Oba of Benin, Ọba of the Kingdom of Benin reigning from , up until the British Benin Expedition of 1897, punitive expedition. Born circa 1857, he was the son of Ọba Adolo, Ad ...
, a Benin king dethroned in 1897 by the Consul General of the
Niger Coast Protectorate The Niger Coast Protectorate was a British protectorate in the Oil Rivers area of present-day Nigeria, originally established as the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1884 and confirmed at the Berlin Conference the following year. It was renamed on 12 M ...
,
Ralph Moor Sir Ralph Denham Rayment Moor, (31 July 1860 – 14 September 1909) was the first high commissioner of the British Southern Nigeria Protectorate. Life Ralph Moor was born on 31 July 1860 at The Lodge, Furneux Pelham, Buntingford, Hertfordshire ...
).


Facilities

A housing estate known as Festac Village was constructed as accommodation for about 17,000 participants. However, the long-term objective of the village under the Federal Housing Programme was to relieve some of the housing pressure in Lagos. The housing estate was proposed for construction within two years, with more than 40 contractors working on different sites of the project. In total 5,088 dwelling units were built prior to the festival and an additional 5,687 were to be completed by the end of 1977. During the festival, the housing estate was the venue for performance rehearsals and interaction by participants as various troupes rehearsed their routines in the day and at night. For hosting the performances and lectures, a state-of-the-art multipurpose theatre was built, to serve also as a lasting centre of African art and culture. The theatre's design was based on the Palace of Culture and Sports in
Varna, Bulgaria Varna (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, t ...
, and was constructed by the Bulgarian state firm Technoexportstroy. The new complex had two exhibition halls, a 5,000-capacity performance and event hall, a conference hall with 1,600 seats and two cinema halls. The theatre hosted dance, music, art exhibitions, cinema, drama and the colloquium.


Aims of the Festival

*To ensure the revival, resurgence, propagation and promotion of Black and African culture and black and African cultural values and civilization; *To present black and African culture in its highest and widest conception; *To bring to light the diverse contributions of black and African peoples to the universal currents of thought and arts; *To promote black and African artists, performers and writers and facilitate their world acceptance and their access to world outlets; *To promote better international and interracial understanding; *To facilitate a periodic return to origin in Africa by black artists, writers and performers uprooted to other continents.


The Festival

The opening ceremony of the festival took place on 15 January 1977 inside the
National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...
,
Surulere Surulere is a local government area located on the mainland in Lagos State, Nigeria. It has an area of . At the 2006 census, there were 503,975 inhabitants, with a population density of 21,864 inhabitants per square kilometer. The local governm ...
, Lagos. One of the highlights of the ceremony was a parade of participants representing 48 countries, marching past visiting dignitaries, diplomats and the Nigerian Head of State,
Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...
. Some participants in the parade wore colourful ceremonial robes, some men were on 14-foot stilts, and Nigerian dancers carried flaming urns on their heads. To symbolize the freedom and unity of Black peoples 1,000 pigeons were released; a
shango Shango (Yoruba language: Ṣàngó, also known as Changó or Xangô in Latin America; as Jakuta or Badé; and as Ṣangó in Trinidad Orisha) is an Orisha (or spirit) in Yoruba religion. Genealogically speaking, Shango is a royal ancestor of th ...
priest also set the festival bowl aflame. The festival events began around 9 a.m. each day and lasted till midnight.Foundation for Research in the Afro-American Creative Arts, "Festac '77", ''The Black Perspective in Music'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 1977), pp. 104–117.


Colloquium

The colloquium was at the heart of the festival, and was held daily during first two weeks of activities. About 700 writers, artists and scholars participated in the lectures. The theme of the lectures bordered on the lack of intellectual freedom and the ambivalence experienced by Third World countries that sometimes turn to their colonizers for expertise while attempting to establish an image of confidence and independence to themselves as well as the rest of the world. The declared purpose of the colloquium was to seek answers to the questions of how to revive and foster black and African artists and how to facilitate international acceptance Iris Kay, "Festac 77", ''African Arts'', Vol. 11, No. 1, 1977, pp. 50–51. and access to outlets. Among the speakers at events were Clarival do Prado Valladares, Lazarus Ekwueme, Babs Fafunwa and
Eileen Southern Eileen Jackson Southern (February 19, 1920 – October 13, 2002) was an American musicologist, researcher, author, and teacher. Southern's research focused on black American musical styles, musicians, and composers; she also published on early ...
.


Durbar and regatta festivals

The festival committee purchased a total of 2,003 45-seater luxury buses and 91 26-seater buses for logistics reasons. One reason was the
Durbar festival The Durbar festival is an annual cultural, religious and equestrian festival, celebrated as a core part of the Arewa (Northern Nigerian) Hausa culture. Durbar has existed for centuries and is as an essential part of Hausa Kingdoms and Hausa tra ...
that was staged in
Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...
, a city that is more than 700 kilometers from Lagos. The event took place from 5 February to 8 February 1977 . Originally, durbars in Nigeria were receptions held in honour of princes; beginning in 1911, four durbars had been held in Nigeria prior to 1977. However, the Festac durbar was a pageant that had
emirs Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...
riding with their entourage of cavalry, camels, and entertainers as a sign of unity. The durbar was a display of horsemen and entertainers such as musicians playing horns,
Kakaki :''See also the Africa section of: Nafir#Africa, Nafir'' The kakaki is a three- to four-metre-long metal trumpet used in Hausa people, Hausa, Yoruba people, Yoruba, and Nupe people, Nupe traditional ceremonial music. ''Kakaki'' is the name used in ...
trumpets, the tambari and drums, among the entourage were
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
, Bori and
Bida Bida is a Local Government Area in Niger State, Nigeria and a city on the A124 highway which occupies most of the area. The LGA has an area of and a population of 188,181 at the 2006 census. The postal code of the area is 912. Geography Bida ...
masqueraders. The Festac durbar appropriated from ancient
Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...
, Songhay and Kanembu customs such as Hawan Dawaki, also known as the mounting of horses, and a Bornu military ceremony called Tewur, which is a rally held by cavalry men before a major campaign. Another historic event appropriated was the annual meetings of Fulani emirs held at the instance of the Caliphs of
Sokoto Sokoto (Hausa language, Hausa: ; Fulfulde, Fula: , ''Leydi Sokoto'') is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the extreme northwest of the country. It is bounded by Niger, Republic of the Niger to the north and west for 363 km (226 m ...
in
Kaura Namoda Kaura Namoda is a Local Government Area in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Kaura-Namoda, home to the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura-Namoda. It has an area of 868 km and a population of 281,367 at the 2006 census. Hist ...
to mobilize contingents for expeditions against hostile states. The boat
regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...
was another event staged far from the common venues but, unlike the durbar, the regatta was staged in Lagos. The regatta was a three-day event performed at Queen's Drive foreshore in
Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class r ...
, Lagos. Participants were principally from Nigeria, and the states represented were
Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, Cross River, Imo,
Kwara Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its capi ...
,
Ogun Ogun or Ogoun ( Yoruba: Ògún, Edo: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a Yoruba Orisha that is adopted in several African religions. Ògún is a warrior and a powerful spi ...
, Ondo and Lagos states. Each boat had an assemble of musicians, acrobats or masquerades and dancers. More than 200 boats were involved in the event. File:Festac '77 Grand Durbar (22173986028) (cropped) 1.jpg, Grand Durbar in
Kaduna State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...
File:Festac '77 Grand Durbar (22361733345).jpg, Grand Durbar in
Kaduna State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...
File:Festac '77 Regatta (22361732555).jpg, Regatta in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...


Visual and performing arts

Performing and visual art shows such as film, drama, music and dance were mostly staged during late afternoons and evenings at the National Theatre, however, some drama and music shows were also staged at
Tafawa Balewa Square The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) is a ceremonial ground (originally called "Race Course") in Lagos Island, Lagos. History Lagos Race Course now TBS, was a sports field that hosted horse racing, but included a section for football and ground t ...
, with modern drama and music shows usually staged in the afternoons and traditional drama and music shows staged in the evenings. In total, about 50 plays, 150 music and dance shows, 80 films, 40 art exhibitions and 200 poetry and dance sessions were staged. On the eve of the inaugural ceremonies,
Sory Kandia Kouyaté Sorya Kandia Kouyaté was a Guinean singer, considered at his early death in 1977 "one of the most powerful and mesmerizing African singers alive." Known for his powerful voice, and nicknamed "the voice of Africa", his music mixed tradition with ja ...
, a master Mande Griot, treated the heads of state and government to a stellar vocal and kora performance, reminiscent. The settings was reminiscent of Medieval Africa's imperial and royal courts. Other musicians who performed were
Osibisa Osibisa is a Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London-based Caribbean musicians. Osibisa was the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...
,
Les Amazones ''Les amazones, ou La fondation de Thèbes'' (''The Amazons, or The Founding of Thebes'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Étienne Méhul with a libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy. It was first performed at the Paris Op ...
, Bembeya Jazz and
Les Ballets Africains Les Ballets Africains is the national dance company of Guinea and is based in Conakry. It is one of the first African national dance companies. It has toured extensively around the world. Although the French name might suggest the idea of European ...
from Guinea;
Franco Luambo François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese singer, guitarist, songwriter, bandleader, and cultural revolutionary. He was a central figure in 20th-century Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cong ...
from Congo;
Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...
,
Louis Moholo Louis Tebogo Moholo (10 March 1940 – 13 June 2025) was a South African jazz drummer. He was a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai. Biography Born in Cape Town, Moholo formed The ...
,
Dudu Pukwana Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana (18 July 1938 – 30 June 1990) was a South African saxophonist and composer. Early years in South Africa Dudu Pukwana was born in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He grew up studyin ...
from South Africa; the Invaders Steelband from
Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
, and the
Mighty Sparrow Slinger Francisco Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, ORTT Chaconia Medal, CM Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 9 July 1935), better known as Mighty Sparrow, is a Trinidadian Calypso music, calypso vocalist, songwriter, and guitar ...
from
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
;
Gilberto Gil Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira (; born 26 June 1942), is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and politician, known for both his musical innovation and political activism. From 2003 to 2008, he served as Brazil's Ministry of Culture (Brazil), Minister of ...
from Brazil, and US artists such as
Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...
,
Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...
,
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
and
Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...
. Apart from numerous concerts, a music meeting was held on 29 January 1977 under the leadership of composer
Akin Euba Olatunji Akin Euba (28 April 1935 – 14 April 2020) was a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist. Career Born on 28 April 1935 in Lagos, Nigeria, Akin Euba studied composition with Arnold Cooke at the Trinity College of Music, London, obt ...
. Also participating at the meeting were
Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma Mwesa Isaiah Mapoma is one of Zambia's best-known ethnomusicologists and is considered by many as a pioneer in the field of African ethnomusicology. He was born in Kombaniya village in Mansa on November 2, 1936, and died on November 16, 2020. A gra ...
, Kwabena Nketia and Mosunmola Omibiyi. Others present included instrumentalists, singers, public school teachers and graduate students of music. For more than two hours, the participants discussed matters of mutual concern and explored ways of improving musical activities among Africans, both on the continent and in the Diaspora. The
Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
dance troupe, the
Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre (AIDT) was the first dance company used to train Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students on their dancing career, and grew into a performance group. Originating in the National Aboriginal and Islander ...
, as well as the
Eleo Pomare Dance Company Eleo Pomare (20 October 1937 – 8 August 2008) was a Colombian-American modern dance choreographer. Known for his politically-charged productions depicting the Black experience, his work had a major influence on contemporary dance, especially Bl ...
from
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
performed at the festival. Several art exhibitions took place at the National Theatre, the
Nigerian National Museum The Nigerian National Museum is a national museum of Nigeria, located in the city of Lagos. The museum has a notable collection of Nigerian art, including pieces of statuary, carvings, and archaeological and ethnographic exhibits. Of note is a ...
and around
Tafawa Balewa Square The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) is a ceremonial ground (originally called "Race Course") in Lagos Island, Lagos. History Lagos Race Course now TBS, was a sports field that hosted horse racing, but included a section for football and ground t ...
. At the Square, each country represented at the festival was given a booth to exhibit their paintings, musical instruments, woven cloths, books and art objects. Some other notable exhibitions that took place were ''Africa and the Origin of Man'', which was held at the National Theatre, and
Ekpo Eyo Ekpo Okpo Eyo (8 July 1931 – 28 May 2011) was a Nigerian scholar mostly known for his work on archeology of Nigeria. He worked at the interface of archeology, anthropology, and art history, and he was actively involved in and many years presiding ...
's ''2000 Years of Nigerian Art'', which included Nok terracottas, Benin court art,
Igbo Ukwu Igbo-Ukwu ( English: ''Great Igbo'') is a town in the Nigerian state of Anambra in the south-central part of the country. The town comprises three quarters namely Obiuno, Ngo, and Ihite (an agglomeration of 4 quarters) with several villages wi ...
, Ife and
Tsoede Tsoede, also known as Tsuedigi, Tsade or Edegi(c. 1496 – c.1591) is a legendary African leader. He was the first person to unite the Nupe people, and is considered the first Etsu Nupe, ruler of the Nupe Kingdom, between the Niger and Kaduna ...
bronzes and art objects. A contemporary Nigerian exhibit featuring works from
Bruce Onobrakpeya Bruce Obomeyoma Onobrakpeya (born 30 August 1932) is a Nigerian printmaker, painter and sculptor. He has exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Mal ...
,
Ben Enwonwu Odinigwe Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu MBE (14 July 1917 – 5 February 1994), better known as Ben Enwonwu, was a Nigerian painter and sculptor. Arguably the most influential African artist of the 20th century, his pioneering career opened th ...
, Yusuf Grillo,
Uche Okeke Christopher Uchefuna Okeke (; April 30, 1933 – January 5, 2016), also known as Uche Okeke (), was an illustrator, painter, sculptor, and teacher. He was an art and aesthetic theorist, seminal to Nigerian modernism. Background Christopher Uche ...
and Kolade Oshinowo was also part of the event. A display of African architectural technology also took place at the National Theatre, where the display included paintings, drawings, and models showing different architectural themes such as
banco Banco may refer to: Places * Banc (Barcelona Metro), also called Banco, a closed metro stop on the Barcelona metro * Banco, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Banco National Park, a nationa ...
masonry structures, tensile structure and the
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
Courtyard of Matmata.


Aftermath and legacy

In the years after FESTAC '77, the National Theatre lost traction as the main venue for theatrical activities for a number of reasons. Nigeria's capital shifted from Lagos to
Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
in 1991 which lead to a depletion in funding for the maintenance for the National Theatre. Other venues had been built in Lagos, which directed attention away from the National Theatre. With no productions happening regularly enough to warrant usage of theatre, there existed a lot of uncertainty in how to keep it both operating and maintained. From 1975 to 1990, the Ministry of Culture and Social Welfare moved in and used it as an administrative office. By 1991, the National Theatre had come to fall into disrepair. A crack that existed in the roof of the auditorium spread throughout the building which let water in that eventually caused irreversible damage to the equipment and floors. Power was thus cut from the building as it had been deemed a safety hazard.


Recent works discussing FESTAC '77

The 2019 book ''FESTAC '77: The 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture'' featured photographic and archival materials, interviews and new writing, with words and work by such festival participants as
Wole Soyinka Wole Soyinka , (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian author, best known as a playwright and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty five plays and five memoirs. He also wrote two transla ...
,
Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor ( , , ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese politician, cultural theorist and poet who served as the first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1980. Ideologically an African socialist, Senghor was one ...
,
Ahmed Sékou Touré Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary ...
,
Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...
,
Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba ( , ; 4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including African popular music, Afropop, ja ...
, Alioune Diop, Jeff Donaldson,
Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...
,
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
,
Abdias do Nascimento Abdias do Nascimento (March 14, 1914 – May 23, 2011) was a prominent African Brazilian scholar, artist, and politician. Also a poet, dramatist, and Pan-African activist, Nascimento created the Black Experimental Theater (1944) and the Black Ar ...
,
Keorapetse Kgositsile Keorapetse William Kgositsile (19 September 1938 – 3 January 2018), also known by his pen name Bra Willie, was a South African Tswana people, Tswana poet, journalist and political activist. An influential member of the African National Congr ...
,
Mario de Andrade Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...
,
Ted Joans Theodore Joans (July 4, 1928 – April 25, 2003) was an American beatnik, surrealist, painter, filmmaker, collageist, jazz poet and jazz trumpeter who spent long periods of time in Paris while also traveling through Africa. His complex body of w ...
, Carlos Moore,
Ayi Kwei Armah Ayi Kwei Armah (born 28 October 1939) is a Ghanaian writer best known for his novels including '' The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born'' (1968), '' Two Thousand Seasons'' (1973) and '' The Healers'' (1978). He is also an essayist, as well as havin ...
,
Ama Ata Aidoo Ama Ata Aidoo (23 March 1942 — 31 May 2023) was a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright, politician, and academic. She was a Secretary for Education in Ghana from 1982 to 1983 under Jerry Rawlings's PNDC administration. Her first play, '' The Dil ...
,
Johnny Dyani Johnny Mbizo Dyani (30 November 1945 – 24 October 1986) was a South African jazz double bassist, vocalist and pianist, who, in addition to being a key member of The Blue Notes, played with such international musicians as Don Cherry, Steve L ...
,
Werewere Liking Werewere Liking (born 1950, in Cameroon) is a writer, playwright and performer based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. She established the Ki-Yi Mbock theatre troupe in 1980 and founded the Ki-Yi village in 1985 for the artistic education of young peo ...
, Marilyn Nance,
Barkley Hendricks Barkley L. Hendricks (April 16, 1945 – April 18, 2017) was a contemporary American painter who made pioneering contributions to Black portraiture and conceptualism. While he worked in a variety of media and genres throughout his career (from ph ...
, Mildred Thompson,
Ibrahim El-Salahi Ibrahim El-Salahi (, born 5 September 1930) is a Sudanese painter, former public servant and diplomat. He is one of the foremost visual artists of the Khartoum School, considered as part of African Modernism and the pan-Arabic Hurufiyya art mov ...
,
Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist. Her writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She was married to jazz saxophonist ...
,
Atukwei Okai Atukwei John Okai (15 March 1941 – 13 July 2018) was a Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic. He was Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association, and a president of the Ghana Association of Writers. His early work was pub ...
,
Jonas Gwangwa Jonas Mosa Gwangwa (19 October 1937 – 23 January 2021) was a South African jazz musician, songwriter and producer. He was an important figure in South African jazz for over 40 years. Life and career Gwangwa was born in Orlando East, Sowe ...
,
Lindsay Barrett Carlton Lindsay Barrett (born 15 September 1941), also known as Eseoghene, is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist and photographer, whose work has interacted with the Caribbean Artists Movement in the UK, the Black ...
, Gilberto de la Nuez, and
Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...
, among others. The archive of the USA contingent's participation is owned and maintained by photographer Marilyn Nance, the official photographer for FESTAC 77's North American Zone (NAZ). As a two-time finalist for the W. Eugene Smith Award in Humanistic Photography, Nance is most well known for her complete documentation of FESTAC '77. In October 2022, Nance published a book of rarely seen photographs from FESTAC '77, ''Last Day In Lagos.'' The book garnered accolades in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', among other journals. An exhibition curated by
Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' work ...
and Romi Crawford featured a wealth of photographs, some never publicly seen, from Chicago-based photographer Karega Kofi Moyo. The exhibition, ''K. Kofi Moyo and FESTAC ’77: The Activation of a Black Archive'', was on view at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
's Logan Center for the Arts exhibition gallery February 12 – March 21, 2021. The exhibition grew from the research conducted during a Richard and Mary L. Gray CenterRichard and Mary L. Gray Center
website.
Mellon Fellowship by Gates and Crawford.


See also

*
World Festival of Black Arts The World Festival of Black Arts (French: ''Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres''), also known as FESMAN or FMAN, has been a series of month-long culture and arts festivals taking place in various parts of Africa. The festival features participant ...
*
Congress of Black Writers and Artists The Congress of Black Writers and Artists ( French: ''Congrès des écrivains et artistes noirs''; originally called the Congress of Negro Writers and Artists) was a meeting of leading black intellectuals for the purpose of addressing the issues o ...


References


Further reading


''FESTAC ’77: The 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture'', published by Chimurenga
an
Afterall Books
in association with Asia Art Archive, the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and RAW Material Company, 2019, .


External links


Interview with Marilyn Nance and Fanny Robles in English

Interview with Marilyn Nance and Fanny Robles in French

Marilyn Nance's FESTAC 77 Archive Instagram Page

Marilyn Nance's FESTAC 77 Archive Facebook Page

Festac at Getty Images

Festac collection
at the Chimurenga Library
Festac '77 archive
by
Abdul Alkalimat Abdul Alkalimat (born Gerald Arthur McWorter, November 21, 1942) is an American professor of African-American studies and library and information science at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He is the author of several books, inclu ...
{{Authority control 1977 festivals 1977 in Nigeria 1970s in Lagos African festivals Cultural festivals in Nigeria February 1977 in Africa January 1977 in Africa Olusegun Obasanjo