The Pan African Historical Theatre Project now known as PANAFEST is a cultural event held in

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 ...

every two years for Africans and people of African descent. It was first held in 1992. The idea of this festival is to promote and enhance unity,

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 ...

, and the development of the continent of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

itself. Activities that occur at this festival are performances and work in the areas of theatre, drama, music, and poetry, among other things. Also, there are viewing of the durbar of chiefs, and tours to various places of interest, such as slave castle

dungeons A dungeon is a room or Prison cell, cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An o ...

Impetus and objectives

PANAFEST was mooted by the late

Efua Sutherland Efua Theodora Sutherland (born 27 June 1924 – 2 January 1996) was a Ghanaian playwright, director, dramatist, children's author, poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate, and cultural activist. Her works include the plays ''Foriwa' ...

in the mid-1980s as a cultural vehicle for bringing Africans on the continent and in the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

together around the issues raised by

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

that remain suppressed. PANAFEST addresses the most traumatic interruption that ever occurred in the natural evolution of African societies, which among other traumas profoundly eroded the self-confidence and freedom for self-determination of a whole people. Ghana’s coastline is dotted with now silent memorials to over 500 years of this most turbulent era in Africa’s history, which the festival consciously makes a site for confronting the effects of enslavement, purging the pain of the diaspora, acknowledging the residual effects of the trade on the African continent and re-uniting to forge a positive future in the contemporary global environment. Alongside the healing processes, PANAFEST celebrates the strengths and resilience of African culture and achievements of Africans in spite of the

transatlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

and its aftermath. It is designed to help Africans to reconnect with their strengths and thus be inspired to eternal vigilance, rededicate themselves to fully assuming the reigns of their own destiny in recognition of the lessons of history. There are today urgent developments making this proudly Ghanaian initiative a vital and relevant platform that provides members of the African family with the opportunity to engage with each other in forthright communication. Among these are negatives such as

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

from the continent, the brain drain, marginalization of Africans in a global knowledge economy, the renewed surge of external pursuit of African natural resources and the slowness of African unification. There are also positive factors including enabling global conventions and coalitions and African initiatives to establish transnational businesses, add value to community initiatives, take advantage of technologies and mobilize the strength of Africans around the globe.

PANAFEST and the Ghanaian State

PANAFEST is an international event that, as has happened since Independence in the mid-20th century, makes Ghana a motivational force for African peoples. Since 1992, the festival has attracted participation by official delegations, individuals and groups from African,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n countries, as well as groups and individuals from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The government of Ghana considers this a major national initiative and appreciates the agencies, communities,

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

for lending its auspices to this unique cultural manifestation.www.panafestghana.org
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References

External links

PANAFEST website
{{Portal, Pan-Africanism, Africa Festivals in Ghana African society Culture of Africa African Union