20th century
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The UNESCO Conference on the Influence of Colonialism on African Cultures was held in Dar es Salaam in 1972. It formed part of the institutional setting in which cultural problems associated with colonialism, African identity, and the construction of modern African culture were debated by international and African bodies during the post-independence era.
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The Story
The UNESCO Conference on the Influence of Colonialism on African Cultures took place in Dar es Salaam in 1972. Its subject placed the cultural consequences of colonial rule within an international institutional framework. The conference formed part of a broader sequence of post-independence events addressing African literature, art, culture, and liberation.
The conference’s setting reflected unresolved problems in cultural production. African writers still wrote predominantly in European languages, often for readers literate in those languages or for interested white foreigners. At the same time, cinema, television, and radio were spreading foreign cultural forms across the continent, even as efforts were made to develop an authentic modern African popular culture.
The meeting was contemporary with debates over whether African culture should be recovered, preserved, or creatively used in political liberation. Amílcar Cabral argued that the masses had generally retained their cultures and traditions and could use them creatively through liberation movements. This position differed from a purely romantic search for cultural identity and linked culture to the struggle against foreign rule.
20th century
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
The UNESCO Conference on the Influence of Colonialism on African Cultures was held in Dar es Salaam in 1972. It formed part of the institutional setting in which cultural problems associated with colonialism, African identity, and the construction of modern African culture were debated by international and African bodies during the post-independence era.
Continue exploring
The Story
The UNESCO Conference on the Influence of Colonialism on African Cultures took place in Dar es Salaam in 1972. Its subject placed the cultural consequences of colonial rule within an international institutional framework. The conference formed part of a broader sequence of post-independence events addressing African literature, art, culture, and liberation.
The conference’s setting reflected unresolved problems in cultural production. African writers still wrote predominantly in European languages, often for readers literate in those languages or for interested white foreigners. At the same time, cinema, television, and radio were spreading foreign cultural forms across the continent, even as efforts were made to develop an authentic modern African popular culture.
The meeting was contemporary with debates over whether African culture should be recovered, preserved, or creatively used in political liberation. Amílcar Cabral argued that the masses had generally retained their cultures and traditions and could use them creatively through liberation movements. This position differed from a purely romantic search for cultural identity and linked culture to the struggle against foreign rule.