AFRO FESTIVAL 2022
Saturday & Sunday, 25th & 26th of June
The Museum of African Art's AFRO FESTIVAL is the only museum festival that offers high quality cultural events and entertainment created around the art, culture and heritage of the African continent.
Afro Festival 2022 will be the place to experience our arts and crafts bazaar, learn about the cultural heritage of Africa, or if you are interested in lectures and guided museum tours, socializing with other art lovers, taking part in dance workshops, or just chilling to the sounds of hip-hop, reggae, Angolan traditional and pop music, while experimenting with different African cuisine – the Museum is the place to be!
Spend the weekend of June 25 and 26 in one of the city's most beautiful gardens – bring your picnic hamper, invite your friends and family members, and don't forget your pets... Leave the rest to us!
PRОGRАМME
Saturday, 25/6/2022
10:00-18:00 (Museum garden)
AFRICAN BAZAAR
Sale exhibition of craft and everyday objects, sculptures, masks, baskets, textiles, jewellery and clothes...
Photo: Marija Piroški
IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA
Open-air exhibition presenting the works of the 7th Open Art Call for children and youth.
11:00-12:00
AFRICAN TURBANS
workshop for adults (Museum garden)
Get ready for summer! Christiana Haruna from Nigeria and Mitchelle Ayamba from Ghana will show you how to make several different styles of African head-wraps, tell you about occasions when African women wear them, the materials they are made of and what makes the turban a lasting fashion accessory!
The museum can provide African textiles for 15 participants, so feel free to bring your own scarves and wraps (approximate dimensions: 215 x 65 cm)
JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF AFRICAN MASKS
guided tour through the permanent display (Main exhibiting space)
Join historian Stefan Pavlović who will guide you through the social, political, religious and artistic importance of selected African masks on the permanent exhibition.
11:00-14:00 (Museum garden)
FROM MOTION TO SHAPE
hip hop dance workshop for children
Aleksandra Gačić (Streetishka) & Ivan Perović will be guiding children with bold moves and urban hip hop rhythms.
RECYCLING IS PRESERVING & CREATING
workshop for children
Based on the works of artists from Angola, Serbia and other countries, children will have the opportunity to make their “recyclable” artworks.
11:00-17:00 (Museum garden)
MANCALA – BOARD GAME
for children & adults
Mancala is one of the oldest board games played in different variants on four continents: Africa, Asia, South and North America. Practice playing mancala in one of the mini-tournaments and become part of the growing community of passionate fans of this board game.
Photo: Jelena Janković
13:00-14:30 (Main exhibiting space)
“FROM SLAVE, TO CITIZEN – THE PLIGHT OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE RECOGNITION OF THEIR HUMANITY” BY STEVAN GAJIĆ
book talk
Stevan Gajić will present his book dealing with the different aspects of racial discrimination as mechanism of social oppression.
Talk participants: Miša Đurković, PhD, director of the Institute for European Studies, Nikola Marinković, executive director of Catena Mundi publishing & Stevan Gajić, PhD, book author.
The talk will be moderated by Aleksandra Prodanović Bojović, senior curator/MAU
14:00-17:00 (Museum garden)
COLOURS & MOTIFS ON SАMАKАKА TEXTILES
workshop for children
The colours and motifs of the Angolan 'samakaka' textile will be the inspiration for creating a large-format group painting.
CAPOEIRA ANGOLA – RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT
workshop for children & teenagers
This is an opportunity for children and teenagers to learn the basic movements of capoeira – the global Afro-Brazilian martial art and urban dance phenomenon. The workshop will be moderated and demonstrated by members of the Capoeira Angola Belgrado club.
Photo: Marija Piroški
14:00-15:30 (Main stage - garden)
MUSIC & DANCE
Check out our main stage music performances by 2Hot4Stage crew bringing hip hop, braking, afro-beat, dancehall and crump. They will be followed by members of Si Vision who will perform a fusion of traditional and urban dance styles and choreographer – Mary – who will animate visitors in her interactive Afro-dance, dancehall and reggaeton performance
15:00-15:45 (Museum gallery space)
REFLECT #2 – FRAGMENTS, FRAGILITIES, MEMORIES
guided tour
Let exhibition curators Emilia Epštajn & Ana Knežević guide you through the exhibition presenting the works of 10 contemporary Angolan artists.
Sa izložbe Reflect 2
(Photo: Marija Piroški)
16:00-18:00 (Main stage - garden)
DJ SPALE
Slobodan Spalević is a DJ, dancer, educator and historian of hip hop culture. He is a member of the 2Hot4Stage team and has been dancing for over 10 years. By combining traditional and urban African rhythms Dj Spale will use his knowledge and skills to make us feel fresh and sexy!
16:00-17:30 (Main exhibiting space)
“THE SOUND IS THE MONUMENT” WITH KILUANJI KIA HENDA
lecture
Besides reflecting on the problematic of monuments in public spaces, in this lecture Kiluanji Kia Henda will analyse the importance of music as one of the main revolutionary tools in post independent Angola, and how the prolific music scene of the 1970s can be interpreted as a metaphor for an invisible monument – celebrating and helping to establish political power.
(The lecture will be in English)
Kiluanji Kia Henda -
Iconoclastic Sound System,
The Sound Is The Monument,
series of 9 poster, 2022
17:00-17:30 (Museum garden)
THE SOUNDS OF THE BIRIMBAUA
workshop for adults
Join members of Capoeira Angola Belgrado in this musical workshop bringing the 'birimbau' – a single-stringed instrument from Africa deeply rooted in the tradition of capoeira – the Afro-Brazilian martial art and choreography.
Sunday, 26/6/2022
10:00-18:00 (Museum garden)
AFRICAN BAZAAR
Sale exhibition of craft and everyday objects, sculptures, masks, baskets, textiles, jewellery and clothes...
DURBAR – THE FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS
With the participation of African embassies in Belgrade, this programme celebrates African music, dance, crafts, arts and culture. The embassies of Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Congo, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, as well as the consulates of Namibia and Jamaica will be participating in this year's Festival with presentations of handicrafts, promotional contents and culinary specialties. This year's host is the Embassy of the Republic of Angola!
Photo: Marija Piroški
IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA
Open-air exhibition presenting the works of the 7th Open Art Call for children and youth.
11:00-14:00 (Museum garden)
FROM MOTION TO SHAPE
hip hop dance workshop for children
Aleksandra Gačić (Streetishka) & Ivan Perović will be guiding children with bold moves and urban hip hop rhythms.
Aleksandra Gačić (Photo: DUK Festival)
RECYCLING IS PRESERVING & CREATING
workshop for children
Based on the works of artists from Angola, Serbia and other countries, children will have the opportunity to make their “recyclable” artworks.
11:00-17:00 (Museum garden)
MANCALA – BOARD GAME
for children & adults
Mankala is one of the oldest board games played in different variants on four continents: Africa, Asia, South and North America. Practice playing mancala in one of the mini-tournaments and become part of the growing community of passionate fans of this board game.
11:00-12:00
AFRICAN TURBANS
workshop for adults (Museum garden)
Get ready for summer! Christiana Haruna from Nigeria and Mitchelle Ayamba from Ghana will show you how to make several different styles of African head-wraps, tell you about occasions when African women wear them, the materials they are made of and what makes the turban a lasting fashion accessory!
The museum can provide African textiles for 15 participants, so feel free to bring your own scarves and wraps (approximate dimensions: 215 x 65 cm)
IF OBJECTS COULD TALK – THE AFRICAN ARTIST THROUGH SHAPE, SYMBOL AND MEANING
guided tour through the permanent display (Main exhibiting space)
Art Historian Bojana Maričić will introduce the forms, symbols and meanings behind several examples exhibited in the permanent display of the Museum of African Art.
“IMPRESSIONS OF AFRICA” OPEN CALL AWARDS
Award ceremony (Main stage - garden)
Award ceremony dedicated to the participants of the Museum of African Art’s 7th Open Art Call which counted over 600 participants this year.
12:00 (Main stage - garden)
OFFICIAL CEREMONY
At the opening ceremony of the Festival, visitors will be addressed by H.E. Mohamed Amin Belhaj, Dean of the Group of African Ambassadors in Belgrade and H.E. Alcino Izata de Conceição, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola.
The address will be followed by fashion show of traditional Angolan costumes and the performance of Avala Music Group – a band of enthusiastic and talented students, studying in Belgrade as part of the “World in Serbia” project. The name comes from their dorm they shared – “Avala” – a place where they all lived during the time that they were learning the Serbian language. Exclusively for the festival they will be playing different musical genres from their homelands and Angolan traditional tunes.
13:00-14:00 (Main exhibiting space)
THE FAMILY – PRIMARY BUILDING BLOCK AND FUNCTION OF AFRICAN SOCIETY
guided tour through the permanent display
With illustrative examples on the permanent museum display, historian Emilija Gojković will talk about the importance of the family unit in traditional and contemporary West African societies.
14:00-15:00 (Main stage - garden)
HORNSMAN COYOTE
Nemanja Kojic, widely known by his stage name Hornsman Coyote, is a Serbian reggae artist, trombone player, singer and a leader of reggae-metal band Eyesburn. Join us on his swaggerific a door performance!
14:00-17:00 (Museum garden)
COLOURS & MOTIFS ON SАMАKАKА TEXTILES
workshop for children
The colours and motifs of the Angolan 'samakaka' textile will be the inspiration for creating a large-format group painting.
Photo: Marija Piroški
CAPOEIRA ANGOLA – RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT
workshop for children & teenagers
This is an opportunity for children and teenagers to learn the basic movements of capoeira – the global Afro-Brazilian martial art and urban dance phenomenon. The workshop will be moderated and demonstrated by members of the Capoeira Angola Belgrado club.
16:00-17:00 (Main exhibiting space)
“WEDDING CUSTOMS IN BOTSWANA” WITH IVONA BARANDOVSKI
travelogue lecture
Among the Tswana people of Botswana, the marriage ritual is an important and often long-winded process which involves the extended family on both sides. The lecture will focus on the traditional aspects of the wedding ceremonies, many of which are still practised today, such as payment of the bride-price („lobola“).
Bridal consultation ritual, part of the Tswana wedding ceremony
(Barandovski family photo-archive)
Buy your ticket at the Museum on Festival days.
Price: 200 RSD
Entrance is free for children under 6 years of age.
The MAA garden is pet friendly 
