Interview with Faithful Baana Enono, director of the Slameroun festival.
What is your assessment at the end of this second edition of the Slameroun festival?
This second edition of the SLAMeroun international festival shows a very positive assessment of the health situation which shakes the world and which was not at all in favour of holding this festival. We succeeded in the bet of the organization thanks to the support of our partners. The theme of the 2nd edition allowed us to better illustrate the difficulty that women have to integrate the arts and crafts, especially in the regions of the Far North. The debates allowed us to understand their difficulties and consider solutions for the integration of women in the fields of art in Cameroon, especially in areas where the opportunities related to the arts and crafts are not easy.
This edition was also interested in the place of the woman of art. Why this interest?
As we all know in Africa women do not have access to certain trades and this is a brake on equality between men and women and the emancipation of the latter, it is in this logic that we found it appropriate to dedicate this edition to women so that they can undertake in art and dare. In addition, the theme of the 2nd edition of the International Festival SLAMeroun has forced us to relocate the festival to the Northern region where it is not at all easy for women to undertake in the arts. This experience has allowed us to understand and consider solutions for the integration of women in the fields of art in Cameroon, especially in areas where opportunities related to the arts and crafts are not easy.
A word about the upcoming third edition?
After this stage of North Cameroon, we are already preparing the 3rd edition of the festival which will still be itinerant and will be held in another city of Cameroon where we will identify problems for which the slameurs will propose solutions. Through our usual communication channels, we will soon announce the dates of the 3rd edition of the International SLAMeroun Festival. We would also like to thank our partners who have been at our side during this second edition despite the health crisis of Covid-19, especially Voice4Thought that we particularly thank, the Alliance française de Garoua, the French embassy in Cameroon, the Muna Foundation, CAPS, and all other partners.
Watch Billy’s and Joackim’s performances: