Brazzaville
Congo
UNESCO City of Music
since 2013
About the Creative City:
The capital of Congo, Brazzaville, is a great cultural crossroads where artistic activity and intellectual activity thrive. Brazzaville witnessed the beginning of Congolese rumba, a musical rhythm and theme initiated by Paul Kamba of the «bantous de la capitale» Orchestra.
Brazzaville is an artistic hub, a historical city with a large number of cultural assets, in particular a heritage linked to diversity, music and the arts. Music is fully integrated in the urbanity of Brazzaville where almost all streets have spaces for the sharing of music.
For many years, Africa danced to the Congolese rhythm. And even to this day, Brazzaville, which houses the African Music Council (CAM), the regional branch of the International Council of Music, continues to hear its music everywhere in the world and especially on the African continent.
Every two years, Africa gathers in Brazzaville. For a few days, the city becomes the African capital of music thanks to the world-renowned Pan-African Music Festival (FESPAM). Besides this great polymorphic festival, the city boasts other major events such as the FEUX DE BRAZZA Festival, which aims to make Brazzaville the stronghold of traditional and modern-traditional music.
As a Creative City of Music, Brazzaville envisages:
- Continuing to support several candidate cities to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network;
- Creating an artistic residence to support the creative work of visually impaired musicians at local level;
- Continuing to support numerous events and music festivals, such as the popular and international Festival of traditional music « Feux de Brazza» ;
- Developing, through the city’s departmental and municipal Council, an ambitious action plan built around the construction of infrastructure in partnership with the government (Brazzaville Culture Office), the production and promotion of musicians, the construction of a musical library in partnership with the African Music Council, the creation of residences for local and international artists, and the organization of Brazzaville’s artist tours.