Belonging - Afrovibes Festival 2024

The 21st edition of the Afrovibes Festival kicks off on 2 October. Until 13 October, we will present a festival programme in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht around the theme of Belonging with performances from Morocco, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Egypt and the Netherlands, among others. Afrovibes brings contemporary performonmg arts from and about Africa with theatre, dance, spoken word and visual art. This year with artists Selim Ben Safia (Tunesia), Oulouy (Ivory Coast), Nelisiwe Xaba (South Africa), Hamdi Didri(Tunesia), Wajdi Gagui (Morocco), Kenza Berrada (Morocco), Mohamed Lamgayssi (Morocco), Dayne Martinez Loembé (Netherlands), Koleka Putuma (South Africa), Amado Alfadni (Egypt-Sudan), Youness Atbane (Morocco), Mehdi Dakhan (Morocco), Ghassam El Hakim & Maalem Abdellah El Gourd (Morocco).

A sense of belonging is like a basic human need. The need for a stable home, shelter, community and belonging somewhere. Belonging gives us a basis to live together, work together and contribute to the world. Based on the theme of Belonging, Afrovibes has shaped this year’s festival programme with performances that have a focus on North Africa and the (North) African diaspora in the Netherlands. North African countries are often seen as ‘non-African’ but as belonging to the Arab world. How can we see this from an African perspective? Through work by artists from North Africa and from the North African diaspora in the Netherlands. Do they feel connected to the African continent and an African identity or to an Arab identity? Each in their own way, this year’s artists explore how and with whom we feel connected. They delve into cultural and political debates about identity, diaspora and decolonisation. They explore our desire to belong somewhere, to have a home.