Transmissions poétiques

"This year, as in the previous nine, the festival commits to beginning with a transversal theme — transmission, which spans across disciplines, sensitivities, and memories. The programme unfolds and resonates with the quests for restitution, heritage, and living transmission. This is not simply about passing on the baton, but about an active movement, an aesthetic and artistic commitment. 

Transmission here is a search in itself — a choice that liberates intentions and energies. It is not limited solely to what we say or do, but deeply engages who we are. It is a passage, an echo, a matter in perpetual motion. It also serves as a tool of resistance, reinvention, and reappropriation, especially for Afro-descendant and Afro-diasporic communities. Therefore, transmission becomes a guiding thread that preserves, (re)interprets, and disseminates the cultural legacies of our communities. It supports collective storytelling, weaving links between territories and generations, between what we know, what we carry, and what we invent. 

In this movement of transmission, the question of responsibility arises. How do we carry invisible legacies, transgenerational trauma, and unspoken truths that traverse us? Our affiliations are complex, sometimes dissonant; there are absences to name, memories to rebuild, languages to relearn, gestures to invent. At the same time, how can we consider the gaps and echoes between the transmission needs of diasporic communities and those of communities living on the African continent? This dialogue is essential for building spaces of collective affirmation, where diasporic identities cease to be perceived as misaligned, but as fully realised creative forces. We invite artists and audiences to question the (re)construction of identity from a diasporic perspective: how do we preserve what we have not — or have barely — known? 

This year, I have chosen to get closer to what touches me, without mimicking the attraction. I speak in the “I”, because it is through this assumed singularity that a “we” can emerge. The choice of the word “poetic” is also not insignificant; it affirms an aesthetic — a way of making resonate without freezing, of creating forms that welcome rather than imprison. Poetry invites us to question tradition, not as a resistance to modernity, nor to erase it, but to inhabit it differently. Moreover, this theme highlights the necessity of sharing the specific and aesthetic experiences of Black people in order to construct a collective memory and common identities. It underscores the crucial role of transmission in preserving past struggles and inspiring both new and current generations. 

As with every edition, the festival is open to all, but a more targeted invitation is extended to Black and Afro-descendant individuals from the continent and the diasporas in Brussels. Furthermore, we will continue, as in previous editions, to highlight the artistic initiatives and proposals of Black and Afro-descendant people/artists from both the continent and the diasporas.” 

Marie Umuhoza