Lettre de Dakar

Abstract

The significantly large number of meetings and conferences that have taken place this past year in Dakar support its claim to be the intellectual capital of West Africa. The town has become an almost year-round meeting place for scientists and scholars from many universities. Perhaps the most noteworthy of the conferences was that dealing with the many aspects of Africanism. The discussion that followed, in which several hundred experts participated, resulted in many valuable recommendations for planned action in various fields, particularly in African languages and art. One important development for the future of Africa was the creation of an African Council for Science. The year was also marked by a number of ballet and theatrical productions, outstanding among which was a performance of Cheikh N'Dao's L'Exil d'Alboury by the National Theater Group. The play treats of the destiny of Africa at the dawn of the era of colonization. This critical period in Africa's history was the subject also of another pl...