A mapping of Breyten Breytenbach's involvement with the Gorée Institute for Democracy, Development and Culture in Africa (1987-2017)
Abstract
This article aims to conduct an exploration of Breyten Breytenbach's involvement at the Gorée Institute for Democracy, Development and Culture in Africa, from 1987 to 2017. To begin with, the researchers give an outline of the founding of the Gorée Institute after the Dakar conference in July 1987, with specific reference to Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and Breyten Breytenbach's talks with the Senegalese president Abdou Diouf.
It also discusses the events during the opening of the Gorée Institute on 25 June 1992, which includes a small poetry festival organised by Breyten Breytenbach and the Dutch poet, Jan Kees van de Werk. The cooperation between Breytenbach and Van de Werk leads up to the organisation of a poetry caravan from Gorée to Timbuktu in 1998.
The article also explores projects at the Gorée Printing Studio from 1998 to 2013, including the "Kawral" portfolio, in which Breytenbach participated as one of the artists. Apart from cultural activities, Breytenbach's duties as the executive director of the Gorée Institute, from 2002 and 2010, are also investigated.
The article refers to the reception of the three volumes of Imagine Africa (2011, 2014 and 2017), and mentions current projects at the Gorée Institute. Finally, the article identifies several follow-up questions for further research and investigation.