1956 Pan-African Cultural Bandung: Paris Hosts First Congress of Black Writers and Artists

Key facts

• The first Congress of Black Writers and Artists took place at the Sorbonne in Paris from September 19 to 22, 1956.
• Alioune Diop, founder of Présence Africaine, organized the congress as a "pan-African cultural Bandung" inspired by the 1955 Afro-Asian conference.
• The organizing committee included Aimé Césaire, Léopold Senghor, Paul Hazoumé, Richard Wright, Peter Abrahams, and René Maran.
• Pablo Picasso designed the congress poster depicting a Black head with a crown of flowers and thorns.
• Delegates from 25 African and American countries attended; 27 of 42 scheduled communications were delivered.
• Senghor's essentialist view of Negro-African civilization clashed with historical approaches to Black identity.
• Césaire's talk "Culture and Colonization" sparked heated debate with American writers who rejected the colonization analogy.
• The final resolution affirmed solidarity among the oppressed and the necessity of intercultural dialogue.