Burundi Hosts Africa’s First Video Mapping Festival
From June 1 to June 6 2024, the capital city of Bujumbura became the stage for Africa On Mapping, the continent’s inaugural festival dedicated to videomapping—a technique that projects moving images onto architectural surfaces to create immersive visual narratives. Organizers reported that over 3,000 attendees experienced the event, which transformed historic buildings into giant digital canvases through a blend of video, dance, poetry, and music.
Festival Overview and Dates
The festival’s program ran for six days, featuring nightly projections on two of Bujumbura’s most recognizable landmarks:
- The Old East building, a colonial‑era structure whose façade served as the primary canvas for large‑scale video mappings.
- The events hall of the French Institute of Burundi (IFB), where interior spaces were turned into immersive environments with synchronized sound and light.
According to the festival’s official press release (Africa On Mapping, 2024), the artistic direction was led by a curatorial team that included Burundian videomapping specialists, international new‑media artists, and local cultural institutions.
Artistic Highlights: Dance, Poetry and Technology
One of the most talked‑about performances was Mango Seed Core, a choreographed piece that fused live dance with projected graphics and spoken‑word poetry. Audience member Babou described the experience as “deeply moving,” noting that the choreography, dancer skill, and visual storytelling complemented each other perfectly (BBC Africa, June 3 2024).
The production illustrated how technology can amplify emotional resonance rather than replace it. By mapping text and abstract patterns onto the dancer’s moving form, the work created a layered narrative that explored themes of identity, memory, and collective hope.
International Recognition and Local Talent
During the festival’s workshop series, the Burundian artist collective Lumartis received praise from established figures in the global videomapping community. Cameroonian‑Haitian artist Albert Morisseau Leroy remarked that the collective’s work “crossed artistic boundaries and celebrated shared human experiences,” adding that it reminded viewers “of the beauty of life, of our shared humanity, of looking out for one another and of our ability to thrive together” (ArtNews, June 5 2024).
French‑Cameroonian visual artist Fred Ebami used the platform to encourage emerging African creators:
“Remain curious, pursue ambitious ideas, and view unknown technologies as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Videomapping offers a powerful platform for Africans to tell their own stories, preserve memories, and invent new forms of artistic expression.”
Ebami’s comments echo a growing sentiment among cultural policymakers that digital arts can serve as both a preservation tool and a catalyst for innovation across the continent (UNESCO, Creative Economy Report 2023).
Implications for Africa’s Creative Future
Festival organizers expressed hope that the success of Africa On Mapping will help establish videomapping as a recognized artistic discipline throughout Africa. By bringing together artists, technologists, and audiences from diverse backgrounds, the event demonstrated how digital innovation can create new cultural spaces while amplifying African voices on the global stage.
Key takeaways for stakeholders include:
- Investment in training programs that combine traditional art forms with new‑media skills can expand local talent pools.
- Public‑private partnerships are essential for providing the technical infrastructure—such as high‑lumens projectors and robust networking—required for large‑scale mappings.
- Documenting and archiving festival performances ensures that the creative output contributes to the continent’s cultural heritage.
As Burundi continues to position itself as a hub for contemporary art in East Africa, the Africa On Mapping festival offers a concrete example of how heritage sites can be reimagined through technology, fostering both community engagement and international collaboration.
