CAS Events: Anne Schumann - Creating a creative economy in Côte d’Ivoire (9 Feb 2015)

Within twelve years of its emergence as a musical style at the University of Abidjan residence in Yopougon in 1991, the fame of zouglou music soared across borders and continents. The conditions that made the emergence and spread of zouglou music possible are part of a larger context that has influenced other recent genres of African popular music. Due to copyright piracy, Ivoirian artists have also experienced difficulty in surviving financially from their music. However, recently there has been a new development: many new maquis (open air restaurants) have opened as new affordable performance spaces in which artists perform live, rather than via play-back. Anne Schumann presents and discusses these new performance spaces in the Ivoirian music economy as well as the role of cultural entrepreneurs in reviving Abidjan as an African creative city.