Rethinking artistic mobility in Africa: a conversation with Amadou Fall Ba

As Dakar continues to emerge as a leading hub for African creativity and innovation, we bring you a new interview with Amadou Fall Ba, a visionary cultural enterpreneur. Co-founder of Africulturban, and director of Festa2H, Senegal’s pioneering Hip Hop festival, Amadou has spent the past two decades shaping the contours of urban culture and professional training in the creative industries. Through his work with Impact Senegal and the Senegal Campus Talents, he is redefining how technical skills, cultural ecosystems, and youth empowerment intersect across the continent.

In this conversation led by Vydia Tamby, following the “Beyond Horizon” international conference in Dakar, Amadou reflects on the urgent need to reimagine Euro-African cooperation in the arts.

Beyond a critique, this interview is a call to action: to turn obstacles into opportunities, to replace know-how transfer with skills dialogue, and to build the foundations of genuine reciprocity in the global cultural landscape.

• The "Beyond Horizon" meeting in Dakar highlighted the need to redefine Euro-African cooperation. Based on your daily experience leading Festa2H and Impact Senegal, and our work at the City of Dakar, what are the most concrete and human obstacles African artists currently face regarding their mobility? And how, in your opinion, do these challenges underscore the urgency of implementing changes?

Thank you, Vydia. I do indeed observe daily the devastating consequences of visa refusals or delays. These are not abstract problems; they are realities that strike at the heart of our artists’ careers and dignity. For example, for Festa2H, invited artists, whose presence was crucial for the richness of exchanges and the diversity of our programming, were forced to cancel their participation because they failed to obtain their visa on time or due to an outright refusal. This not only deprives our audience of unique experiences, but above all, it prevents our Senegalese artists from forging connections, learning, and collaborating with their international peers.

• What is the specific impact on young talent and professional integration?

For the young talents we support via the Impactalents program of Impact Senegal, the impact is even deeper and more human. These refusals are profoundly demoralizing and significantly hinder their professional integration. Imagine a young choreographer who spent months developing a creation, secured an artistic residency or an international collaboration essential for their recognition and income, and who sees everything collapse because of an administrative document. This is an invaluable loss of opportunity, not only for their artistic development but also for their economic survival.

• How does the current system create symbolic and economic barriers?

The visa application process is “stressful” and “anxiety-provoking,” even “violent, humiliating, traumatizing, excluding, and discriminatory,” a constant pressure that contributes to a form of exhaustion. The mere immobilization of the passport for weeks for a procedure makes other trips impossible ; it is a true “administrative confinement.” Beyond the direct impact, these difficulties are not only logistical; they are a symbolic impediment that perpetuates paternalistic dynamics. By making the mobility of African artists difficult, while that of Europeans to Africa is often much easier, the visa system reinforces the idea that our mobility is less legitimate. When we talk about cultural exchange, it must happen on an equitable platform, without one party feeling “inferior” or “privileged.”

Finally, the cost of visas is an exorbitant initial economic filter for our emerging artists. These fees, often non-refundable, represent a significant part of already precarious budgets, forcing them to give up crucial opportunities in Europe. This asymmetry favors “cultural extractivism,” where Europe comes to draw inspiration in Dakar, while our artists struggle to go to Europe to showcase their work. The current visa system institutionalizes this imbalance: we seek to build fair and equitable artistic mobility, far from the persistent schemes of confinement

• Amadou, during your presentation at "Beyond Horizon," you emphasized the dire need for technical skills in Africa, particularly in audiovisual, sound, and lighting, and the necessity of exchanges to train young people. How do current mobility challenges directly hinder this transfer of know-how, and what specific solutions can be considered, particularly in terms of professional empowerment? And how does restricted mobility block technical skill transfer?

You are addressing an essential point of my work at Impact Senegal. The development of technical skills is an absolute priority for us, and for the future of our cultural sector in Senegal. Our initiatives are currently entirely focused on training and professional integration for our young talents. We rely heavily on international collaborations to allow this know-how transfer in crucial areas such as audiovisual, sound, lighting, and stage management. However, the reality is harsh: if our technicians and artists—if our stage managers, sound, or lighting engineers—cannot travel to Europe to train on advanced technical sets, to experiment with cutting-edge equipment, or to learn from experienced professionals, this transfer…

• How should we reconceptualize "know-how-transfer" for true equity?

This is a major challenge for the professional integration of an entire generation, a veritable bottleneck for our rapidly growing creative sector. That is why I insist that the “decompartmentalization” of cultures must not only concern artistic creation but also skills. The project “DECONFINING” responds to this problem very relevantly by specifically proposing transcontinental technical residencies. The objective is clear: to create new synergies and define new cooperation actions in the skills sector. The effectiveness of these residencies and collaborations directly depends on the fluidity and simplicity of mobility. If our young people cannot move, all this ambition remains a dead letter.
But it is not about a simple unilateral “transfer of know-how,” a concept we seek to move beyond. The concept of “know-how-transfer” should be surpassed and replaced by so-called “skills dialogues.” This means recognizing that capacities and knowledge exist on both sides, in Europe as in Africa, and that the exchange must be mutual. European structures like the members of EUNIC must interact with Senegalese partners in a much more equitable manner so that projects are mutually beneficial and profitable. This empowerment of professionals and audiences requires lifelong learning programs and the preparation of the next generation of cultural professionals. It is necessary to ensure that no “brain drain” is encouraged and that fair compensation frameworks are put in place. We need partnerships that build on our respective strengths and prepare our young people to be “international connectors,” especially in the creative sectors that bring about real change, and not merely receptacles of “European know-how.”

• You yourself insisted on the need to translate ambitions into concrete actions. Following your experience as a cultural promoter, what pragmatic and concrete measures emerge for overcoming these visa-related obstacles? If we were to design an ideal "cultural visa," and capitalize on the role of European institutions as well as African strategies, what would they look like?

Absolutely, we need to act now. Legal frameworks and support programs must be modernized to meet the specific needs of the artistic and creative sectors. If I were to design an ideal cultural visa, inspired by these exchanges and my experience, it should absolutely have the following characteristics:

• A multi-entry validity of 2 to 5 years. Why? Because the duration of artistic projects is not limited to a few weeks. A co-creation project, a tour, or a residency often extends over several months, or even several years, requiring round trips. A single-entry visa absolutely does not reflect this reality.
• An entirely digitized procedure, via a single Schengen platform. The application file should be standardized, with documents adapted to our profession : an artistic CV and invitation letters or co-production contracts should suffice.
• Eligibility criteria adapted to the realities of performing arts workers, visual artists, or technicians. We do not operate with classic employment contracts. Requiring proof of resources or traditional employment contracts is to misunderstand our sector and immediately exclude the majority of our talents. Co-production contracts or official invitation letters from accredited institutions should be sufficient proof of our professional commitment.
• Furthermore, there should be “mobility equity grants” that finance the trip, but also the time for preparation, reflection, and return, to prevent mobility from being synonymous with “extractive productivity.”

The potential of European cultural institutions based in Africa, such as the members of EUNIC, is immense. They can and must act as genuine, credible “trusted third parties” with their own consulates. This concretely means:

• Endorsing the files of local artists with official letters of recommendation, testifying to their credibility and the legitimacy of their project.
• Offering logistical and administrative support to help our artists prepare complete and impeccable application files, thereby drastically reducing rejections due to procedural defects.
• One could even imagine local public institutions taking on “co-responsibilities” such as guarantees or insurance.

However, it is crucial to be vigilant. My experience shows that even with good intentions, European funding structures can perpetuate power imbalances. The example of funds where only European institutions could apply for projects with African partners clearly illustrates that it is not enough to include Africa; genuine equality is needed right from the design stage of the programs.

Finally, it is also needed that cultural actors and African States develop their own strategies. Impact Senegal advocates for a collective and proactive approach:
We must develop our own local festivals and markets, like Festa2H, to reduce our dependence on Europe. This strengthens our autonomy and our capacity to promote our cultures on our own continent.

African Ministries of Culture could issue an official label certifying the professional status of artists. This ‘African cultural passport’ would reinforce the credibility of our visa applications on the international stage.
It is essential to systematically document all abusive refusals and obstacles encountered. This quantified data provides irrefutable arguments to fuel state-to-state advocacy. The example of the Algerian Ministry of Culture and Arts, which signed an agreement with embassies to facilitate Schengen visas and obtained rapid processing for many professionals, is proof that concrete actions are possible.

The digital dimension is a major asset in Africa. Our populations have the necessary tools and skills. We must use it as a strategic lever to reduce physical barriers, reach new markets, and disseminate our cultural content.

Beyond policies, this is a matter of cultural sovereignty. We must forge new identities and sensibilities, and resist dominant representations. It is about a “coherent yet questioning mobility policy,” a way of living and interacting that reflects our own realities and values, far from cultural diplomacy that masks asymmetries. To do this, we must build our own sustainable cultural ecosystems, with a strong sense of belonging and territorial attractiveness.

About Amadou Fall Ba

Amadou Fall BA is a young Senegalese cultural operator. Co-founder of the cultural organization Africulturban in february 2006 in Dakar and which works for the promotion, development and dissemination of urban cultures via artistic expression frameworks (festivals, training, exchanges, forums).

Amadou is Director of Festa2H (international festival of Hip Hop and urban cultures) which has just celebrated its 15th anniversary in November 2022. After having followed a higher education in cultural management in Germany and a master’s degree in Arts and Culture at the Higher Institute of Arts and Culture (ISAC), Amadou is a Fellowship of the US Department of State as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVP) and Fellowship of the German Marshall Fund and the Institute of Performing Arts (ISPA).

Amadou is the coordinator of several sub-regional projects around Urban Cultures. In 2017 he was elevated to the rank of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres of the French Republic. Since March 2014, Amadou has been a mission officer for urban cultures with the Mayor of Dakar and at the same time administrator of the MCU (Maison des Cultures Urbaines de Dakar).

In 2021, Amadou initiated the Senegal Talents Campus project, which is the first professional and technical training center for the Arts and Culture professions recognized by the State of Senegal with 11 state diplomas (cultural administration, production management, sound management, lighting management, sound system, lighting creation, cultural project management, management and management of artistic careers, production manager, installation of sound equipment and installation of lighting equipment) with more than 200 learners trained in the 2021/2024 pilot phase.

Following the success of Senegal Talents Campus and in an effort to democratize the provision of professional and technical training in the cultural and creative industries sector, Amadou launched a new organization called Impact Senegal, a center for creative resources and skills with a flagship project, the IMPACT Institute (World Institute of Professionals in Arts, Culture and Technology).

Amadou is a member of the steering committee of the Dakar 2024 Arts Biennale, director of the Dakar en Jeux festival in the run-up to the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and since February 2024 he has been coordinating the Place des Cultures Urbaines, a new 2,500 square meter sports and cultural infrastructure in the City of Dakar.