On July 16 and 17 at the Quartier des spectacles in Montreal, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the International Nuits d’Afrique Festival, the La Percée Professional Meetings will bring together artists, presenters, researchers, journalists, cultural institutions, digital platforms and music industry professionals from Quebec, France and French-speaking Africa.
This third edition offers an ambitious reflection on an issue that has become unavoidable: how can African, Caribbean and Latin American music remain alive, visible and easily discoverable in an environment profoundly transformed by digital technology and artificial intelligence?
While platforms and recommendation systems increasingly influence the circulation of works, the Meetings will bring into dialogue the actors who document, distribute, create and accompany this music in order to imagine collective responses to the challenges of transmission, archives, discoverability and cultural sovereignty.
Over two afternoons, conferences, major conversations and workshops will explore several major questions: how to preserve musical archives in the age of AI? How can we “tell” this music to new generations? Do algorithms really promote cultural diversity? What levers can be developed to improve the visibility and circulation of works in the digital environment?
The Meetings are at the heart of the International Nuits d’Afrique Festival, which this year will welcome more than 700 artists from 30 countries. They also constitute a privileged space for networking between artists, presenters, festivals, researchers, cultural institutions and representatives of digital platforms, encouraging the emergence of new collaborations between Quebec, France and French-speaking Africa.
On the program, five major meetings which will address the major issues of cultural transmission in the digital age
• Promote data, archive funds and musical heritage in the digital environment and in the era of AI to preserve our cultural sovereignty. • From archives to the public: creative formats and digital strategies to bring archives and musical memories to life. • Memory transmitters: How festivals, labels, radio/media and cultural institutions have built, transmit and (re)discover World Music. • Algorithms and musical diversity: can AI serve music African, Caribbean and Latin American music without homogenizing them? • Act together: build a shared roadmap for the discoverability and circulation of African, Caribbean and Latin American music. Each day will conclude with a moment of professional meetings, before continuing with the International Nuits d’Afrique Festival.
About La PercéeLa Percée is the innovation laboratory of Productions Nuits d’Afrique dedicated to the issues of discoverability, musical diversity and digital transformation. Through its research, consultation and mobilization activities, the laboratory promotes dialogue between artists, researchers, cultural institutions, digital platforms and industry professionals in order to strengthen the visibility and circulation of African, Caribbean and Latin American music.