As part of its visit to Geneva for a fortnight of meetings and exchanges around the book and play "Traces, discourses aux nations africaine" organised by the Licra Genève, the MEG is honoured to receive Felwine Sarr, Senegalese economist and philosopher, on 5 April 2022.

Since 2019, the MEG has been resolutely engaged in a proactive process of decolonisation of its practices and the history of its collections. A decolonial approach that is both assumed and committed represents a real challenge in a country that has not had any colonies as such, but which nevertheless has a rich and complex colonial history. MEG wants to show that decolonisation concerns all countries, regions and institutions whose citizens continued colonial practices, sometimes even after the declaration of independence. With this in mind, MEG wishes to raise awareness among its audiences and partners of the colonial roots of its collections, the knowledge it has produced and its museology.

Carine Ayélé Durand and Felwine Sarr address the major issues of the museum and human societies today. How can we fully participate in a plurivocality and build a new world in the era of the Anthropocene? How, to quote the theatrical framework of the book "Traces" by the Senegalese intellectual Felwine Sarr, "to build a new world in the light of the achievements and errors accumulated by humanity"?

To address these issues, a round table moderated by Romaine Jean will bring together Felwine Sarr, economist and philosopher but also essayist and novelist, poet and musician, and Carine Ayélé Durand, acting director of the MEG and chief curator, responsible for the collections unit.

Speakers :

Felwine Sarr : Economist, philosopher, poet, musician, playwright, author, he is a free thinker and one of the great intellectuals of his generation. Questioning the existing political and economic models, he is convinced that the African continent can be a driving force in the world, provided that it completes its decolonisation and proposes a new civilisation project. Since 2020, he has been teaching contemporary and diasporic African philosophy at Duke University in North Carolina. In 2020, the Times listed Mr. Sarr among the 100 most influential people in the world in the "Pioneer" category. Co-author with Benedicte Savoy of a world-renowned report on the restitution of African heritage "Restituer le patrimoine Africain" (Seuil, 2019), he has just published his latest book "Traces. Discourses aux Nations africaines' (Actes sud papiers, 2021). https://lesateliersdelapensee.wordpress.com/

Carine Ayélé Durand : Acting Director of MEG and Chief Curator, responsible for the collections unit.

Moderator: Romaine Jean, member of the Licra-Geneva Committee, she is also President of the Hirondelle Foundation, which supports the media in conflict zones. As a producer for Télévision Suisse romande (RTS), she has worked as editor-in-chief of several radio and television programmes, as a press officer, as a correspondent in Parliament and in the political field, and as a programme manager for Infrarouge. Romaine Jean studied political science in Geneva and is president of the alumni association.

This meeting will take place in French and is subject to availability.

Live broadcast on MEG's YouTube and Facebook channels, and here.

This day is organised by the MEG in co-production with the Licra-Geneva and in partnership with the Payot bookshop.

These events are supported by the Service de lutte contre le racisme, the Republic and Canton of Geneva (Cantonal Integration Programme), the City of Geneva (Department of Finance, Environment and Housing; Department of Social Cohesion; Agenda 21 Service), the Leenaards Foundation, Fonds culturel Sud. In co-production with the University of Geneva and in partnership with La librairie Payot.