Photo exhibition

In celebration of 35 outstanding years, Festival International Nuits d’Afrique would like to take you on a magical journey through time with an outdoor photo exhibit at the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles, which will run until August 8, 2021.

It all began in July 1987 !

In July 1987, Lamine Touré, Festival international Nuits d’Afrique’s founder and president, launched the Festival’s very first edition at Club Balattou on Saint Laurent Boulevard. In so doing, he introduced Montreal to the rich musical talent emanating from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.

A North American gateway

Over the last 35 years, this world music festival has introduced its audiences to hundreds of remarkable musicians, many of whom have become legends in their own right, such as Papa Wemba (DR Congo), Youssou N’Dour (Senegal), and Tiken Jah Fakoly (Ivory Coast), to name but a few.

A tribute to these legendary artists

The photo exhibit pays tribute to these larger-than-life musical artists who captured the hearts of thousands of festival-goers and who, throughout the decades, have kept those hearts beating to their rhythms.

We invite you on this journey filled with dazzling performances and unforgettable memories as they happened in the festival’s many downtown concert halls and outdoor venues – from its beginnings on Saint Laurent Boulevard (1990-1995), to Place Émilie-Gamelin (1995-2010), and since 2011, at the Parterre du Quartier des spectacles. 

We wish to acknowledge and thank the Festival’s photographers who, throughout the past 35 years, have captured some of the most memorable and joyful moments shared by these artists and their fans.

The photographers

André Rival

Peter Graham

Elaine Louw Graham

Mohand Belmellat

Bodhan Kiszczuk

Jean-Marc Beaudoin

Victor Rival Garcia