Due to the worldwide epidemic of Covid-19, the association Artiste En Mouvement (AEM) was forced to cancel the 3rd edition of the World Kréyól Art Festival (WKAF) which was to be held in the streets of Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) from May 1 to May 10, 2020. If all goes well, this great artistic event will return next year.
Like many cultural events, the World Kréyól Art Festival which was scheduled to start this Friday, May 1, in several districts of Pointe-à-Pitre was cancelled because of the coronavirus/covid-19 pandemic. Street art fans and artists learned about it with great sadness and understanding. One evening last January, we met by chance Al Pacman, the initiator of the WKAF, while he was producing a work on the room of a local in Pointe-à-Pitre, and he was already stamping with impatience to organize this 3rd edition which was to be a major artistic event of the year with, among others, artists from Guadeloupe and several countries (especially the USA).
Indeed, in the 2020 programme it was planned, for example: a major exhibition with 68 local and international artists at the Pavillon de la Ville and outdoors; street graffiti performances with the aim of transforming Pointe-à-Pitre into an open-air museum; art discovery workshops for schoolchildren and the general public; dance workshops (dancehall and hip-hop); block party with, among others, Guadeloupean urban artist Misyé Sadik; sports demonstrations with professional basketball players, etc.
Doudou Style as godmother
This new edition entitled “Îles pour Elles” (Islands for Them) was also intended to focus on women in the art world, and more particularly in the world of graffiti, which is generally very masculine. Thus, Martinican professional graffiti artist, Jessy Monlouis-Bonnaire, stage name Doudou Style – 2018 winner of the Prix du Graffiti et du Street Art organized by the Musée de l’Eau – had been chosen by the organizers to be the godmother of the WKAF 2020.
There is no doubt that the association Artiste En Mouvement (AEM), which promotes this cultural project, hoped that this 3rd edition would be as (if not more) successful as the 2nd edition. We remember that spectators, composed of locals from Pointe-à-Pitre and several towns of the archipelago as well as tourists, wandered the streets, cameras and mobile phones in hand, to photograph or film the works, attend creative sessions of works and talk with the artists, many of whom came from France. On this year’s program, EAM shared with a hind of pride the key figures for 2019: 68 artists, 10,000 visitors in 3 weeks, 2146 followers on Instagram, 1500 followers on Facebook, 200 special street art pedestrian visits of the city and more than 50 articles (interviews, reports) including, we note, 6 articles and hundreds of photos published in the “Events” section in Kariculture.net.
The cancellation of this 3rd edition is only a postponement. Artist Al Pacman assured us that the World Kréyól Art Festival will be back next year with “minor changes”…
World Kréyol Art Festival 2019: the “Just Graff it” is launched
World Kréyol Art Festival: “Just Graff it” was a great success!
