The Francophone Games enchanted Nice for a week. Art and culture filled the streets of Nice. The giant puppets at Place Garibaldi fascinated many, like real living characters, they told stories of everyday life.
More than just a competition, the giant puppets were above all a representation of current society. The vibrant and deeply rooted African traditions in the collective memory of the African people evoked stories through imaginative characters. Benin presented these life-sized, semi-living wooden puppets. Young Beninese, composed of dancers and storytellers, depicted the succession of older generations by the youth, all while passing on their knowledge.
It’s no longer really about competition here. At such moments, the show takes on its full dimension. The moral hidden in each story takes us deep into the African bush. Attentive spectators listen and try to understand. The Ivory Coast showcases puppets in the form of enormous hands singing and dancing around a theme: friendship. The hand receives to share friendship. Traditional Ivorian songs accompany the performance titled “the giving hand.”
This street show was mainly composed of countries from Francophone Africa. Cameroon demonstrated through people on stilts, masked and dressed in traditional costumes, how wealth, gold does not guarantee happiness. Magic and demons often come into play, taking a significant part in the imagination of Cameroonians.
Burkina Faso proved how children are the wealth of the world. All these talented young people managed to fascinate us.
How is it possible that with simple puppets one can unveil the existence of a people, of a nation that lives with almost nothing, very simply? They were able to do it. The magic of the performance was enough to transport the audience to the heart of Africa, rich in ancestral traditions.
