Welcome to N’GOLÁ, the 8th Biennial of Arts and Culture in São Tomé e Príncipe, a multidisciplinary event which takes place from July 26 to August 18, 2019. For three weeks, the small island country in the Gulf of Guinea will be a vibrant hub of contemporary African culture. The Biennial of São Tomé e Príncipe was initiated by João Carlos Silva in 1995. The aim of the 8th Biennial is to connect the community of São Tomé e Príncipe with artists, designers and curators from all over the African continent. The opening will be celebrated in a Festival Opening Weekend from 26 – 28 July.

N’GOLÁ celebrates the power and beauty of African arts and culture and the way African artists and designers contribute to the future. The event presents a self-confident generation of African artists who are now rapidly reshaping their culture and society. Their work is erce, stylish, beautiful, imaginative, poetic, sometimes even funny and entertaining, and at the same time strongly connected to their everyday reality with all its ups and downs, to their past and to their imagined future. Participating artists come from Togo, DR Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Niger, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon, Angola, Benin, Nigeria, and São Tomé e Príncipe.

The event is presented at several locations. The main venue ‘Casa das Artes Criação Ambiente Utopias’ (CACAU), or House of Arts, Creation, Environment and Utopias, features a multidisciplinary exhibition of the arts. The old plantation home Roça Agua Izé and À Baià da Bô present artists from São Tomé e Príncipe, and the ancient fortress of São Jeronimo is the stage for concerts by multiple artists.

The Festival Opening Weekend features a dynamic programme all around the island of São Tomé. At CACAU, workshops, performances, talks and a hair salon take place. A fashion performance by Sunny Dolat and the Nest Collective starts at the ocean side to end up at the Museu Nacional. The village São João dos Angolares is the décor of a festive parade by Yves Sambu and Sapeurs from Kinshasa. The restaurant Roça São João dos Angolares offers a gastronomic experience by João Carlos Silva and is the starting point of excursions to the tropical rainforest. For more details click HERE