PAC@75: Pan African Congress 75th Anniversary Celebrations
Viewing the Past and Looking to the Future
PAC75
Thursday 15 – Sunday 18 October 2020
PAC@75 is an exciting four-day celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the 5th Pan African Congress, held in Manchester in 1945.
Curated by Professor of Architecture, Ola Uduku, PAC@75 will be a multi-institutional series of creative and academic events, led by Manchester Metropolitan University, with contributions from The University of Manchester, the University of Salford, and the University of Bolton, and in association with See My World, National Black Arts Alliance, and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, creative and cultural individuals and institutions, including prominent local creatives and the Manchester public.
The Pan African Congress in 1945 was a precursor to the development of a number of African independence movements which went on to successfully secure self-rule for countries across Africa. It also signified the movement of the intellectual discourse on African self-realisation and solidarity with other causes; moving from the Americas and the West Indies, to the UK and then on to Africa.
The plaque commemorating this event is situated in the new Manchester Metropolitan University Arts and Humanities Building, facing onto All Saints Square, in what had previously been Chorlton Town Hall where the original six-day event took place. The Congress had 200 attendees from across the world; including delegations from Africa, America, the Caribbean and Asia, as well as black and white delegates from Manchester and across the UK.
Join us online to enjoy a range activities featuring high-profile international speakers, such as the Princeton-based writer and philosopher, Kwame Anthony Appiah, the writer and historian Afua Hirsch, and the poets Lemn Sissay, (Chancellor of The University of Manchester) and Carol Ann Duffy DBE (former Poet Laureate 2009-2019). They will be joined also by student speakers, who represent our next generation of leaders. There will also be public-facing sessions including public literature readings, art projections, and theatrical performances by the Manchester School of Theatre and Contact Theatre. PAC@75 is curated in collaboration with Dr Kai Syng Tan.
PAC@75 will bring together academics, students and the public to celebrate the impact that the diversity of Manchester has had on global history, and how this history relates to today’s contemporary challenges in the face of modern racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.
#pac75
Main image: Everyone’s Equal When They’re Dead. Mural 1 x 3 metres, 2020 by Martha Barr (MA Fine Art)
Quote
We are determined to be free. We want education. We want the right to earn a decent living; the right to express our thoughts and emotions, to adopt and create forms of beauty… We will fight in every way we can for freedom, democracy and social betterment.
PAC@75 Events
Video recordings of many of the PAC@75 events will be available on the individual event pages and the PAC@75 Youtube Channel within 24 hours of the scheduled live event.
Further Resources
Partners
Event Partners
PAC@75 (October 15-18) is led by Manchester Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the University of Manchester, Salford University and the University of Bolton, Big People Community CIC, local creatives and the Manchester public. PAC@75 is part of the city-wide celebration of the Pan African Congress, working with and including See My World presented by Big People Community CIC.
Creative Work
Manchester School of Art students and alumni were invited to submit artwork for the PAC@75 event. Below we show the selected work from Zineb Berrais (BA Animation 2018), Martha Barr (BA Fine Art), Aislinn Finnegan (BA Textiles in Practice 2018) and Saima Rasheed (MA Fine Art).
Painted as mural in London at a Pub
Belly Mujinga was an essential worker who passed from Coronavirus, who had allegedly been spat on during her shift. After this, there were calls to protect POC essential workers in all forms of employment.
This is a highly adorned priestess who gathers her power and spirituality from her ancestors. Inspired by Afro-futurism.
in support of the BLM marches and protests, celebrating the unity as a result of inequality and injustice. We were alone, together marching for the same cause.