Senegal World Festival of Black Arts Celebrates History with ETC Gear

ETC supplied a range of fixtures, dimming, and control equipment to the third Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres (World Festival of Black Arts and Cultures) in Dakar, Senegal.

Says Jean Louis Pernette, sales director at ETC's French distributor, Avab: "The brief was to supply all the equipment they need, with an emphasis on high spec and ease of use. We were also told that they needed the equipment fast -- in fact, we only had a couple of weeks from the time we received the quote request to the delivery date."

Because ETC keeps all its major products in stock in Europe, Pernette knew the delivery schedule wouldn't be difficult -- the entire 42 pallets making up the delivery could come straight out of the warehouse. "We supplied two Congo and two Congo jr control desks across the three festival venues, to make sure they had enough backup. Each hall also took delivery of Source Four PAR and profile luminaires and Selador Lustr LED fixtures, as well as SmartPack rack-mount dimmers."

Following the festival, some of the equipment stayed at the venues (Théâtre National Daniel Sorano, Centre Culturel Blaise Senghor, and La Biscuiterie de Médina, a multipurpose venue), while the rest went into flight cases supplied by Avab, ready to be transported across the country wherever it might be needed. "Part of the appeal of the ETC Selador line," says Pernette, "is that it does not require dimmers, and so it can be plugged straight into the lighting control desk. This is a real plus point, because it makes it so much easier and quicker to set up than many other types of lights. And with electricity being limited across much of the region, the Selador family's low power usage makes it much more practical."

Pernette continues: "ETC is able to offer a new generation of lighting that is well adapted to the needs of a much wider audience. The project was managed by Syndiely Wade, the president's daughter, and we were in direct contact with Abdou Diouf, the technical manager of the festival. They both were very appreciative of the efforts we put in to get everything on site in time, and making sure all the staff was fully trained in its use. The Senegalese technicians particularly appreciated the ease of implementation of the various fixtures and their easy setup, especially the advantages of the Source Four PAR optics. They also noticed the simplicity of Lustr's wiring and DMX allocation, and all the colors that could be provided directly from the Congo control desks. As soon as the equipment arrived, the technical team realized the advantages this 'all in one' light would offer. The Théâtre National Daniel Sorano's lighting manager, Sorano Amadou Waly Diouf, told me that he thought it was superb."

This was the third time the festival has been held; the last one was in 1977. As the continent celebrates 50 years of independence for French-speaking Africa, the festival, which is free of charge, brings together theatre, film, dance and literature to convey a vision of the continent as free, proud, creative and optimistic.