Lights,

Camera,

Revolution:

Zineb

Sedira

at

Goodman

Gallery

In 1962, Algeria finally won its brutal eight-year-long war of independence against France and emerged victorious to become a figurehead for African anti-colonial liberation movements. Actively exploring the new-found national identity for which it had fought so fiercely, Algeria soon became a continental hub of post-colonial expression, a premiership that was consolidated in the form of the Pan-African Festival of Algiers (PANAF) in 1969.

Bringing together artists, musicians, filmmakers, poets, activists and military leaders for two weeks, the festival demonstrated a revolutionary assertion of a modern ‘Pan-African’ solidarity, defining itself in direct apposition to European colonial powers.

The uniqueness of PANAF as an historic event has fascinated Algerian-French artist Zineb Sedira, and her recent (ended 16 March) solo show 'Let’s go on singing!' at Goodman Gallery in London specifically investigated how Algeria’s independence as a nation also gave rise to a boom of independent arts, music and especially cinema.