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Hello and thank you for downloading witness history from the BBC World Service.

This week we're bringing you the stories of some of the most famous artists and exhibitions

of the 20th century.

Today we're going back to 1966 and a creative festival in Dakar

which changed the perception of Africa and its people all across the world.

Ashley Byrne spoke to artists Ibrahim Al-Salaqui and Elimo Njao about the first World Festival

of Black Arts. It made African leaders believe in Africa and that we have stories to tell.

The streets were lined with drummers and the Tum-Tum really, really fantastic.

It was April 1966 and over 2.5,000 artists, writers, performers and musicians from 45 different countries were descending on the capital city of the newly independent African country of Senegal for the First World Festival of Black Arts.

The festival in Dakaka spanned literature,

theatre, music, dance, film, as well as the visual arts,

and at the time it was hailed by many

as the inaugural cultural gathering of the Black world.

I think it is good for the morale to see this sort of African culture,

African music, African art, African people joining in and getting together is a wonderful thing.

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