The 2017 festival dates are Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July.

Previous performers, artists and speakers who have taken part in Africa Utopia include award-winning Senegalese musician and human rights activist Baaba Maal; Chineke!, Europe’s first Black and Minority Ethnic Orchestra; Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo; former First Lady of Somaliland and founder of the Edna Adan Hospital, Edna Adan; Kenyan creative collective The Nest; South African performer Spoek Mathambo; godfather of Ethiopian jazz Mulatu Astatke; the Kinshasa Symphony orchestra; and many more from across the African continent and the diaspora.

The Africa Utopia Think-In is a chance for you to share your ideas for the 2017 festival, particularly in relation to the talks and debates programme and future planning, but also for elsewhere across the festival.

What should Africa Utopia 2017 and beyond be about? What would you like to see represented, how can we improve on previous festivals and develop ideas?

Themes that have emerged over the last few festivals have included digital innovation and technology, fashion and design, beauty, young Africa, diaspora communities, Africa and globalisation, urbanism, death, food and sexuality.

Notes on Think-Ins

Think-ins are Southbank Centre’s way of exploring ideas to determine what themes each of our festivals will concentrate on. We gather together a wide range of academics, artists and people with professional and personal expertise of the subject to assist us in forming the look and feel of the festival.

The think-in environment is considered to be a safe space so that you may talk freely whilst allowing you to retain anonymity, although you may be contacted by the team afterwards to see if you are willing to speak publicly on a given subject.