Setting the stage for a `Festival of Lies: Notes on expertise and African Cultural Studies

This article is a two-part essay resulting from the author's experience as a public commentator on a performance in Seattle, USA by the Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula. The first part of the article explores the difficulties and opportunities that arise when Africanist scholars are asked to serve as cultural experts for a general audience. I outline some of the considerations in agreeing to provide commentary on a performance for which I could claim only a `close enough' kind of expertise, but which nevertheless seemed ideally suited for engaged public humanities scholarship. The second half of the article is the text of the resulting podcast. It first traces the historical background to Linyekula's `Festival of Lies', then presents general observations on African political performance. The script concludes with a reflection on the specificities and implications of viewing Linyekula's performance in Seattle.