The French Institute at MaMA Music & Convention 2025

Published on 9 October 2025

From October 15 to 17, 2025, the French Institute will take over MaMA Music & Convention, Europe's major contemporary music event.

For three days, in the heart of Montmartre, thousands of professionals from all over the world come together to discuss, imagine and build the future of contemporary music. Together with its partners, the Institut français will play a leading role, accompanying 75 professionals from four continents. Artists, producers, managers, broadcasters, heads of institutions and cultural agents will come together to share their experiences and open up new prospects for international collaboration. The aim: to support mobility, encourage networking, boost the visibility of stages and projects on a global scale, and create new, lasting bridges between Africa, Europe and beyond.

65 professionals, three delegations with complementary dynamics

  • Création Africa - Africa Créative Sounds

A delegation of 25 professionals from 18 African countries will take part in a full week of mobility in Paris, ahead of MaMA.

Targeted meetings, visits to emblematic venues, networking, speed-meetings and presentations at conferences will make up a rich and structuring program. Designed as a genuine cooperation gas pedal, this highlight will enable participants to expand their networks, develop new partnerships and promote the international circulation of the artists and projects they support.

Africa Creative Sounds

From 01 janvier 2025 to 31 mai 2026

Spectacle vivant / Musique

Africa Creative Sounds

With:

  • Délégation du réseau culturel

The Institut français Training Department will be accompanying a delegation of 14 cultural network staff (attachés, cultural and audiovisual assistants) on a training course dedicated to contemporary music. Combining workshops, visits and immersion at MaMA, this course aims to offer a better understanding of the dynamics of the industry and encourage exchanges with the professionals present.

With :

  • Aimé Besson - Audiovisual Attaché at the Institut français de Grèce (Athens - Greece)

  • Laura Bocanegra - Assistant Audiovisual Attaché at IFAL - Institut français d'Amérique latine (Mexico - Mexico)

  • Anne-Dominique Chouteau - Cultural Attaché at the French Institute of Sweden (Stockholm - Sweden)

  • Xiaojing Fan - Head of Audiovisual Affairs at the French Embassy in China (Beijing - China)

  • Margaux Flexas - Chargée de mission culturelle et de programmation à l'institut français d'Arabie Saoudite (Riyadh - Saudi Arabia)

  • Léa Gaboireau - Chargée de mission culturelle à l'Institut français de Tunisie (Tunis - Tunisia)

  • Branislav Glumac - Chargé des activités culturelles à l'Institut français de Serbie (Belgrade - Serbia)

  • Dylan Hadida - Chargé de mission musique at the Villa Albertine / Embassy of France in the United States (New York - USA)

  • Alexandre Khouri - Directeur délégué de l'Institut français du Liban antenne Jounieh (Jounieh - Lebanon)

  • Mitushi Khurana - Deputy Cultural Attaché at the French Institute in India (Dehli - India)

  • Borin Kor - Head of Cultural Services at the French Institute in Cambodia (Phnom Pehn - Cambodia)

  • Olgica Krstevska - Cultural Attaché at the French Institute of Northern Macedonia (Skopje - Northern Macedonia)

  • Tsiry Rajaobelison - Responsable animation culturelle à l'Institut français de Madagascar (Antananarivo - Madagacar)

  • Makamoussou Traoré - Responsable musique et spectacle vivant à l'Institut français du Sénégal (Dakar - Sénégal)

  • Export Delegation

The Institut français encourages the invitation of international professionals to MaMA to promote the export of French artists internationally. In liaison with the regional music attachés in Asia and Latin America, and with the posts in the countries concerned, a delegation of 19 professionals has been invited to MaMA this year. This delegation will be joined by 10 professionals invited by the Centre national de la musique (CNM) for a joint itinerary designed to foster contacts with industry professionals and showcase French artists.

With :

Highlights

Wednesday, October 15, come and meet professionals from the various delegations accompanied by the Institut français, at the Élysée Montmartre.

Round tables

Wednesday, October 15, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm - FGO Barbara | Panel Room 3

Music for images is undergoing remarkable development in Africa, with the rise of studios, collectives and initiatives responding to the growing needs of the film, audiovisual, advertising and video game industries. This round table will bring together leading professionals to take stock of practices, identify challenges (rights, markets, training) and explore prospects for international cooperation.

With the participation of Christopher Ngare, sound engineer, producer and sound designer, CMG Posh Media Studios ; Natasha Mann-Dedey, co-founder and COO, Jambo Spaces; Paola Yoko, founder and CEO, Level Up Corporation; Samba Bâ, composer - DA, Neegurap Music Group.

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Wednesday, October 15, 3:30 - 4:30 pm - Élysée Montmartre stage

While the supply of African concerts and musical content is growing, the structuring of a genuine pan-African live market remains fraught with heterogeneous challenges. This round table will explore existing networks, programming logics, touring circuits and the growing role of digital platforms. It will also highlight the complementarities between live and phonographic, and the role of labels in the circulation of artists.

The discussions will include a presentation of two tools supported by the Institut français: the Création Africa platform and the Connect & Create program, designed to support the distribution, mobility and development of African contemporary music.

With the participation of Davy Atangana Lessouga, Senior Label Manager - Francophone Africa, BELIEVE ; Emma Mbeke Nzioka, Founder, Pass Pass ; Fiurella Theodose, Communications and Marketing Director, Sony Music Afrique Francophone ; Fui Tsikata, Founder and strategic advisor - Music Director, TTD Media Ltd; Mantchini Traoré, ICC project manager and artistic cooperation in Africa, Institut français.

Learn more

Speed-meeting sessions

Friday, October 17, from 09:45 to 11:15 am

Business meetings in one-to-one format with the 25 delegation members - Registration required [here]

Friday, October 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Business meetings in one-to-one format with the 25 delegation members - Registration required [here]

On the same theme

Performing arts / Music

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