portraits
Portrait

Kane Limam Monza, a key cultural player in the Sahel

Issues of peace in the Sahel are at the centre of my work, in an approach of conceiving artistic answers to appease conflicts and reinforce cohesion between peoples.

Rapper, president of the Arterial Network and the Assalamalekoum association, founder of the Women Independence Festival: wearing many hats, Kane Limam, known as "Monza", has established himself as a central player in the cultural life of Mauritania and, more broadly, the Sahel.  He is a laureate of the AWA and Accès culture programmes, which respectively aim to support the structuring of cultural and creative industries (CCI) in West Africa and to encourage collaboration between African and French cultural actors. 

Published on 11/05/2023

5 min

Kane Limam, also known as "Monza", started making music at the end of the 1990s, with a particular interest in hip hop, and soon became involved in supporting other artists through his own label, ZAZA Productions. In parallel to his musical career, he studied at the Institut Supérieur des Techniques du Spectacle in Avignon and in cultural and financial economics at the Université Paris Dauphine. In 2008, he launched the Assalamalekoum performing arts festival, supported by the Institut français, which offers concerts, screenings, exhibitions, training workshops and conferences. This event has rapidly become a major cultural event in the region. A member of the Equation Musique programme and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, his involvement in the cultural life of the Sahel became more pronounced in 2013 when he became a member of the pan-African Arterial Network, of which he is now the president. 

Through his company Zaza Productions, Kane Limam Monza has been organising the Assalamalekoum festival since 2008. Based in Nouakchott, this event, with an artistic focus that is resolutely hip hop, is also geared towards training and supporting young artists, particularly Mauritanians. A way of reaffirming, in Monza's own words, "that culture can enable people to succeed where politics has failed". Among the artists who have benefited from this support are ZIZA Youssouf, Lass Rt, and Tonia Fiya. Kane Limam Monza's commitment to music also extends to his role as ambassador for Visa for Music and as a music producer for YouTrace, acting as a consultant, particularly for the Sahel region. 

A political artist, Kane Limam Monza has released several albums and numerous singles, including Président de la Rue Publik (2004) and Incontextablement (2007). In 2008, he translated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Pulaar language and adapted the text into a song for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, around the return of refugees to Mauritania. Very involved at a regional level, Kane Limam Monza promotes a plural and inclusive vision of his country, convinced that "before talking about national unity, we must first accept national identities". He is involved in several projects that work towards peace in the Sahel region, and was also artistic director of the Afro N'Goni HOP project, an initiative of the On the Niger River Foundation that tells the story of the Malian crisis. As an extension of the Assalamalekoum festival, he is also the initiator of the Women Independence Festival, which encourages better representation for women. 

  • 2004

    2004

    "Président de la Rue Publik."

  • 2008

    2008

    Translates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into Pulaar.

  • 2013

    2013

    Member of the steering committee of Arterial Network.

  • 2023

    2023

    16th edition of the Assalamalekoum Festival, of which he is the director.

L'institut français, LAB