CONFERENCE
16th Conference of the International Society for the Oral Literatures of Africa
ISOLA 2027 will take place from April 13 to 16, 2027 at the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Humanities – Aït Melloul, Ibnou Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco.
Under the theme The Art of Orality: Improvisation at the Crossroads of Artistic, Cultural, and Social Dimensions, the conference will bring together scholars, researchers, doctoral students, artists and cultural practitioners interested in African oral literatures, performance, memory, improvisation and cultural transmission.
About the Conference
Oral traditions occupy a central place in many African cultures. They serve as essential means for transmitting knowledge, history, values, memory and collective identity. Within these traditions, improvisation plays a major role, allowing each performance to become unique, interactive and adapted to its social and cultural context.
ISOLA 2027 aims to explore the artistic, cultural and social dimensions of improvisation in African oral literatures. The conference will examine how oral performance creates meaning through voice, gesture, rhythm, silence, audience interaction and creative spontaneity.
Conference Focus
The conference will encourage interdisciplinary discussion on:
- African oral literatures and oral traditions
- Improvisation as artistic and social practice
- Storytelling, poetry, song, ritual and performance
- Cultural transmission and collective memory
- Oral artists, griots, storytellers, praise poets and contemporary performers
- New forms of orality in digital and contemporary contexts
Key Information
- Conference dates: April 13–16, 2027
- Venue: Faculty of Languages, Arts and Humanities – Aït Melloul
- University: Ibnou Zohr University
- Location: Agadir, Morocco
- Working languages: English and French
- Presentation length: 20 minutes
- Abstract length: Maximum 500 words
Scientific Scope
Discover the main academic axes of ISOLA 2027, including improvisation, performance, oral societies, rituals, translation, teaching, digital reinventions, gender relations and contemporary oral practices.
Committees
Meet the coordinating and scientific committees supporting the 16th ISOLA Conference. The committees bring together scholars and researchers from Morocco, Africa, Europe and North America.
Why Morocco?
Hosting ISOLA 2027 in Morocco offers a meaningful opportunity to connect African oral literatures with the cultural richness of the Moroccan context. Morocco is marked by a diversity of languages, traditions and cultural influences, including Arabic, Amazigh, African, Mediterranean and Atlantic dimensions.
Agadir and the Souss-Massa region are particularly relevant to the conference theme. The region is deeply connected to Amazigh cultural heritage, oral traditions, music, storytelling, rituals, popular expression and collective memory.
By bringing ISOLA 2027 to Agadir, the conference opens a space for dialogue between Moroccan oral traditions and broader African and diasporic perspectives.
Join ISOLA Africa 2027 in Morocco
Be part of an international conversation on African oral literatures, cultural memory and the future of oral traditions.