The event began with a reception at 6:00 p.m. and included a screening of the acclaimed film Life on Earth (France, Mali, Mauritania, 1998) by Abderrahmane Sissako, with a special introduction by African Film Scholar, Aboubakar Sanogo of Carlton University in Ottawa, Canada. A discussion with Sanogo, Jacqueline J. Royster, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Angela Dalle Vacche, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech immediately followed the film.

Modeled on the highly successful France-Atlanta Initiative, Africa Atlanta 2014 is a citywide, year-long celebration of cultural and economic bonds among African, European, and American cultures in Atlanta. It has been organized by the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology in collaboration with the Consulate General of Belgium in Atlanta. This initiative, designed as a robust cross-cultural interdisciplinary collaboration of multiple stakeholders across the City of Atlanta, is anchored by the art exhibition, KONGO across the WATERS, which is co-curated by the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida.

The exhibition will be at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum from May until September 2014. Before, during, and after the exhibition an exciting range of complementary events organized by partners across the city and the region offer a variety of activities related to the African-European-American experience.  The activities will highlight the arts and humanities; science and technology; enterprise and innovation; and education and public engagement.