Culture

Music

Music and dance are an integral part of Cameroonian ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings and storytelling, and Cameroon is home to over 200 styles of dance alone. Traditional dances separate men and women, or forbid participation by one sex altogether, and are highly choreographed. The goals of dances range from pure entertainment to religious devotion. Traditionally, music is transmitted orally. In a typical performance, a soloist is echoed by a chorus. Musical accompaniment may be as simple as clapping hands or stomping feet, but traditional instruments include bells worn by dancers, clappers, drums and talking drums, flutes, horns, rattles, scrapers, stringed instruments, whistles and xylophones. Some performers sing complete songs by themselves, accompanied by a harplike instrument. The combination of instruments varies with ethnic group or region; the Baka sing in polyphony accompanied by drums and rattles, while the Bakweri, Bamileke, Bamum, and Beti-Pahuin sing to the music of drums and xylophones.

Popular music styles include ambasse bey of the coast, assiko of the Bassa, mangambou of the Bangangte, and tsamassi of the Bamileke. The two most popular styles are makossa and bikutsi. Makossa developed in Douala and mixes folk music, highlife, soul, and Congo music. Bikutsi originated as war music among the Ewondo. It was developed into a popular dance music during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s and popularised by bands such as Les Têtes Brulées.

Arts and Crafts

Traditional arts and crafts are practiced throughout the country for commercial, decorative and religious purposes. Woodcarvings and sculptures are especially common, and the Bamileke, Bamum and Tikar are renowned for such pieces. The western highlands have high-quality clay suitable for pottery and ceramics, and the Bamum are known for their beadworking. Other crafts include basket weaving, brass and bronze working, calabash carving and painting, embroidery, and leather working. Traditional housing styles make use of locally available materials and vary from temporary wood-and-leaf shelters of nomadic Mbororo to the rectangular mud-and-thatch homes of southern peoples. Dwellings made from materials such as cement and tin are increasingly common.

Literature and Film

Cameroonian literature and film have concentrated on both European and African themes. Early writers such as Joseph Ekolo and Louis Pouka Mbague described Europe as seen from an African perspective. In the late colonial period, writers Mongo Beti, Ferdinand Oyono, and others analysed and criticised colonialism, and shortly after independence, filmmakers such as Jean-Paul Ngassa and Therèse Sita-Bella explored similar themes. In the 1960s, Mongo Beti and others explored post-colonialism and problems of African development. Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, filmmakers such as Dikonge Pipa and Daniel Kamwa dealt with the conflicts between traditional and post-colonial society. Literature and films during the next two decades concentrated more on wholly Cameroonian themes. For example, Jean Marie Teno's film Afrique, je te plumerai (1991) depicts the country's struggles with democratic development.

Sport

National policy strongly advocates sport in all forms. Traditional sports include canoe racing and wrestling, and nearly 400 runners each year participate in the 40 km Mount Cameroon Race of Hope. Cameroon is also one of the few tropical countries to have competed in the Winter Olympics.

However, sport in Cameroon is dominated by football (soccer). Amateur football clubs abound, organised along ethnic lines or under corporate sponsors. The Cameroon national football team has been one of the most successful in the world since its strong showing in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Cameroon has won four African Cup of Nations titles. Team forward Roger Milla gained worldwide fame for his skill and personality, and the death of midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup made world news.