An Indian in the City – Smaïl Kanouté and the Black Indians

To each their own suburb.
He loves his.
And it's called the 18th.

The least we can say is that Smaïl Kanouté is a child of the Goutte-d'Or. You might even wonder if he's under house arrest, given how attached the young man is to his neighborhood. And that's the starting point we've chosen for this first original MansA creation.

The 18th arrondissement of Paris is a global neighborhood. This cultural crossroads, where communities of African descent from North Africa, West Africa, and the Caribbean have mingled for decades, is a living, open-air memory of the African diaspora. Between tradition and renewal, social struggles and community life, it is also a creative hotbed, filled with theaters, associations, and creative spaces.

At the heart of this breeding ground is Smaïl Katouné, a multidisciplinary artist and something of a jack-of-all-trades. His story is anything but ordinary: in 2023, he was inducted as Chief Scout of the Yellow Pocahontas Hunters in New Orleans. And since he was well-liked by Big Chief Darryl Montana, he even received his costume as a gift, which he had the honor of wearing in 2024 during the annual Carnival held in the capital of Louisiana.

In 2025, for Mardi Gras, Smaïl designed his own costume from home and took us along with him through the different stages of creation until the big day of the parade: Super Sunday on March 4 in New Orleans.

What next? From Paris, Smaïl has undertaken the artistic direction and development of a work entitled "BLACK INDIANS," inspired by Mardi Gras parades. This work is supported by La Villa Albertine, Les Ateliers Medicis, and the Viva Villa festival. To conceive this performance, Smaïl was in artistic residence from May 26 to 30, 2025, in Paris at the Consulat Voltaire with Queen Renee Gusman of the Yellow Pocahontas and Flag Boy Marwan Pleasant of the Golden Eagles. The show enjoyed a small tour in France and Belgium, and MansA was a partner for the June 17, 2025, date at the MC93 in Bobigny. Of course, we were there.

For a year, we followed Smaïl Kanouté on his adventures. This artist single-handedly embodies a generation that is reinventing traditions without ever forgetting the importance of what binds us together: memory, heritage, and transmission. Enjoy watching.