Jean Miche Kankan
He died on Thursday, February 13th, 1997, in the morning in Yaounde, Cameroon. Without his new theater piece “le moniteur d’auto-école” that was still in preparation, put on the market, in order to furnish his funeral. Fell into anonymity after a brilliant artistic career in the 70s, 80s and 90s, the artist was present through his works in many households in Africa and even in the Western World.
His artistic look did not go unnoticed. The inconsistency dress and overwhelming beard were the first triggers of laughter. Seventeen years since the artist left us having given us everything. Today, to date, many of his works continue to be many imitations but who benefits from copyright?
In other lands they would’ve have perpetuated him as an idol. He who was the inspiration for ten African comedians.
A prize in his memory during the many cultural ceremonies award organized every year in our country, or a monument worthy of the name, would certainly be a recognition of the talent of the largest African comedian of his generation. But nothing is done.
Nor by the cultural promoters, nor the Government guarantor of our cultural heritage. Jean Miche Kankan – Dieudonne Afana Abecon as his real name – was born in 1956. He is from the Nkom village in Akonolinga located 120 kilometers from Yaounde, the political capital of Cameroon. French teacher in high school, he abandoned this feature to work as a civil servant in the Cameroon Radio. The beginnings were not easy, however.
The audience was very receptive to the artist’s style. “I was a little child who debuted in a theatrical genre my case was blurred. My first show was at 10 F CFA as entry fee ?”, said the artist when asked to recount his stage debut. But over time, Jean Miche Kankan imposed his style and its message.
La fille du bar, Maladie d’amour, Les bonbons alcoolisés and L’élève international are all works through which Jean Miche Kankan brightened the lives of Africans. The artist’s talent can not be reduced to his look.
Comedian Kankan was often using the language of a drunk person to get his message across. The depth of the artist’s texts called the society on issues such as polygamy, the abuse of alcohol, police harassment, etc. This great humor man died in 1997. His genius has enabled the emergence of several comics artists.
We shall simply retain that Jean Miche Kankan was a perfectionist artist, his works left to posterity are breviaries which can be used today to read the history of our societies, understand the morals of a society on the lookout for models lost in some performances. All this, was Jean-Michel Kankan, artist, died nineteen years ago.
