France, July 20 -- Just over 50 years after Josephine Baker's death and nearly four since she was inducted into the Pantheon in Paris, a street art festival in the north-eastern part of the city has honoured the American performer with a mural.

The brainchild of the Paris Colors Ourq association, the work is one of several murals in the neighbourhood to promote community spirit and celebrate diverse cultural figures.

Born in St Louis, Missouri, on 3 June 1906, Baker eschewed conventions from an early age and rose to become a star singer and dancer in the 1930s, especially in France.

She later deployed that aura and her itinerant lifestyle as a cover to spy on the Nazis for the French Resistance during World War II.

She was later a fer...