A Feast of POETIC flights

WordSlam... explosion of live poetry in Lagos

2011-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

It was by every measure a weekend the power of the spoken word took centre-stage and audience that had gathered savoured every bit of it.

But by far, the most humbling was when playwright, actor, singer and culture journalist and advocate, Ben Tomoloju, stepped up to the microphone and took the audience into the intricate resources of the rich Yoruba oral literary performances laced by his musical compositions. It all happened at Freedom Park, Lagos Island last Saturday. The theme was: Homage to the Environment

Although it had been long he performed in public, Tomoloju left no one in doubt that he is indeed a master of the performance craft. Also pairing affably with another exceptional performer, Yemi Oyewo, Tomoloju showed that he is in a class of his own both in verbal dexterity and musical gift.

For the benefit of the mixed audience, including both non-Yoruba speakers and foreigners, Tomoloju caused Oyewo to do an encore of an Ijala or hunter’s chant while he interpreted. His seamless interpretation while Oyewo chanted was a real fascination and could only have come from a master craftsman like Tomoloju.

Indeed, as Honoured Guest Poet at WordSlam V, the poetry, spoken word, rap and music event put together by Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC) with the support of the German culture centre, Goethe Institut, Tomoloju showed he is a deeply experienced and skilled performer. Digging deeply into his Ilaje-Ese Odo oral roots, his versatility took his audience to the heights of oral performance and he capped it up with a musical rendition with reggae accompaniment from the Naijazz band led by Oyin Ogungbade.

At the end of his act, a standing ovation greeted the rare performance from a multi-talented artiste. Indeed, many young artistes wondered how lucky they were to have been part of the spoken word mini-festival. Younger ones would certainly take a cue from the master craftsman and learn a trick or two to better their craft.

While Tomoloju’s performance clearly turned out the climax of a glorious evening, other younger performers showed promise as usual as those certainly coming into the ripeness of time in poetic and performance art. Culture journalist and actress, Evelyn Osagie also took a cue from her Edo, Benin roots, to give the audience something to chew about in her piece, Nature’s Song. A love poem to Mother Nature, it calls attention to the environment and how positive action needs to be taken to preserve nature from the harmful practices of man that degrade it.

On another level and taking the earth goddess as her guide, Osagie raked up her Edo cultural riches in her soul-lifting verbal narration of the maternal relation between the earth goddess and her children, man; and how she is the mentor of lovers, who need her guidance to succeed, especially as Osamudiamwen was to find in his love quest for his heartthrob.

Not least to thrill the audience was revolutionary reggae artist, Cornerstone (Simon Eyanam Dose). With Rope of Freedom, Cornerstone showed what a musical force his soul-stirring voice could be. Indeed, it would seem that Cornerstone has remained on the fringe for far too long. With a little help, perhaps, Cornerstone could well be the next reggae revolution the world would see. His lyrics is steeped in revolutionary idioms as he speaks with such force that could shake an inert, docile citizenry like Nigeria’s into some form of positive action so the commonwealth could be redeemed from its current socio-political malaise.

Another culture journalist, Chuka Nnabuife, drew attention to the environmental degradation ravaging the South-Eastern parts of the country. Taking a little excerpt from his on-going project, Mbize… Landslide Down the Eastern, Nnabuife is insistent that the time to act is now to avoid a catastrophe waiting to happen, and that it would be easier to stem it now than respond to it later.

National Mirror - Poets, authors in word fest

2011-10-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Goethe-Institut, Lagos in collaboration with Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC on Saturday, September 24, organised the regular Wordslam, one of its programmes which encompasses spoken word performances, poetry readings and open mic sessions.

According to Marc-Andre Schmachtel, Director, Geothe-Institut, this year’s Wordslam was being held “for the poets to give us a demonstration of their power”.

And what power that was as poets like Dagga Tolar (accompanied by students from a poetry workshop in Ajegunle); Cornerstone, Awoko, Iquo Eke, Onileagbon, Edaoto and Yemi Oyewo took the stage to thrill the audience at the Freedom Park, Lagos venue of the event.

Others who performed were Chuka Nnabuife of Compass Newspapers, Uche Uwadinachi, a surprise performance from Evelyn Osagie of The Nation Newspapers and from the quintessential Ben Tomoloju, who was the honoured guest poet. Most of the performances were accompanied by music from the band stand.

Mr. Tomoloju mounted the stage and had his first performance of spoken poetry with Yemi Oyewo, who doubled as the MC for the day. Oyewo spoke in Yoruba while Tomoloju interpreted. Then Tomoloju performed a song from his Songs for Nigeria album accompanied by Edaoto and earned himself a standing ovation.

WordSlam… Live At Freedom Park

2011-10-02T07:33:00.000-07:00

THE Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Lagos presents the 5th edition of the big-stage live Poetry/Spoken Word/Rap performances featuring some of the city’s most tested and reputed Word artistes.

With the theme homage to the environment, and sub-theme, Why are we so blessed with Flood; Erosion; Desertification; Dirty Habitat… Reflection on Environmental Hazards; Global Warming; Depletion of the Ozone…., the event will hold at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos Island (adjacent St. Nicholas Hospital), and it is free.

There will be performances from Dagga Tolar; Habeeb Ayodeji aka Awoko; Iquo Eke; Cornerstone, Uche Nwadinachi, Edaoto; Onileagbon, Ayeola Mabiaku, and other vibrant poetic voices.

The Young Flowers, will also be featured by Students of Secondary schools from around Lagos.

2011-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

The Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Lagos presents the 5th edition of WORDSLAM, the big-stage live Poetry/Spoken Word/Rap performances featuring some of the city's most tested and reputed Word artistes.

Theme:
HOMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Sub-theme:
Why are we so blessed with Flood; Erosion; Desertification; Dirty Habitat... Reflection on Environmental Hazards; Global Warming; Depletion of the Ozone....

DATE: September 24, 2011
TIME: 3pm
VENUE: Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos Island (adjacent St. Nicholas Hospital

GATE: FREE

On the line up are:
Dagga Tolar; Habeeb Ayodeji aka Awoko; Iquo Eke; Cornerstone, Uche Nwadinachi, Edaoto; Onileagbon, Ayeola Mabiaku, and other vibrant poetic voices

Also featuring:
'The Young Flowers', featuring performances by Students of Secondary schools from around Lagos

CLIMAX:
The OPEN MIC session featuring extempore performances by members of the audience.
Please come along with your Poems or Rap or Spoken Word pieces.
Prizes available for best THREE choices of the general audience

Bandstand: NAIJAZZ collective
Supported by: EDUN Drum Ensemble

Compere/Word Priest: YEMI OYEWO

SPECIAL:
MBIZE... Landslide on Eastern Side; a poetic field report by the poet/painter/journalist CHUKA NNABUIFE.

GUEST POET: The poet/playwright/journalist, BEN TOMOLOJU

Free Entry!

It's a feast of poetic flights....

WORDSLAM... Poetry takes on Environment

2011-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut presents the most vibrant voices in performance poetry in the fifth edition of the prime poetic on Lagos stage, WORDSLAM.

THEME: Homage to the Environment
DATE: Saturday, September 24,
VENUE: Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos
TIME: 3pm

On stage would be the lyricists, Dagga Tolar, Cornerstone and Edaoto; the spoken wordist, Ayodeji Akinpelu; the flutist-poet Awoko, the romanticist, Iquo Eke, Uche Nwadinachi and Onileagbon; and the activist Evelyn Osagie with the sensuous performer, Ayeola Mabiaku.

These word artists have in the past few years proven their mettle in the Lagos poetry performance circuit. They will be backed up by one of the most engaging jazz groups in the country, Jazzmatazz.

Free Entry!

WORDSLAM 5 - Word and Environment

2011-01-26T02:39:00.000-08:00

Climate Change

and

Global Warming

The success story of the WordSlam organized by Goethe-Institut Nigeria in collaboration with Culture Advocates Caucus continues with this edition - WORDSLAM 5, with the theme: Climate Change and Global Warming. With this theme, we are challenging all poets and spokenword artistes to start weaving words to create awareness and proffer solutions on how best this worldwide epidemic can be mitigated if not averted. The Nigerian poets' voice must be heard on this global issue, and the platform is WORDSLAM 5.

Here are some websites for you research:

1. http://www.globalissues.org

2. http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com

3. http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org

WordSlam School Outreach Programme

We shall continue this educational programme which has become an important segment of the project. This platform gives poetry-interested secondary school students the opportunity to train their writing and performing skills. We have worked in the past with students in Ajegunle (twice) and Ikoyi. As the focus of this project is to help the less privileged students in Public Schools to sharpen the exploration of their talents and its exhibition, we shall take some of our poets as instructors/conductors to some other communities in Lagos. The students shall be taken through the process of how best to use rhythm and rhyme, how to act on a stage and how to capture an audience with their performances. The results of the workshop shall be displayed along the other performances on the “WordSlam 5” stage in February, 2011.

Photo Gallery

Mayo and Sage Has.son

Audience trapped under the rains
listening to poetry and spokenword

Fraternity of the poetesses from left
Nonnie, Jumoke, Iquo and Chinneye

V oices from WordSlam 0|4 - JEFFREY JAIYEOLA

2009-12-10T06:10:00.000-08:00

Before the Bronx

Ijala intro…

Hip hop came before the Bronx
Didn’t have a name but it had a form
Ijala and ewi over the talking drum
Will leave you all craving, begging for more
When hunters battle rapped, Ijala was born
Ewi the epic rhyme had you chanting along
Deep within our hearts there was a longing for God
We felt He was too far Edumare was pawned
For the deities and demons that were baying for blood
Cattle were sacrificed, we were playing along
They weren’t satisfied, thy demanded our sons
Art form, transformed by bad blood
Became the platform that fuelled the backdrop
Of the horror and the torture from inter-tribe wars
They sold us as slaves but we went with our song
Padlocked our lips but we still had a voice

Malu to re Jandon, Malu to re Yankee
O fi dun si ni, o di corned beef o!

Who said they taught us democracy?
We had it way back since the Oyo-mesi
Hmmmn…Oro Pesi
The Ayan was the DJ and his talking drums the MC
Along with seven councilors regulating autocracies
Oba to ba buru won ma nsi’gba fun ko lo ku
An empty calabash given as present to tyrants
Implied suicide, the king became his hangman
We also had our own three-tiers of government
The Oba, Olori-Ile, and in the middle the Baale
In Berlin they shared us in absentia
Deliberated our destinies but we were not there
Turned us to colonies, well God forgive them
Superior hominids, the way we view them
Don’t be fooled Sir, all men are equal
Put a cut on any man, what’s d colour of his serum?
The songs of our fathers always had a meaning
Regardless of the side that the crowd was leaning
With our art and our craft, we desired to see Him
We had the ileke in the place of bling-bling
Our forebears break-danced to the beats of bata
But now all we know is “shake it like that”
Whatever in the world happened to our psyche?
Break dance was banned by Raji-Rasaki
They tried to stop a movement in its rapid advances
Hip-hop had re-awakened in the 70’s Bronx
In our boarding school in the ‘80s, the news came to us
Dancing and flashing torches we scratched lockers with coins
To that African generation hip-hop was returned
African hip-hop is restating the obvious
It started from here, throw away your assumptions!

Author's Profile

JEFFREY JAIYEOLA aka PLUMLINE

Plumbline (Jaiyeola Jeffrey) is an uncanny blend. Geo scientist, Poet, Songwriter, Author and Hip Hop Rap/Spoken Word artist.... he was born in Lagos Nigeria,in his Lagos Island hometown (he will vehemently oppose you if you declare Lagos a 'No man's land').

As a kid, he was influenced by Local Poets like the late Mamman Vatsa and later on caught up with the works of the Late Ken Saro Wiwa. he also read almost anything he could lay his hands upon, including Yoruba poetry. Shakespare and a host of other poets would later make their mark on his mind. By the time he was in high school, he started writing his own rhymes and short stories which continued till the University. He had a career to pursue, and since no one would understand a Scientist with a passion for the arts, his pieces were only performed during his stints as Comedian/Musical Programme Anchorman.

A long hiatus followed, during which time he obtained a first degree as a Geologist and a Masters in Applied Geophysics.He would later pick up his pen with a passion to make his mark and contribute his own quota.

He performed at the Open Mic session of the last Wordslam 3 and Performs regularly at Spoken Word Events like Anthill 2.0, Chill and Relax, Taruwa and of recent, Bespoke Poetry.

Plumbline was involved in the Poetry For Charity Vol 1 and 2 Project along with other poets, which was compiled by Chiedu Ifeozo. He currently runs a blog called RANTINGS OF THE TALAKAWA, which he describes as Tantrums of the disenchanted.

Voices from WordSlam 0|4 - REZthapoet

2009-12-10T06:00:00.001-08:00

MY BLUFF

The other time when I was out,
my bluff called to ask after me
checking to see if my self esteem is as he desired,
low like my hard-earned salary
because it pays bluff to see me maintain that status quo
my physical took (down) the message,
pending my return as I was gone in search of soul
this bluff, dictates
this bluff, indicates
what attitude is right,
at what magnitude is right
and at what angle they can be put up in the face
this bluff, ushers my caravan of wishful regrets
haunts me like a broke heart, who can’t (even) pay love back in debt
my bluff, is the child of the intercourse
between these winds and my cautions
born of extortions, a cheat
because he, has learnt making me calls on toll-free
so if you think (that) talk is cheap,
pick a phone and call my bluff

my bluff - tough, rough,
because, he is a bully
he, lives in my conscience,
as that voice of evil that pricks me in goodies
if actions were drums, then he’ll come in the form, of repercussions
his discussions’ excursions beyond boundaries of boredom
manifests like the sounds of fears from deep inside my nightmares
I dare, think before leaps
writing wrong scripts is relative,
he knows yet he’s trying to act a nemesis
trying to act, a genesis
of this fear
of that fear
of all that is and not fair
so please, if he calls back, tell him I am not here
tell him I sleep and slumber
I am of flesh and perfection only lies of yonder
that I’m putting him to defeat,
beneath my carpet, he will forever live
under.

and let it be known that my mind is switching lines
and I’ll be fine because, he’ll never be able to call me again by these numbers

Meet the Author

REZthapoet

Abdulrazaq Adebola Afolabi is a young spoken word poet also popularly known as REZthapoet (the penname by which he writes most times) with REZ being the shortened form of rezolution (resolution). He studied computer science at the University of Ilorin where he graduated in 2006. He has been writing poetry as a hobby for about 12 years now but did not start performance until 2007. He is presently recording his poetry CD collection and also compiling his poetry collection for publishing. He performs spoken word poetry weekly at different poetry events around Lagos metropolis, the notable ones being Konscious Poetry lounge, Taruwa, Poetry potter, the Anthill 2.0, Chill and Relax, at private Occasions (like weddings and birthdays) and also at some other poetry events. He is very active online on different poetry platforms like the http://www.africanhiphop.com (poetry portal) and he also has a large following on http://www.facebook.com that predominantly make up a larger proportion of his online reading audience.

Voices from WordSlam 0|4 - Edaoto

2009-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Osaaa mo pe Yoruba nimi
mo je adulawo Ife sa lorirunmi
Osaa mo pe omo Awoyokun nimi oo
Lagos nigeria Ife sa na ti danran mi oo
Omo to so le nu o sapo ya ko ni
emi oni fowo osi juwe le iba mi
omo to so lenu osa po ya ko ni
emi oni fowo osi juwe le iyee mi

adulawo ni mi
osa gbooko mi
adulawo ni
osaa rawo mi
adulawo nimi
osaa gbo npa asa mi
adulawonimi
oosaa gbohun enu mi oo

Our names tell stories
Our names tell stories
Our place get histories
Our place get histories
Dont let us forget our histories
cos in it lies our victories
Blackman dont let us forget our histories
cos in it lies our victories

Adulawo nimi etc

Our names tell stories
Our names tell stories
Our place get histories
Our place get histories
Dont let us forget our histories
cos in it lies our victories
Blackman dont let us forget our histories
cos in it lies our victories

Korus
Adulawo nimi etc

toba je adulawo nie
ko ye ko gbagbe asa re
toba je adulawo nie
ko ye ko gbagbe itan re
toba je adulawo nie
koye ko gbagbe esin re
to ba je adulawo niee
koye ko gbagbe oro agba awon adugbo re oo.

Voices from WordSlam 0|4 - CornerStone

2009-12-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

'crazy world'
i looked though d window
i saw d widow
she cried bitterly ooh my child
bullet in d loin of d only begotten son as
he laid help silly in d pool of his blood does
who has to protested us have b hurting us
whata brutality in our city.

Chorus
i don't wanna be here again
i don't wanna feel it again
i don't wanna see it again crazy world.

drop your arms
kill no your brodaman
peace is d chief thing we need in d world,

why nuclear weapons, why intimidation, why religious war,

why are destroying mankind
all fingers are not equal d same blood flows into dare veins if dare is love let it flow.

V oices from WordSlam 0|4 - Unche Nwadinachi

2009-12-09T07:24:00.000-08:00

MY EBONY GODDESS

My ebony goddess
Idol of my heart
How come thou
So cursed with beauty

Dark luxuriant hair
Black shinny eyes
Well- shaped nose
Juicy red lips

Pointed lemons
Hot made hips
Oily spot free skin
Smooth straight legs

My black queen
Even Satan will fall
For you
And quench his hell
Just to woo you

My ebony goddess
Adorned with oil of “Elaku”
Your skin glows
With a dark ochre-coloured tinge
Sparkling like a stream
Glistening of a million stars at night
Your succulent thigh is the idol
Of eight hundred “foam factories
Only the artistic shape
Of your demarcated lips
Can inspire the sights of blind sculptors
The closeness of your cloaked nipples
Can incite the hunger
Of renowned lawyers for breast milk
Even infatuation for you
Do purify my canal addition
The vanity of your charming beauty
To me is a treasure of eternity
Every particle of your form
Bears a unique article of fulfillment
My ebony goddess

Meet the AUTHOR

UCHE UWADINACHI, born on the 3rd of march 1977 in lagos to christain parent Mr and Mrs Abel Evangeline Uwadinachi.

His early school education was at Jimoh Ojora Primary School Lagos and Sari Igaumu high school Lagos. Lagos State University Ojo was were he had his University education and did his National Youth Service in Nassarawa State.

Uche, a performance poet, hail from Imo state in Obowu Local Govement. He was the winner of ANA Lagos(Association of Nigerian Authors) Poetry Festival Prize 2006 and Pakistan June-poetrycraze online contest 2009. The author of 'SCAR in the HEART of pain' a poetry collection(2009) and a Former Editor of AJ city Express Newspaper.

He is a music artist of a two man band-kamazaiah(May and Flame), with an album in the market titled 'lifted'a gospel compilation under the sound factory label-music company of 'Nija lowa' by Omotola Jolade.

Also, he is a movie actor, featured in top Nigerian Movies such as; Real love(doctor), Love of my life(supervisor), Adam and Eve(detective), Missing Angel(ticket boy), You broke my heart(police officer), Haunted love(police officer), Vicious tunnel(police officer), Who kill dele(witness), Superstory(armrobber)and many others.

He was the President of Tourism Club Wamba (NYSC2007/2008) Nasarawa state, where he won a recommendation award in Nasarawa state for constructing an Ultra Modern Toilet and making of 60 sign posts in Government Science School Wamba, Nasarawa state.

Uche was the Cordinator of Miss Nigeria Entertainment 2007/2008. And directed in Isaiahfaces-a model agency. He is a music video creative who has worked with artistes like: Ucheboy, Image, Davina(Igo make am), Presh, Praise, Julius Agwu(Christmas), Xproject(Mobaomolo), Kunle Omoalaafin Orun,Azadus etc

He presently working as an Independent Researcher and TV Presenter in a music- documentary programme titled KONTO MUSIC.

AUTHOR'S Contact:

Blog: http://www.flames777.blogspot.com
Email: ucheuwadinachi777@gmail.com

Mobile: +234(0)703 383 7733, +234(0)809 676 1410

WORD EXPLOSION BY THE LAGOON

2009-12-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

ADE Bantu

Aye-Ola Mabiaku

Pictures from WordSlam IV

2009-12-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

The fourth edition of the poetry slam was organized by Goethe-Institut Nigeria and Culture Advocates Caucus on November 28, 2009 at Goethe-Institut Nigeria in Victoria Island / Lagos. The evening, compèred by Yinka Davies and Yemi Oyewo, started with school kids reciting poems which they had developed in a workshop with German-Nigerian singer Adé Bantu. Afterwards, several notable spoken word artists seized the stage, including Papa English, Awoko, Edaoto and others. The “Open Mic” session gave upcoming artists a chance to perform in front of the audience. As the sun came down, the literature programme turned into an afrofunk concert when famous German-Nigerian singer Adé Bantu and his band went on stage.

WordSlam IV Poetry Slam

The success story of the poetry slam organized by Goethe-Institut Nigeria in collaboration with Culture Advocates Caucus continued: several notable poets showed the audience the true qualities of the art of the spoken word in Nigeria. The featured poets of “WordSlam IV” were: Uche Uwadinachi, Cornerstone, Ayodeji Akinpelu, Papa English, Funmi Aluko, Ayeola Mabiaku, Awoko, Edaoto and Muri Amulegbajo. The “Open Mind & Mic” session was, like in previous editions of “WordSlam”, giving members of the audience the chance to perform a short poem as well.

WordSlam IV Bantu Concert

The fourth edition of “WordSlam” culminated in a concert by famous German-Nigerian singer Adé Bantu and his band. Adé Bantu’s vibes – a mixture of hip-hop, reggae and afrofunk which he calls “the sound of fufu” – turned what started as a poetry performance into an exciting live concert in the evening. Bantu was raised in Lagos (Nigeria) and Cologne (Germany) and currently resides in both cities. This musician sees himself as an Afropean who is constantly inspired by both continents.

WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme

The “School Outreach Programme” gave poetry-interested school kids from Ajegunle and Ikoyi the opportunity to train their writing and performing skills with a great conductor: Adé Bantu. He was also featured in the fourth edition of “WordSlam”. Bantu showed the kids how to use rhythm and rhyme, how to act on a stage and how to capture an audience. The results of the workshop were displayed along the other performances on the “WordSlam” stage on November 28.

German-Nigerian afrofunk musician Adé Bantu, he played until late that night.

Poet Ayodeji Akinpelu on stage.

Children from Ireti Grammar School performing.

Singer Yinka Davies was one of the two compères for the evening.

WordSlam IV... Poetry Goes To School

2009-12-06T08:33:00.000-08:00

Inspiring Students to Speak Out
By Bayo Olupohunda

(Culled from The Guardian on Sunday, December 6, 2009)

ROBERT Frost's comment that "poetry is a way of taking life by the throat" perhaps best reflects the intentions of Goethe Institut Nigeria and Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC), organisers of the maiden edition of WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme.
Under the tag Schools' Spoken Word-Poetry Workshop, a major focus for the fourth in the Wordslam series is to work with students and teenagers in Nigerian schools on performance poetry with the future plan being that "Spoken word" and "poetry slams" will become popular tools for "building up the creative expression and opening up the minds and heads of the youth towards mobilising them to become active citizens in the democratic process", according to the CAC.
Thus, when I was asked to coordinate the School Outreach Programme, which was facilitated by the Nigerian-German international performing artiste Ade Adekoya aka Bantu, I became instantly excited given my professional understanding -- as an educator -- of the immense benefit the programme holds for students' academic training and the boost the programme will give schools' curricula.
A week earlier, the first leg of the workshop for schools had been held in the Ajegunle part of the state with students from about five schools located in the Tolu Schools Complex, Olodi Apapa, where Ade Bantu and the Poet-activist, Dagga Tollar had held some rewarding spoken word-poetry writing sessions with participating students on various thematic concerns. The Lagos Island project with Ireti Grammar School Falomo students was the second leg, and was no less engaging.
My experience with schools has shown that most teachers are ill-equipped to teach spoken word-poetry. Literature teachers most times regurgitate the works of known poets in a boring and mechanical manner without teaching students how to express themselves poetically; this has contributed to the lull in poetry writing and performance among these age groups, a gap the organisers of the WordSlam School Outreach Programme hope to now bridge with the promised yearly programme in Nigerian schools.

...Why Students Need Spoken Word-Poetry

The entry point for today's youth has been hip-hop music. Using the rhythm of this musical style, youth have been encouraged to start writing and performing poetry. This is a relatively short jump for many teenagers, who have grown up on hip hop, but a huge leap from what they had always thought poetry was limited to. Through poetry and spoken word, participating students in the WordSlam sessions, were encouraged to view their daily lives as an inspiration and material for their work.

They were also made to realize that throughout history, poetry has been expressed in many ways, and not just the cold, boring ways that they had become familiar with the literary genre in school.

This new cultural phenomenon among teenagers, helped by the success of the WordSlam IV School Outreach Programme attempted to give a voice to young people who have found much of the literature and the poetry they encounter, especially in school, to be irrelevant to their lives, and sometimes an insult to their cultural and ethnic identity.

This type of poetry appeals to students because it allows them to express themselves in their own language, and gives them the chance to address issues that they find important. The workshop provided a good opportunity for self-expression.

Poetry necessitated scratching below the surface, plumbing emotions students are often afraid to share with their peers. The students revealed long-hidden troubles they'd been otherwise reluctant to divulge. I noticed a closer sense of community forming in a classroom, where students regularly share their own poetry.

Through the medium of poetry and given their social background, the students more easily understood and identified with their classmates' sadness, fear, loneliness, rage, excitement, awe and pleasure. Poetry also helped the students define who they are. Poetry is a much freer form than prose writing.

Even students with limited language skills can excel in poetry. The workshops promoted individuality and creativity; it allows students to expand their understanding of what they are writing. The environment established for the poetry workshop valued and appreciated students' different ideas and allowed them to express original thinking.

Some students as seen from Tolu school were allowed to write several poems, while others only wrote one as found among the Ireti Grammar school students. Throughout the poetry writing, a wide variety of art supplies were provided. The students were allowed to use these materials both during poetry writing and vignette creating. The materials afforded the class with the means to fully express their own feelings and ideas in the poetry.

At the workshop, students felt more comfortable undertaking a topic that might otherwise be intimidating. In addition, publishing the students' work validates their role as both a writer and an artist, roles with which many of them did not identify prior to the workshop. This new role helped the students to recognize that what they do in school is important and affects their lives.
The students were given the opportunity to share their writing at the end of the workshop and performed them at Goethe Institut during the Wordslam event on Saturday. Students who ordinarily pass on the chance to share their work read their poems. Each student was applauded for his or her writing and many offered compliments.

The responses of the audience as the students presented their poems allowed them to understand their work is important and they are capable of producing art that others appreciate.

This lesson was exciting and enjoyable for both students to experience and Ade Bantu to teach. I knew it would be an engaging lesson and the students could feel the enthusiasm and as it spread. He was able to watch the class generate good ideas, express those ideas on paper in various forms of poetry and compile them into a variety of unique experience.

The Wordslam School Outreach Programme will ultimately encourage students to write about and discuss issues relevant to their lives. It will give them writing prompts that seek to develop their own voice and urge them to confront modern-day social issues head-on. It will also help in harnessing the potentials of students-poets, which will form the bulk of generation next spoken word- poets. The revolution has begun.

Ade Bantu: Portrait of the Artist as a Teacher

Ade Bantu the Nigeria-Germany born international artiste, who facilitated the two workshops for students in both schools, had a firm grasp of the subject and the activities in the classroom. He took the students through the various stages of spoken word-poetry writing, yet letting them express their minds freely. The result was later seen at the Wordslam IV show at Goethe Institut on Saturday November, 28 where students made passionate spoken word-poetry presentations with various themes to the delight of the audience.

He demonstrated an understanding of the limitations of the students in grasping concept taught. His performance at the workshop showed an artiste, who is at home with the teaching of spoken word poetry to students incorporating various concepts of poetry writing in form, content, rhymes etc.

Olupohunda educator and writer, coordinated the Ikoyi leg of the Wordslam IV School Outreach Project.

Ade Bantu, Azadus, Sage & Others in a Concert this SATURDAY

2009-11-26T08:38:00.001-08:00

WordSlam is here like plane
Come let's fly in poetry like bird,
Poetry Slam is here again
Let's put our fun in order, not tamed!

This Saturday, the performance stage in the premises of the Goethe Institut @ 10 Ozumba Mbadiwe, opp 1004 Flats, will be mounted by artistes of VIBES and SWAGGER, starting from 3p.m prompt.

Sage Has.son, Uche Nwadinachi, Ayodele Akinpelu, Awoko, Aye-ola Mabiaku, Funmi Aluko, Cornerstone, Edaoto and several other spoken word artistes will take the central stage at the early hours of the day.

Also, some collected students from our "School Outreach Programme" will be presented to the audience and art community.

Ade Bantu, the Ni-German ( Nigerian-German) will then take you on a musical tour in body and soul with his Band.

Azadus is a guest on Ade Bantu's stage, so don't miss the fun and celebration of poetry and music.

ENTRY It's absolutely FREE
And seats are surely LIMITED

FREE SNACKS AND REFRESHMENT WILL BE PROVIDED

WordSlam IV - School Outreach Programme Phase 2

2009-11-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

The second phase of the School Outreach Programme, a school poetry workshop kick-off today on the Island. The workshop started at about 1p.m at Ireti Grammar School, Ikoyi, today, Nov 23rd, 2009 and will end on the Nov 25th, 2009.

The first phase which held last week at the Bola Ige Millennium School in Tolu School Complex, Ajegunle was indeed interesting as Ade Bantu took the students through the usage of rhyme and rhythm in poetry and also the ethics of poetry performance. Dagga Tolar - the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Lagos Chapter and the popular AJ poet, was the host and coordinator of the wordshop.

As we start the Island phase of the workshop today, we hope to have an interesting, educating and interacting sections with the Ireti Grammar School Students for the rest of the days as we did had with the Ajegunle students.

Be rest assured that Nov 28th is going to be the bomb as Azadus has shown his interest in joining the main act, Ade Bantu, during the Concert segment of the day.

Countdown to WordSlam IV

2009-11-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

We announced the 4th edition of the biggest poetry slam in Nigeria - WordSlam - last month and we are happy to let you know that we received considerably large amount of submission.

The School Outreach Programme that is an integral of this edition of the project has been quite interesting and educating with the Ajegunle students. We will be on the Island next week to continue the workshop.

It's barely 8 days to go. Next week Saturday is the performance day at the Goethe – Institut.

Concert Evening:
Sat, Nov 28, 3:00pm

Venue:
Goethe-Institut Nigeria
10 Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue,
opp. 1004 Flats, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Snacks and Refreshments will be offered.

Ade Bantu’s vibes – a mixture of hip-hop, reggae and afrofunk, which he calls “the sound of fufu” - will turn what started as a poetry performance into an exciting live concert in the evening. We invite you to explore the transitions between spoken and sung words and to be part of a unique rhythmic experience.

Put it
On your diary
Save it
In the reminder
On your phone…
Tell it
To a friend
Who will not
Forget it
And remind you
Of it…
Please -
don’t miss it!
It's WordSlam!

WORDSLAM 0|4 - School Outreach Programme

2009-11-21T03:08:00.000-08:00

Building on the success of previous editions of WordSlam, Goethe Institut and Culture Advocates Caucus take poetry to secondary schools under the title: School Outreach Programme.

The 3-day workshop started on Wednesday, November 18, in Ajegunle with more than forty students of extreme intelligence and it will end today. With this workshop, Ajegunle students have proven to be among the best by all standards.

All things been equal, we hope to open another 3-day workshop on the Island next week prior the main event on November 28 at Goethe-Institut starting at 3:00pm.

This edition of WORDSLAM is going to be the best. Among the featured poets will be renown performers like Sage Has.son, Ayeola Mabiaku and Ayodeji Akinpelu. Many more will mount the stage ranging from different backgrounds like rap, reggae, classic poetry to performers in the tradition of griots. The “Open Mind & Mic” session will, like in previous editions of “WordSlam”, give members of the audience the chance to perform a short poem as well.

WORDslam 0|4

2009-11-19T01:31:00.000-08:00

Goethe-Institut Nigeria and Culture Advocates Caucus
cordially invite you to

WordSlam IV Presents Bantu & Band
Poetry Slam & Concert

The success story of WordSlam continues with its fourth edition including new features: As in the last three editions, WordSlam IV will start offering a platform for notable spoken word artists from all over Nigeria and will culminate in a concert of German-Nigerian musician Ade Bantu and his band. This edition of the poetry slam reaches out to the youth; the results of a workshop with secondary schools, conducted by Bantu himself, will be presented along other performances by poets, lyricists and modern griots. Ade Bantu’s vibes – a mixture of hip-hop, reggae and afro-funk which he calls “the sound of fufu” - will turn what started as a poetry performance into an exciting live concert in the evening. We invite you to explore the transitions between spoken and sung words and to be part of a unique rhythmic experience.

Concert Evening:
Sat, Nov 28, 3:00pm

Venue:
Goethe-Institut Nigeria
10 Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue,
opp. 1004 Flats, Victoria Island, Lagos

Snacks and Refreshments will be offered.

Related Websites:
WordSlam: http://www.wordslam.blogspot.com, Bantu Crew: http://www.myspace.com/bantucrew
For further information, please contact:
phone: 01 774 6888, 01 461 3416, e-mail: progr@lagos.goethe.org

Call for Participation at WORDSLAM 4

2009-10-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Poets,

The organizers of WordSlam (Culture Advocates Caucus & Goethe Institut, Nigeria) are delighted to inform poets and spokenword artistes that the 4th edition of a feast of poetic flight - desired to encourage young people to express themselves through the medium of poetry, has been scheduled for the last week of November 2009.

Also, this is a call for participation at the event, which we hope will be more exciting than the previous editions.

Should you will to be part of this event, bear in mind that WORDSLAM is a platform for the presentation of live poetry performances, featuring all the tendencies of our traditional folk poetry rendition. The subjects covered by this form of poetry rendition include everyday experiences, history, culture, religion, politics and many others.

Please let us know your intention on or before 31st October 2009. Send in at least two poems you would like to perform, plus a short biography of 200 words about yourself and your career.

As we prepare for the most exciting edition of WordSalm, we bid you an atmosphere of eternal muse.

Yours faithfully,

Aderemi Adegbite
Project Coordinator,
Culture Advocates Caucus
www.wordslam.blogspot.com

Music and verse at Word Slam III

2009-03-03T10:26:00.000-08:00

By Obidike Okafor
March 2, 2009

The Atlantic Ocean served as the perfect backdrop for Word Slam III, held on February 21 at the Goethe Institut, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event titled, the "Third incarnation of the Poetry Slam," was to consolidate the gains of the last two editions, held in July and September last year.

This third edition featured, for the first time, a two-day workshop at Studio 868 on Victoria Island, led by poet Lari Williams and Germany-based musician, Ade Bantu. A first-time participant at Word Slam, Bantu also anchored the programme, which featured many performers, including: Sage Hasson, Jumoke Verissimo, Awoko, Uche Nwadinachi, Iquo Eke, Segun Eluyemi, Dagga Tolar, Cornerstone and Edaoto.

The opening performance was by a brother and sister, the sister giving a rendition in Yoruba while her brother accompanied on the talking drum. The next performer, Francesca, was also a first timer. She recited a poem titled, "Do You Know My Mother?" It was powerful, but the audience seemed more drawn to her pronunciation of Mother (which sounded like "mada").

Next, Kelechi performed "Colourless," though the poem had little by way of meaning, with phrases like "Colourless yearns for an identity." His performance detracted from whatever he was trying to say somewhat, as he kept taking nervous glances at his paper. Brainstorm was next to step up, with a smooth transition from rap to poetry and back again.

Then the experienced performance poets took over. Uche Nwadinachi, 2006 ANA poetry winner, recited "Ebony Goddess," directed at a beautiful female from the audience. "Even if Satan falls for you/ I will go to hell just to date you." He followed with "Teach Me"--a poem name-checking the slain Dele Giwa and Bola Ige.

Iquo Eke, a performance poet who has participated in events like Poetry Potter, held the audience spellbound with her sensuous poem, "Earth, Wind and Fire." It comes with lines like "In you, with you/ I catch fire, I burn/ You are the wind that fans my passion to a raging inferno." Her second piece, "I am" talked about her roles as a poet, child, friend, wife and mother.

Ayodeji who came on after Eke, was introduced by Ade Bantu as the rapper who wears agbada. He started with rap and then switched to poetry, talking about leaving a legacy that will outlive him. Segun Eluyemi thrilled guests with his ‘nose job'-a unique ability to play the harmonica and flute through his nose.

After an interlude provided by the Crown Troupe of Africa, Word Slam opened to unscheduled performers in the Open Mic. Many of the aspiring poets that rose to the Open Mic challenge were students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nnamdi Azikiwe University and the University of Lagos.

One of the highlights of the event was a segment featuring Jumoke Verissimo, performance poet and author of "I Am Memory", rendering snippets from "Ajani."

Then it was a rain of mostly reggae-inclined performers who used the power of the spoken word not only in their poetry but music too. From Dagga Tolar, to Papa English and Cornerstone, the Rastafarian spirit was well represented. The recurrent themes in the songs were issues of society, poverty and politics. Awoko, who is now a regular (he featured in Word Slam II), gave a powerful performance with his flute and song in Yoruba and English.

The strong hinge on Africaness gave his work a strong bite that made an impact on the audience. Lari Williams was also on hand to give an offering of a short poem. Sage Has.son got the audience on its feet with words that were interesting, funny, and in one case, leaning towards the explicit. Edaoto brought the house down with Afrobeat sounds, his electric display on stage got people dancing till it was time to go home.

Ade Bantu said he was pleasantly surprised by the creativity and originality on display at Word Slam III. "At first I was sceptical, but now, I feel honoured to have been the presenter of this programme," he said. The outstanding poets will help spread the art of live poetry performances in schools.

Writers Toni Kan and Jude Dibia also graced the event, as did Afrobeat musician Seyi Solagade who said, "Poetry is a way of expressing the beauty of life."

Culled from http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5304266-146/Music_and_verse_at_Word_Slam.csp

SCENES FROM WORDSLAM 3

2009-02-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

• Fraternity of the poetesses from left Nonnie, Jumoke, Iquo and Chinneye

• The veteran, Lari Williams

• Uche Nwadinachi

•Dagga Tolar

•Chinneye with fellow Open Mic & Mind poets

• The ecletic rapster, poet Ayodeji Akinpelu

• The spoken word exponent, Sage and friend

Rapturous excitement over rap poetry at WordSlam

2009-02-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

By Anote Ajeluorou

IT was a perfect scene for a perfect occasion reminiscent of a moonlight tale at the fireside in the village. However, there were no old men or women conducting affairs here. Only one old man was present and he took the stage when the young ones had held sway; perhaps, a sign of times. The only regret was that it was an African tale being told on a foreign ground. Aside that, the first edition of Word Slam this year was a huge success.

Word Slam III is a live performance of poetry, an open reading and oral performance that brings poets and poetry fans alike together to enjoy the rich tradition of a verbalised art form. And at the Geothe Institut on Victoria Island last Saturday, a large number of Nigerian youths gathered to give expression to their repertoire of poetry to an appreciative audience. There was much to savour by the huge audience in the various readings and performances. The god of poetry walked tall on stage that evening under a tree on an evening with a stretch of water behind the podium to add picturesque excitement.

If anything poetry is the least beloved form among the three literary forms. Prose fiction takes centre stage while drama follows. Poetry is usually seen as being too intellectual and academic. But the evening in view lost that boundary. It was an evening where poetry came down from its exalted height and shook hands and smiled with all.

With a scintilating opening of an oriki chant by Turayo with Seun Idowu on the drum, the show got underway. And from one performer to the next, hiphop rap seemed such a poor imitation of oral performance. Then Fransisca thrilled the audience to 'Do you know my mother?', where a mother's supremacy was re-enacted. Kelechi's 'Colourless' tells of a world that should be without needless boundaries for a free flow of humanity and oneness. Brainstorm added his 'Huzler' angle to the performance to address a world locked in hard times and how a probable could be found way out of the mess.

Award winning poet Uche Nwadinachi added a romantic touch to a gathering excitement when he performed his 'Ebony Goddess'. When he conducted an ebony black lady to the podium and knelt before her to tell of his fervent love for her, the audience exploded in wild ecstasy. Then he sang, also of love with a lady to a gathering dusk that heightened his romantic act.

During the interlude, Ade Bantu, Germany-based Nigerian rap artist, had commented on the talent shown by the different performers at the workshop he conducted a few days before. He said Nigerians youths were highly talented and called for support for them so they could excel. Instead of engaging in 'Yahoozee' activities, he said, youths could actually be better preoccupied horning their talent as wordsmiths. "I'm pleasantly surprised at young people performing poetry," he enthused. "It is something creative and away from Yahoozee; they need to be supported so they can do their own thing."

But it was budding stage-impresario Segun Adefila who put the performance in philosophical and Afro-centric perspectives. He also debunked the notion that poetry is too intellectual or academic. Adefila opined that African has been taken out of its roots and is now couched in European guises. This, he explained was what was responsible for poetry's seeming difficulty, and why a lot of people tended to run away from it.

Poetry, he said, was an African thing with its roots firmly rooted in African culture. The proverbs, stories and words of wisdom, he said, had African origin until colonial mentality rob us of them all. He said, "Our fathers brought poetry, expressed themselves in poetry; the proverbs, the stories and witty sayings have always been African. Now we're doing it under a tree, like the good old days; it's the heartbeat of our people, to communicate and connect with our people. But the written one is colonial poetry; and we're performing it here. Goethe is reviving our own poetry, it's funny. What is the National Theatre doing?

"So, young people would want to be part of the revolution at giving back poetry to the people, giving back their voice to them."

Dagga Tolar, teacher and Ajegunle community activist agreed with Adefila. But he went further to say that the pop culture was a dead one and that it was natural for youths to migrate to a more fulfilling, purer field, which poetry offered. "When you chain people down for far too long, they begin to express themselves. Hiphop is one-directional; now poetry makes a break from that direction; it's capable of turning this country around. There's hope for the future with this break from the dirt that is hiphop."

Another young poet Efe Paul Azino, who preformed 'In fellowship with the masses', which earned him a loud ovation, stated that Africans have a natural knack for the arts and that the young ones were at its behest. He also echoed Adefila in affirming that poetry has its origin in African thought process. "The spoken word or poetry evolved from us; it's a natural thing for us. People love poetry; it's entertaining and inspiring and easy to identify with," he said.

Elizabeth Hasselgren, an American expatriate found the performance interesting. As a scientist, she said, it was refreshing to see poetry being spoken live.

For Jumoke Verissimo, a poet and copywriter, times have changed and poetry was no longer dreaded as before. She was confident Nigeria would produce the next poet laureate in the world given the outpouring of works coming out everyday. Verissimo also felt that the session was a way of gauging the depths of feelings amongst us, how our environment was treating us and how we were responding to it. "It's a way of trusting people to listen to our different woes," she said. "There's a lot of sad poetry today; it's in response to our psychology. Perhaps with development, a poet laureate might come from Nigeria. Word Slam is beyond rap or hiphop; it's not just about loud music but thinking deep. There's the purity of the mind in poetry."

Verissimo touched on one important point in her summation. It was the depth of themes the various poetry performers dwelt on. There was love and there was what veteran actor, Lari Williams termed 'revolutionary' poetry. Literature is a reflection of life; there was an abundance of that all through the evening as various aspects of Nigerian life was put on display. And as Verissimo commented, it was the 'woes' of Nigerians that were mostly on display, the struggles that sometimes almost amounted to nothing. Perhaps, it was Adefila's 'Malu's Dilemma' a captivating performance that best captured it, of a nation stuck in under-development, of a people toiling vainly to make ends meet. It was a sombre mood interspersed with love and emotive pieces. So that while the performances were themselves a thrilling experience, they were also a sad commentary on our lives, which appears to be half-lived under the grueling circumstances and times we live in.

But there were light-hearted moments as well. Williams' performance of 'Lone walk' from his new collection Heartlines of Drumcall had the trapping of love under the moonlight night. Also Iquo Abasi Eke's 'Earth, Wind and Fire' pulled not a few heart-strings as the audience ululated to its powerful emotional suggestions. Williams also advised young ones to take time to study grammar properly so as not to have a hard time with poetry, which he said posed a problem to most students because they were careless when studying it.

There was background music that accompanied all the performances to give them authentic setting for oral performances of old. Talking drum, guitar and the keyboard were mellow and never interfered with the spoken word.

Word Slam III was a production of Culture Advocate Caucus and hosted by the German Cultural Centre, Goethe-Institut. It is the plan of the organisers that excelling poets from the performance will be deployed to schools to assist in grooming students in the delicate art of live poetry performance. This, they also hope, will help to make poetry a lovable subject to students, who otherwise dread poetry. There was also a feeling of eagerness from all quarters about the next edition of Word Slam. Performers came all the way from Awka in Anambra and Kaduna states just to be part of the literary feast.

Culled from: The Guardian Newspaper
23rd February, 2009
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/arts/article04//indexn3_html?pdate=230209&ptitle=Rapturous%20excitement%20over%20rap%20poetry%20at%20WordSlam&cpdate=230209

The STAGE is SET

2009-02-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, tomorrow is the main-day for WORDSLAM.

After the 2-day Pre-WORDSLAM Workshop, all the participants, both performers and open-mic artistes confirmed that this edition of the project is going to the best so far.

What else do expect from a conductor like Ade Bantu, who took the artistes through a hectic journey of rudimentary of performance poetry merged with rhythm. The Nigerian-German artiste, perfected the arts of the artistes on the first day of the WORKSHOP.

Clarity was the focal-point of Lari Williams',MFR, instruction during day two of the WORKSHOP. Soft language, rhyme and rhythm with body-language and stage presence were all said to be the features of performance-poetry, by the renowned poet.

Indeed, you cannot expect nothing more than fantastic performances TOMORROW at the GOETHE-INSTITUT! Come and as experience Spoken-word, Poetry and Music in a SPECIAL way.

Venue: GOETHE-INSTITUT, 10, OZUMBA NMBADIWE, VICTORIA ISLAND

Time: 3 p.m PROMPT

Date: SATURDAY 21ST, FEBRUARY, 2009 (TOMORROW)

PLEASE CALL 07084287828 FOR MORE INFORMATION.

WORDSLAM 3 with a new PHASE

2009-02-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the this movement, sometime last year (July 5,2008), Culture Advocates Caucus with its partner, Goethe-Institut, promised to take the initiative tagged: WordSlam...A Feast of Poetic Flights, to the street by making it a quarterly event. Then, the maiden edition which, featured poets such as Akeem Lasisi, Iquo Eke, Edaoto, Jumoke Verissimo, Sage Has.son, Cornerstone, Muri Amulegboja, Awoko and Dagga Tolar was held within the premises of Goethe-Institut — the German Cultural Centre on the Victoria Island. Even though the rains threatened to drive the enthusiastic audience off their seats, the sonorous voices of the chanters, the irrepressible messages of the poets and the heavy musicality of the live bands glued them to their seats, not minding whether their clothes got wet or not. The first edition of WordSlam was an amazing success as was attested by the scores of media reports that trailed it, and the resounding applause it
generated from the audience – applause that reverberated long after the light had gone out and far away from the venue of that maiden edition.

The Second edition held on September 13th, 2008, fulfilled the promise of the CAC and Goethe-Institut by putting poetry back on the streets of Nigeria and Africa in general. It held in a carnivalesque ambience of the open air of the Sarmakand Tree at the National Theatre. Again, there was rain, but the feast was just too robust and delicious to be abandoned by the audience that even came from as far as Ibadan in Oyo State and Ile Ife in Osun State. Thus the feast of poetic flights had in so short a time wormed its way into the heart of the Lagos literary circle.

This edition, the third ritual of the WordSlam, is here to consolidate on the gains of the past two editions, and to impress it on the public that Poetry can indeed leap out of the cold pages of the print and become a delicacy in the mental palate of the audience. It will parade five artistes from the maiden edition, and also introduce six artistes selected from the OPEN MIND & MIC SESSION of the past second edition. These artistes include Sage Has.son, Edaoto, Dagga Tolar, Cornerstone, Awoko; Iquo Eke, Jumoke Verissimo, Ayodeji Akinpelu, Uche Nwadinachi, Segun Eluyemi, Michael etc. There will also be a much rebranded OPEN MIND & MIC session – designed to fish out new, vibrant voices that will go into the next stage.

Goethe-Institut and Culture Advocates Caucus have perfected plans to take WordSlam brand of poetry to schools in the spirit of catch-them-young and building the voices of the future. “Education is primary to the WordSlam and its projections, says a spokesman for the CAC.

To start in this new direction, this edition of the project experimented with a 2-day Poetry Workshop, which had its participants drawn major-ly from departments of Literature and English in higher institutions as well as young poets ambitious of making a mark in the genre. Veteran actor, life poetry exponent, Lari Williams, and the Germany-based popular literary musician, whose music draws heavily on poetic chants, Ade Bantu, ran the Workshop.

The organizers also plan that excelling poets from the WordSlam project will eventually be deployed to schools to assist with grooming the students in the art of life poetry performances.

While the dream flowers, you are welcome to yet another feast of poetic flights.

Aderemi Adegbite
Stage Manager,
WORDSLAM

PRE-WORDSLAM WORKSHOP

2009-02-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

Tick-tock
Time is running

Tick-tock
Poets are preparing

Tick-tock
Guests are longing...

To catch their groove at WORDSLAM 3 billed for 21st February, this coming Saturday. But before the main event, the performance day, there will be a 2-day WORKSHOP for poets, lyricists and musicians at STUDIO 868.

DETAILS:

DAY 1: The renowned performance-poet, LARI WILLIAMS will take the stage to teach performance poetry in accordance with rhythm.

TIME: 10 a.m - 5p.m

DAY 2: The Nigerian-German musician, ADE BANTU will continue from where LARI WILLIAMS dropped anchor. So be prepared.

TIME: 10 a.m - 5p.m

VENUE: STUDIO 868, Bishop Aboyade-cole, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

RSVP: 08022016495

Alfredo Bini’s tale of darkness from the Sahel

2008-12-10T12:06:00.001-08:00

In the ambience of the Azania Speaks conference that held November 17-19, the tall, gangling fellow with glasses firmly planted on his Hollywoodite face looked like just another character on the campus of the University of Udine; perhaps a student or a teacher in the school that was playing host to the conference on Spoken Word and Oral Literature in post-colonial Africa. However, many of the participants who could or must have given him such an inaccurate identity, had already encountered his work without putting the lean frame behind such a monumental piece. No one could have walked through the passage of the campus at Sala Conveni di Palazzo Antonini via Petracco 8 in the heart of Udine into the hall where the talking sessions held without encountering the work of Alfredo Bini.
It was a video cum slide show installation mounted in the passage, and which welcomed everyone to the arena of the conference. Frame after frame of deeply affective images streamed out of the TV screens signifying the artist’s recording of the tragedy that water politics has visited on the people in the Sahel landscape of Africa, particularly in Burkina Faso. The collection, which he recorded when he accompanied an ngo on a mission to the Burkina Faso chunk of he Sahel region, was presented under the theme Water and land in Sahel, the case of Burkina Faso.
Bini’s images are fascinating in the photographer’s choice of angle, in such a way that an otherwise innocuous scene is transformed into almost live rendition because of his point of emphasis. In every frame there is a dominant figure that foregrounds the tragic mood of the landscape. The artist also explore the relationship between light and shadow to create contrast and strike emphasis. The technique is so effective that the viewer is compelled to thus empathise with the artist’s POV by just gazing at the huge figure that often seems to dwarf other features in the frame, and by simply tracing the movement of the shade in the frame. The images signify the failure of critical thinking of African political elites as well as the rape and plunder that colonial powers or the so-called industrialised nations continue to visit on hapless continent and its helpless critical mass.
Even years after he undertook the journey that recorded the collection, Bini still spoke passionately about his experience. He said he could still not overcome the shock he had when he encountered the magnitude of poverty that the selfish, conniving political leaders of most African countries have put their people. “These people did not use their land to produce food, which they need, they sold the land to multinationals who use the land to produce sugarcane which cannot feed the people, and which they export to Europe with the people the owners of the land as the workers who earn small money per day. They have become tenants on their own land, and they have allowed foreigners to take over the land, who then employ them! They do not even have water, because they have given out the land”, he said over lunch in the course of the conference.
Here is Alfredo Bini’s full explanation of his project:
After president Sankara’s death and after the European interference reaffirmed, water and land are still two valuable resources for daily life. The uninterrupted exploitation carried out by multinationals is only making the problem worse.
Burkina Faso is a country located in Sahel area, a stripe of land in Africa between the Sahara and the tropical moist region – a boundary zone between two contrasting bio climate areas, marked out by a half-arid landscape. The meaning of the word Sahel, from Arabic ???? sahil, shore, border of the Sahara desert, is in fact side of the desert. For millenniums this territory has been affected by the climate. Rainy and arid periods shape the environment and condition its inhabitants, who today and in the past as well, have always been looking for the two most important resources for life: water and land. Agriculture and sheep farming, so the survival of entire villages, depend on the availability of these two elements.
In Sahel people are used to depend on out-of-control events and they developed during the times a great spirit of adaptability. People are shaped by the land and by the conditions they are living in. The more such elements are difficult, the more they develop a sort of meekness and respect toward what surrounds them. In Burkina Faso more than the half of the people is animist, following the ancient beliefs that natural element have a soul. Earth is considered as a god. In fact during sowing time propitiatory rites are dedicated to it and carried out with sorghum beer in order to get its benevolence. Fields, crops, cattle, people, everybody and everything depend on earth’s capacity to distribute wealth such as cereals, grazing lands, fruits. This is the reason why men try not to alienate its spirit. Rains, alternating with sun, perform their precious task and give the land water – indispensable element in order to keep the vegetative cycle. Water too is an element bound to popular beliefs and its eventual plenty or shortage is connected to the behaviour of the people all the year long. Crimes, offences, homicides are often seen as causes of scarce or late rains. The controversial political facts happened in Burkina Faso are often considered having a bad influence on rain time.

. Alfredo Bini and a friend at the Azania Speaks

The Sahel and, more in detail, Burkina Faso, became famous at the beginning of the ‘70s when a rainfall lower than 75% of the still lacking local rain average caused a drought that had impressive repercussion on people’s life: inadequate yield of agriculture and disappearance of grazing lands with the following death of 70 – 80% of oxen. The faming in Sahel caused the death of one million people and at least 50 million people suffered heavy food shortage.

Burkina Faso was one of the most damaged countries. In 2005 and 2006 some events made believe a severe famine could occur again and also in this case some unfavourable conditions found their origin both in natural and human causes. In the whole area it has been scarce rainfalls for years, the consequence was lower crops yield and a following higher consumption of the limited food stocks. An invasion of locusts concentrated in Niger made the situation more and more critical endangering an area tried by scarce crops of the previous years. It was told that in Burkina Faso 80% of the population could hardly find sufficient food.
Such food crisis made again emerge one of the biggest problems of the Sahel’s countries, where the reduced availability of fertile lands magnifies the effect of the scarce rainfalls. The lack of growable land has not a natural cause only; it is also a consequence of the choices made by the colonial administration and later, because of the huge interests, kept by the most of government set up after independence.
In the past the growers grew thermophile cereals, such as millet and sorghum, that need little water. Together with rotation such cultures granted a good balance to the delicate land. During colonial period the most fertile lands were changed into plantations by the foreign companies that did not cultivate thermophile or xerophilous cultures, but they planted cotton and sugarcane, maize, peanuts – products for export that, besides impoverishing the land and bring to desertification in about thirty years, this is the case of cotton, they also lower the level of the underground water layers because they need a lot of water to grow.
It is easy to understand that the prevailing of this agricultural model, besides reducing the scarce cultivable lands, that in Burkina Faso are only a small part of the territory (14%), changed also the social structure of part of the population.
Today those who work in plantations earn from 0,4 to 0,7 ? /day – insufficient to grant an acceptable support and the purchase of indispensable articles. In some area before such economical model prevailed food provisions took place through barter that assure a minimal, but constant, production and spread of particular goods. Many growers after plantations were established could no more cultivate the best lands and moreover got an inadequate salary to support them, without goods to exchange and with a seriously compromised that does not allow even the cultivation of cereals needed for food.
At the moment this area of Africa has an underdeveloped agriculture, with a few means available, where the work is carried out almost exclusively manually on not much fertile lands, without the possibility to have sufficient food stocks. In such situation, as soon as unfavourable weather conditions reduce lands’ yield, food stock problems rise and many associations distributing help affirm that, in case of severe emergency, their efforts will not be sufficient to avoid famine, such as the one known in the 70s.
Thomas Sankara, during his premiership, tried to solve this situation. He tried to limit foreign companies’ influence in domestic politics trying to give farmers a more effective mentality for the management of their land. He was used to say “the land belongs to those who work it”. Further to this and other reforms Sankara was killed in 1987. In Burkina Faso everybody agree on saying the murder was supported by the French government and organised by Blaise Compaoré, Burkinabe president in charge. After Sankara’s death reformist activity regressed and nowadays, 20 years later, Burkina Faso meets again into the possibility of a catastrophic famine.

In this background during the years the interventions of humanitarian associations that realised development and help projects increased. The interventions were steered into children’s education, schools were built and teaching staff was trained and they tried to improve sanitary conditions thanks the opening of free drug dispensaries and sanitary education courses. In the same time professional training and local handicrafts production were supported and thanks to micro credit institution ethnic and local trade initiatives were born. The aim is to improve the quality of life of the people, making them financially self-sufficient and giving them cultural and social means allowing them to set themselves against the evil political choices of the government.

ALFREDO BINI
I was born in Pistoia, Tuscany, where I still live. I have always been attracted by the visual arts and their reproduction. I started off playing around with an old family Cannonet which I used on trips and holidays; as time passed, this passion developed, and with it came new commitments.
My first projects were based on landscape photography, which I gradually matched with travel and social report stories, which then became the principal focus of my work.
Initially I sought a faithful and descriptive representation of reality; later I began to create a more personal and interpretative vision of the subject, especially when I no longer feel the division between subject and myself, when the camera becomes a prosthesis of my body rather than an extraneous object I carry around with me. When this happens the subject perceives the sensation and becomes more spontaneous, taking no more notice of me.
I limit my equipment as far as possible in order to be as unobtrusive as possible; when I go on a shoot I take just one camera and a wide-angle lens. I make many of my landscape cuts with the tele, using the flash only as a filler, both in natural light and at night-time.
My work has been published in several European magazines and newspapers, displayed in Europe and in the United States, and are also shown at cultural events. In 2008, with a selection of images from my Burkina Faso project, I gained “Runner-Up” position in the “Travel Photo of the Year” competition, run in the UK by The Independent and Wanderlust Magazine. I won the Silver Award of Excellence in the “Biennial Juried Photography Show” held at the Edward Hopper House Museum on New York. I received the Bronze Award in the Orvieto Fotografia competition for the portrait and reportage categories. The “Water and Land in Sahel, the case of Burkina Faso” reportage gained second place in the International Photography Awards 2008 (NY) in the Editorial-Political category, and obtained two honorable mentions for the Environmental and Feature Story category, in the same contest.
I adore Asia, I find it a fantastic continent and an inexhaustible source of mental and photographic inspiration.

EniOlorutidakosefarawekosefenutembelekosebinukosena'kaiwosisiwiwolaawo

Rhythms of Azania... in The Guardian

2008-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

(As published in the LIFE magazine of The Guardian of Sunday, December 7, 2008)

Azania Speaks, a conference on Spoken Word and Oral Literature in contemporary African literary discourse held between November 17 and 19, 2008 in Udine in the Northeastern part of Italy.
With the sub theme Visions of Patnership in Africa: The Art of the Spoken Word, the conference focused much of its deliberations on the power of oral poetry and storytelling; female voices in contemporary African oral poetry and contemporary African poetic production in connection to ancient African oral traditions. It was organised by the Faculty of Modern Languages of the University of Udine, under the leadership of the Dean, Prof Antonella Riem Natale as convener, backed by Dr Maria Bortoluzzi. The Doctoral research fellow, Raphael D’Abdon was coordinator of the conference with support of Laura Pecoraro and Piergiorgio Tresvan. Music was coordinated by the South African poet, Natalie Moletbasi while Tiziana Pers oversaw the Visual Arts segment.
Nduka Otiono, former Arts Editor of ThisDay newspaper and ex-Secretary General of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, gave the keynote in which he traced the origin of oral poetry and story telling performances in Africa, highlighting the current movement around countries on the continent.

. Otiono with Prof Itala Vivian, middle is Raphael, arrowhead of the conference secretariat

Speaking on Mind Grenades, Verbal Missiles: Spoken Wor(l)d and the Impoversihed Generation in Post Colonial Africa, Otiono, who is currently a Doctoral student at the University of Alberta, Canada, stressed on the development in Nigeria using the advent of such events as the now defunct Beautiful Nubia-initiated Word n’ Sound, British Council-sponsored Word and Picture, WAPI, the Culture Advocates caucus/Goethe Institut-driven WordSlam as well as Taruwa among others as example of the popularity that the form is gaining in the public performance space. He also noted that much of he content of the so-called Hip-Hop musical production in the country have their root in oral poetry performance. He however, paid tribute to the work of Sage Has.son (Rage) and Jumi Fola-Alade (Imole) – both of whom he said have focused their career on pushing the frontiers of the form. He also acknowledged the work of those regular features in WordSlam such as Awoko, Dagga Tolar, Edaoto and Cornerstone, naming them as artists who could be relied upon to continue to deepen public interest in the Spoken Word and Oral poetry act.
However, Otiono warned that except there is serious scholarship work trained at the work currently being produced, the potential gains of the Spoken Word form as a platform for free expression by the citizenry as well as a medium for advancing participatory democracy and good governance ideals may be missed. Sad enough, he observed that the Nigerian aged and seemingly un-dynamic academy culture does.
Exceptionally instructive, was Pierpaolo Martino’s (University of Bari) presentation titled Wi tired ah di degradation: Women’s dub poetry, in which he exposed the intrigues and politics of the sexes even in as neutral a genre as Poetry. He observed that much of the content of men’s dub poetry is full of condescending references to women, particularly summarizing women as simply objects of lascivious desires and libidinous fantasies. He said, however, that women themselves are beginning to respond although not as openly disrespectful of men – for instance, making uncomplimentary remarks about their genitalia – but in setting records straight by showing the men the straight face. They challenge men to change their tone and sing of more sensible subjects and behave responsibly. Intriguingly however, Martino said even as women wash up their sensuous personality to the vocation of dub poetry, they still have to rely on the ‘brawnish’ hard grind of male dub rhythms, which carries with it the atypical phallic aggression.

. The meeting of the continent: Ntsiki Mazwai, Nduka Otiono, Shailja Patel and Napo Mashaene; squatting is Jahman Anikulapo

The creative head of Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, (conveners of the quarterly live poetry performances, WordSlam, also spoke on Popular Music and politics citing works of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, his contemporaries and the protégés of their type of music such as Lagbaja, Femi Kuti, Seyi Solagbade among others as well as the work of the so-referenced Ajegunle musicians and a few of the Hip hop and Afro-pop acts. Specifically on Spoken Word, he gave credit to Mode 9, whom he said is about the most eloquent of the form. He informed that the future of Spoken Word and Oral Poetry in popular musical idiom depends on the encouragement from the larger consuming public, who would at some point need to start demanding more meaningful and serious lyrical content from the Hip-hop singers and musicians. “For now, much of the music that is coming out from these chaps is flat, lack depth or worthy themes. The lewd and sleazy lyrics have become the norm, giving strength to the claim that philosophy and critical thinking have taken flight from the faculty of many of the current generation of artists”, he said.
There were other remarkable presentations including ‘The Brave New World of African Women Fighting Through Words’, by Prof. Itala Vivian from the University of Milan, who in conclusion urged for producers of cultural events on the continent to give more rooms to expression by women, especially through the arts. Prof Itala was indeed an inspirational presence at the conference; her knowledge of African literature is vast and she seems to have met virtually everybody who was important to the great cultural movement that produced the literature of the 60s through the 90s and beyond. She recalled with nostalgia her meeting with Ken Saro-Wiwa, especially, “the huge laughter from the smallish man… he was full of life and it was sad that the Nigerian government killed him so violently”, she said, recalling that she and a few friends had few hours after the writer, environmental activist was hanged in November 1995, organized a quick conference to draw world attention to the madness that had just transpired in Nigeria.

. Pierpaolo speaking on Women Dub poetry

“I remember that people from AGIP were invited and they came… making attempt in their presentation to show that unlike the other oil companies in Nigeria, they had been responsive to the needs of their host communities”.
Aside the various presentations, the conference was suffused with performances, mostly by the South
Africans, whose vibrant voices were led by the compulsive crowd teaser and thriller, the poet Natalia Moletbasi, who also played active role in the organization of the conference. The performers were no doubt drawn from the past work of the coordinator-in-chief of the conference, D’Abdon, who had done an earlier research: The Post-Apartheid South African Poetry. The star performer was Ntsiki Mazwai, whose cute act leans more towards dub poetry. The audience members were instruments in her fingers and she knows how to twiddle them to her will and rhythms – with music as a strong feature of her work. Napo Masheane, did not rely on music but her sensuality even while she invokes the spirit of the heroines of the motherland and talked about political issues was winsome. She drove the audience to passion with every of her rendition. There were other poets too, encouraged to perform in either Italian or their native languages. Sardanian Alberto Masala, whom Prof Vivian described as a very sensitive poet but who needs to organize his live acts, articulated the anxiety of his people, which he described as one of the fast disappearing tribes in the world. “my language is fading away, my people are disappearing”, he wailed.

. Tahar Lamri, the Algerian migrant poet in Italy, in performance

Lance Henson, however, whom Otiono critiqued as intensely sensitive is a poet in the natural fare of the griot of old, who engage nature to explain the foibles of man and living. His subjects are often the unexpected and his poem very short, such that just as the listener is warming up into the act, he has already finished his words leaving his voice and his evocative words lingering in the consciousness.

. A cross section of the audience

A brief screening of recordings from WordSlam also gave a hint of what is currently happening in Nigeria. It’s elaborate staging technique and often charged atmosphere coupled with the involvement of children, was applauded by many in the audience.
Perhaps the most affective lesson taken away from Azania Speaks was the performance possibilities that were exposed for the Short Story form. Shailja Patel, the Kenyan Word artist’s performance of excerpts from her published work, Migritude: An Epic Journey in Four Movements remained the most applauded presentation at the conference. On her stage, the cold word of the short story gained a narrative strength that is executed in intense dramatics and vocal colourings; her voices rose and dipped according to the cadencies of the characters of the historical facts she was narrating – she drove every of her conviction about the narration into the heart and heads of her audience. The silences in the room were an attestation to the veiled accord between her and her listeners.
Sharing of Patel’s new wave of performance Short Story form was Tahar Lamri, the Algerian migrant artist who is based in Italy. Lamri’s reputation in the story telling vocation actually runs ahead of him. He has earned immense credit as a public performer, and this was what he proved with his presentation in Udine, in which he recapped the story of the decimation of Africa and its human and natural resources in his The Voices Pilgrimage. There was also Gabriella Ghermandi from Ethiopia presenting Queen of Pearls and flowers: A Story of Ethiopian patriots Resisting Italian Colonisation.

. Lance Henson...

Azania Speaks is indeed a testimony to the power of the spoken word to help in quickening the democratic in post colonial Africa. As was observed at the conference, in a continent that has not managed to master the ideals of democratic governance, where despots and irresponsible leaders deliberately cripple participation of their people in national political debate, Spoken Word and Oral Literature could manifest as platform of free expression of the wills of the people.

EniOlorutidakosefarawekosefenutembelekosebinukosena'kaiwosisiwiwolaawo

Rhythms of Azania

2008-12-03T12:51:00.000-08:00

(As published in the LIFE magazine of The Guardian of Sunday, December 7, 2008)

Azania Speaks, a conference on Spoken Word and Oral Literature in contemporary African literary discourse held between November 17 and 19, 2008 in Udine in the Northeastern part of Italy.
With the sub theme Visions of Patnership in Africa: The Art of the Spoken Word, the conference focused much of its deliberations on the power of oral poetry and storytelling; female voices in contemporary African oral poetry and contemporary African poetic production in connection to ancient African oral traditions. It was organised by the Faculty of Modern Languages of the University of Udine, under the leadership of the Dean, Prof Antonella Riem Natale as convener, backed by Dr Maria Bortoluzzi. The Doctoral research fellow, Raphael D’Abdon was coordinator of the conference with support of Laura Pecoraro and Piergiorgio Tresvan. Music was coordinated by the South African poet, Natalie Moletbasi while Tiziana Pers oversaw the Visual Arts segment.
Nduka Otiono, former Arts Editor of ThisDay newspaper and ex-Secretary General of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, gave the keynote in which he traced the origin of oral poetry and story telling performances in Africa, highlighting the current movement around countries on the continent.

. Otiono with Prof Itala Vivian, middle is Raphael, arrowhead of the conference secretariat

Speaking on Mind Grenades, Verbal Missiles: Spoken Wor(l)d and the Impoversihed Generation in Post Colonial Africa, Otiono, who is currently a Doctoral student at the University of Alberta, Canada, stressed on the development in Nigeria using the advent of such events as the now defunct Beautiful Nubia-initiated Word n’ Sound, British Council-sponsored Word and Picture, WAPI, the Culture Advocates caucus/Goethe Institut-driven WordSlam as well as Taruwa among others as example of the popularity that the form is gaining in the public performance space. He also noted that much of he content of the so-called Hip-Hop musical production in the country have their root in oral poetry performance. He however, paid tribute to the work of Sage Has.son (Rage) and Jumi Fola-Alade (Imole) – both of whom he said have focused their career on pushing the frontiers of the form. He also acknowledged the work of those regular features in WordSlam such as Awoko, Dagga Tolar, Edaoto and Cornerstone, naming them as artists who could be relied upon to continue to deepen public interest in the Spoken Word and Oral poetry act.
However, Otiono warned that except there is serious scholarship work trained at the work currently being produced, the potential gains of the Spoken Word form as a platform for free expression by the citizenry as well as a medium for advancing participatory democracy and good governance ideals may be missed. Sad enough, he observed that the Nigerian aged and seemingly un-dynamic academy culture does.
Exceptionally instructive, was Pierpaolo Martino’s (University of Bari) presentation titled Wi tired ah di degradation: Women’s dub poetry, in which he exposed the intrigues and politics of the sexes even in as neutral a genre as Poetry. He observed that much of the content of men’s dub poetry is full of condescending references to women, particularly summarizing women as simply objects of lascivious desires and libidinous fantasies. He said, however, that women themselves are beginning to respond although not as openly disrespectful of men – for instance, making uncomplimentary remarks about their genitalia – but in setting records straight by showing the men the straight face. They challenge men to change their tone and sing of more sensible subjects and behave responsibly. Intriguingly however, Martino said even as women wash up their sensuous personality to the vocation of dub poetry, they still have to rely on the ‘brawnish’ hard grind of male dub rhythms, which carries with it the atypical phallic aggression.

. The meeting of the continent: Ntsiki Mazwai, Nduka Otiono, Shailja Patel and Napo Mashaene; squatting is Jahman Anikulapo

The creative head of Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, (conveners of the quarterly live poetry performances, WordSlam, also spoke on Popular Music and politics citing works of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, his contemporaries and the protégés of their type of music such as Lagbaja, Femi Kuti, Seyi Solagbade among others as well as the work of the so-referenced Ajegunle musicians and a few of the Hip hop and Afro-pop acts. Specifically on Spoken Word, he gave credit to Mode 9, whom he said is about the most eloquent of the form. He informed that the future of Spoken Word and Oral Poetry in popular musical idiom depends on the encouragement from the larger consuming public, who would at some point need to start demanding more meaningful and serious lyrical content from the Hip-hop singers and musicians. “For now, much of the music that is coming out from these chaps is flat, lack depth or worthy themes. The lewd and sleazy lyrics have become the norm, giving strength to the claim that philosophy and critical thinking have taken flight from the faculty of many of the current generation of artists”, he said.
There were other remarkable presentations including ‘The Brave New World of African Women Fighting Through Words’, by Prof. Itala Vivian from the University of Milan, who in conclusion urged for producers of cultural events on the continent to give more rooms to expression by women, especially through the arts. Prof Itala was indeed an inspirational presence at the conference; her knowledge of African literature is vast and she seems to have met virtually everybody who was important to the great cultural movement that produced the literature of the 60s through the 90s and beyond. She recalled with nostalgia her meeting with Ken Saro-Wiwa, especially, “the huge laughter from the smallish man… he was full of life and it was sad that the Nigerian government killed him so violently”, she said, recalling that she and a few friends had few hours after the writer, environmental activist was hanged in November 1995, organized a quick conference to draw world attention to the madness that had just transpired in Nigeria.

. Pierpaolo speaking on Women Dub poetry

“I remember that people from AGIP were invited and they came… making attempt in their presentation to show that unlike the other oil companies in Nigeria, they had been responsive to the needs of their host communities”.
Aside the various presentations, the conference was suffused with performances, mostly by the South
Africans, whose vibrant voices were led by the compulsive crowd teaser and thriller, the poet Natalia Moletbasi, who also played active role in the organization of the conference. The performers were no doubt drawn from the past work of the coordinator-in-chief of the conference, D’Abdon, who had done an earlier research: The Post-Apartheid South African Poetry. The star performer was Ntsiki Mazwai, whose cute act leans more towards dub poetry. The audience members were instruments in her fingers and she knows how to twiddle them to her will and rhythms – with music as a strong feature of her work. Napo Masheane, did not rely on music but her sensuality even while she invokes the spirit of the heroines of the motherland and talked about political issues was winsome. She drove the audience to passion with every of her rendition. There were other poets too, encouraged to perform in either Italian or their native languages. Sardanian Alberto Masala, whom Prof Vivian described as a very sensitive poet but who needs to organize his live acts, articulated the anxiety of his people, which he described as one of the fast disappearing tribes in the world. “my language is fading away, my people are disappearing”, he wailed.

. Tahar Lamri, the Algerian migrant poet in Italy, in performance

Lance Henson, however, whom Otiono critiqued as intensely sensitive is a poet in the natural fare of the griot of old, who engage nature to explain the foibles of man and living. His subjects are often the unexpected and his poem very short, such that just as the listener is warming up into the act, he has already finished his words leaving his voice and his evocative words lingering in the consciousness.

. A cross section of the audience

A brief screening of recordings from WordSlam also gave a hint of what is currently happening in Nigeria. It’s elaborate staging technique and often charged atmosphere coupled with the involvement of children, was applauded by many in the audience.
Perhaps the most affective lesson taken away from Azania Speaks was the performance possibilities that were exposed for the Short Story form. Shailja Patel, the Kenyan Word artist’s performance of excerpts from her published work, Migritude: An Epic Journey in Four Movements remained the most applauded presentation at the conference. On her stage, the cold word of the short story gained a narrative strength that is executed in intense dramatics and vocal colourings; her voices rose and dipped according to the cadencies of the characters of the historical facts she was narrating – she drove every of her conviction about the narration into the heart and heads of her audience. The silences in the room were an attestation to the veiled accord between her and her listeners.
Sharing of Patel’s new wave of performance Short Story form was Tahar Lamri, the Algerian migrant artist who is based in Italy. Lamri’s reputation in the story telling vocation actually runs ahead of him. He has earned immense credit as a public performer, and this was what he proved with his presentation in Udine, in which he recapped the story of the decimation of Africa and its human and natural resources in his The Voices Pilgrimage. There was also Gabriella Ghermandi from Ethiopia presenting Queen of Pearls and flowers: A Story of Ethiopian patriots Resisting Italian Colonisation.
Azania Speaks is indeed a testimony to the power of the spoken word to help in quickening the democratic in post colonial Africa. As was observed at the conference, in a continent that has not managed to master the ideals of democratic governance, where despots and irresponsible leaders deliberately cripple participation of their people in national political debate, Spoken Word and Oral Literature could manifest as platform of free expression of the wills of the people.

Napo Masheane in performance

2008-12-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Ntsiki 2

2008-12-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Ntsiki in performance at Azania

2008-12-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Images from Azania Speaks

2008-12-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

. Ntsiki Mazwai... in performance at the conference

. Natalia Moletbasi in performance

. Napo Masheane in performance

CORA's Feast Of Book and Art Begins in Lagos

2008-11-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

DAY 1

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2008

7am: Exhibition already set up

9am : Formal Opening of CHILDREN FESTIVAL
VISUAL REPRESENTATION FROM ‘THINGS FALL APART’
:Exhibition and comic Workshop.

10am : “My Encounter with the Book” by Funmi Iyanda

11am: “Green Graffiti” Workshop – Karo Akpokiere & Chukwuma Ngene
“Green Tales” Workshop – Obari Gomba & Adeleke Adeyemi
Theme: “Lagos on My Mind”- [Organized by LC3 in collaboration with CATE/CORA].

11.30am: The Festival Tour (where kids and their teachers are taken round the grounds of the Fair).

Children on duty at the festival last year

12 noon: YOUTH ON LITERACY

Theme: WHAT DO THE YOUTH DESIRE TO READ
(Panel Discussion on “Youth, Creativity and Development”) with established artists and active young people such as:
•Mrs Nike Davies-Okundaye: (Director, Nike Centre for Arts and Culture)
•Dr. Hope Eghagha: (Lecturer, Dept. of English, Unilag)
•Odion Ogogo: (Director, Heritage Ceramics)
•Tunde Aboderin: (Director, Mobile Cinema Crew)
•Denrele Edun: (presenter, Sound City)
•Segun Adefila: (director, Crown Troupe)
•Oyiza Adaba (Director, Africa Related)
•Kaffy Shafau: (Dance Director)
--Powered by GIVE NETWORK

2pm: COLLOQUIUM • Theme: WARS WITHOUT END: THE CHILD SOLDIER AS THE NEW HERO IN THE EMERGING AFRICAN NOVEL
Reviews, readings and discussions of Novels, and Non Fiction Works including
i. Ahmadu Koroma's ALLAH IS NOT OBLIGED ,
ii. Uzodima Iweala's BEASTS OF NO NATION;
iii. Helon Habila's MEASURING TIME,
iv. Biyi Bandele's BURMA BOY

3.pm: VISUAL ARTS SYMPOSIUM
• Theme: The visibility of Photography in the Nigerian Art Gallery Space
Keynote: TAM FIOFORI, veteran photographer,
Panel:
1. DON BARBER (rep PAN)
2. Rep, DEPTH OF FIELDS (James Uche-Iroha)
3. Rep: BLACK BOX (By Uche Okpa-Iroha)
4. Rep: ASSOCIATION OF GALLERIES OF NIGERIA
5. CHUKA NNABUIFE — Art writer
6. Victor Politis – Photography Enthusiast
7. Rep, Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA
8. Rep, Guild of Visual Artists

Moderator: Molara Wood, Writer, Journalist
Chairman: Kunle Filani
Special Guest: Chief Joe Musa, Director General, NGA
• Accompanying EXHIBITION on the theme: ‘The Energy of the City’
Featuring works by:
I. Members of PAN including Don Barber; Richard Enesi; Tam Fiofori; Okhai Ojeikere; and Adolphus Okpara
II. Members of DOF,
III. Members of Black Box and
IV. other photographers

DAY 2

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2008
7am: Exhibition already set up

10am: Talking Books with Aunty Sola & Friends: A roundtable discussion on ‘Banana Leaves’ – a sequel to ‘Without A Silver Spoon’ by Eddie Iroh.

11am: Panel Discussion and Interactive Session on ‘Sanitation and Climate Change’ the theme of ‘The Green Book’, an anthology of environmental poems, prose and plays by children and young people of ages 7-16.

1pm: “Green Creative Art Workshops”
with Rosalie Modder; Uche James Iroha/Akin Oniti; Wale Asobiojo; Tina Mba; Sheriff Ojetunde/Nike Fagade; Nkechi Osili

11. 30am: OPENING RECEPTION: Dance, Music, Readings etc

1pm: Presentation of THE WEAVER'S COLLECTION

1.30pm: PANEL DISCUSSION

• Theme: AFRICA IN THE EYES OF THE OTHER
Readings and discussions of Novels, and Non-Fiction Works including

(i) Paul Theroux’s DARK STAR SAFARI,
(ii) V.S Naipul's HALF A LIFE,
(iii) Shiva Naipul's NORTH OF SOUTH,
(iv) Gil Courtemanche's A SATURDAY AT THE POOL IN KIGALI,
(v) Karl Maier's THIS HOUSE HAS FALLEN.

Moderator: UCHE NWORAH
(Author, The Bloody Machete; The Long Harmattan Season; Chasing The Shadow)

3pm: ARTHOUSE PARTIES
Music, Wine and Dance Party For:

* Filmmaker TUNDE KELANI at 60,
* Painter KOLADE OSHINOWO at 60
Actor * Zack Orji at 50.
* Writer KUNLE AJIBADE @ 50
* Dancer ARNOLD UDOKA @ 50
* Designer HORGAN EKONG @ 50
(More names of “birthday people”, who have made significant contribution to the growth of culture production in the country, will be added)

4pm: SYMPOSIUM

• Theme: Dijns, Ghosts, Ghomids and Magical Spells: The reappearance of the Moonlight Tale in the New African Novel

* Zakes Mda's HEART OF REDNESS ,
*Andre Brink's IMAGININGS OF SAND,
*Ahmadou Koroma's ALLAH IS NOT OBLIGED

Day 3

10- 2pm: Fashion Show
(Between Kowry Kreations and LCC)

3pm: ART STAMPEDE

Theme: When Is The Profitable Reading Market?

Panelists:
Toyin Tejuosho,
Otunba Lawal Solarin,
Muhtar Bakare,
Bibi Bakare Yusuf

Moderator: TONI KAN
(Author, A Ballad of Rage; When A Dream Lingers Too Long; A Night Of The Creaking Bed)

5pm : Presentation of Awards for participation

* This will be the result of the Green Book Contest published to mark National Creativity Day. It will be a contest whereby notable environmental authors will participate by 'writing' the 'first paragraph' of a poem, story or play to be completed by school kids. 21 winners of the contest will have their works published and launched during LABAF 2008.

Partners:
CATE. LCC. ART ZERO. CHILD CARE NETWORK. KOWRY KREATIONS
GIVE NETWORK

Supporters:
. National Gallery of Art
. National Theatre of Nigeria

AN EXPLOSION OF COMICS AND CARTOONS AT LABAF

The 4th Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival

The Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival is a self styled ultimate gathering of admirers, lovers and downright fanatics of comics, cartoons and animation. The 4th edition of the Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival holding at the National Theatre, Iganmu Lagos from the 7th – 9th of November, 2008 as a part of the 10th Lagos Book & Art Festival organised by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) and is themed: Youth and the Creative Revolution.

Youth and the Creative Revolution
This year's theme captures effectively the mandate assumed by LC3's organizers to harness the creative energies of young people towards positive development particularly through socio-cultural and economic empowerment. In that regard, this year, we have tagged on to the ever vibrant, ever youthful and ever revolutionary hip-hop movement in our programme for the LC3 through our different collaborative activities which we have lined up with our partners for the three days.

PROGRAMME

DAY ONE (FRIDAY 7TH NOVEMBER 2008)

8:00 am – 9.00am: Participating exhibitors / collaborators set up their stands.

10:00 am – 10.30am: Official opening of the 4th Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival.

10.30 am - 3.00pm: Graffiti workshop and talks on creativity and the environment. Organized in collaboration with The British Council Lagos, Children And The Environment (CATE), Dream Arts & Design Agency and the African Artists’ Foundation. School children will get to practice their hands at graffiti under the guidance of visiting international graffiti artists and their home based peers.

3.00pm – 6.00pm: Interactive sessions / exchange for young artists with International Comic Book Artists from across Africa facilitated by the Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos CCA.

11.00 am – 6.00 pm: Screening of animated short flicks will hold for older folks who are not engaged with the children. Participants will talk shop on the screened flicks and the talks will be moderated by leading lights in the industry.

DAY TWO (SATURDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2008)

8:00 am – 9.00am: Participating exhibitors/collaborators set up their stands.

10:00 am – 4.00pm: Words and Pictures (WAPI): The free expression event organized by the British Council Lagos will berth at LC3 with a major focus on hip-hop and its influence on comics, cartoons and animation.

DAY THREE (SUNDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2008)

8:00 am – 9.00am: Participating exhibitors / collaborators set up their stands.

10:00 am – 2.00 pm: Fashion show in collaboration with Kowrie Kreations Media featuring the works of young Nigerian designers and of course, costumes inspired by comics straight out of Nigeria. All attendees are encouraged to wear the costumes of their favourite local / international super-heroes.

2pm – 4pm: Music, dance, networking till close.

What interested participants should do:

Comic / cartoons publishers and artists are encouraged to book stands to exhibit their comic books, cartoon collections or portfolios by contacting us through the email addresses / phone numbers below. Networking is key to LC3.
Artists who are already involved / who have interests in comics and cartoons are invited to bring their portfolios on Saturday the 8th of November for the Interactive sessions / exchange for young artists with International Comic Book Artists from France and across Africa facilitated by the Center for Contemporary Art where they will have one-on-one interaction with these facilitators.
All lovers of comics, cartoons and animation – children and adults alike- are encouraged to wear their favourite super-heroes' costumes on Sunday the 9th of November for the fashion show. Home made costumes are also most welcome and the most ingeniously dressed attendees will get to strut their stuff down the catwalk, right on television!
Spread the word.
Collaborators:
• COMMITTEE FOR RELEVANT ART, CORA,
• THE BRITISH COUNCIL,
• CHILDREN CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (CATE),
• CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS, LAGOS, CCA
• DREAM ARTS & DESIGN AGENCY
• AFRICAN ARTISTS' FOUNDATION
• KOWRIE KREATIONS MEDIA

CONTACT US
For further information, please contact us though the following means:
Phone: 234-803-3000-499, 234-806-7421-215
Email: revolutionmedia@yahoo.com,lc3_05@yahoo.co.uk
url: http://www.naijacomics.blogspot.com/
Secretariat: CORA House, 1st Floor, 95 Bode Thomas Street, Surulere, Lagos.

AN EXTRA BOUNCE TO LAGOS COMICS SHOW

Professional Portfolio Review for Young Comic Artists at the 4th Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival

The Centre For Contemporary Art, Lagos (CCA Lagos) will be facilitating during the 10th Lagos Book and Art Festival an interactive session and creative exchange for young cartoonists and comic artists with visiting comic professionals from Africa and Europe at the 4th Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival. This programme is part of the educational component for the Picha. African Comics, an international touring exhibition featuring 19 comic artists from all over Africa opening at CCA,Lagos on the 8th of November and continues to 20th December 2008.
- Hide quoted text -
Young cartoonists and comic artists are invited to come with their portfolios to the main exhibition hall, by Entrance 'C' of the National Theatre Iganmu, Lagos, venue of the 4th Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival (which holds from the 7th till the 9th of November 2008) on Friday 7th November 2008 from 3pm till 6pm.
Two of the artists Kola Fayemi (Nigeria) and TT.Fons (Senegal) with curator of Picha Joost Pollman (Holland) and Caroline Vedhuizen (Holland) will take turns reviewing and discussing individually the works of the young cartoonists and comic artists in attendance after which will be held an interactive session with the general audience. This is a capacity building / cultural exchange initiative from the CCA in collaboration with the Lagos Comics & Cartoons Carnival and the Committee for Relevant Art.

Of Bards And Singers Under The Samarkland Tree

2008-10-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

By IKE EGWUATU & ADENRELE NIYI

The second flight of poetry, word, music and dance last month came to be at the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu. The Samarkland tree gave leafy foliage to the collective brimming with creative fervour.
The organisers Goethe- Institut and the Culture Advocates Caucus CAC prepared this second edition of WordSlam! not only to be a continuation of the successful maiden edition but a time for fresh discoveries in the literary arts scene. It was an evening of riveting performances from the usual suspects like Awoko, Conerstone, Edaoto, Sage HaS.son, Dagga Tolar. There was a surprise appearance by Afrobeat Artiste, Stage Actor and Fela Protégé, Dede Mabiaku who performed one of Fela's old songs. Dede' sister Ayeola was also present and she did poetry recitals on femininity in all its goodness and pitfalls. Beyond Nigeria shores, the poets welcomed compatriots like Segun Ola and Seun Beckley from neighbouring Benin Republic. Wale 'Laoye brought skills from the ancient town of Ede to showcase at the gathering.
The event kicked off later than the scheduled time but the performing poets gave the audience captivating moments.
CornerStone, a Nigerian who plays root music believes Music is in my blood purely hereditary because his late father was a singer. He presented a poem titled 'Being a Blackman is not a crime' and the last line in the poem 'Here we belong' was performed as a song to the great admiration.
'They take us from here to America, Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago .here we belong, this is our home! Our only hope, here we belong. This is our root, my colour “Oh my race here I belong” (Chorus)
Habeeb Olatunde also known as Awoko sang his poem to put members of the audience in a romantic nostalgia. 'Dance to my rhythm' is a love poem which he presented in Yoruba lyrics: “jo s'ilu mi, mo fe lulu boya waajo. Mo fe pagbo ijo boya waa rerin simi muse, Ekuro lalabaku ewa, ewa lalabaku egbo”He also sang another poem with a philosophical title: The light. “Let the light shine to cheer our hearts. Let the light shine to bring the withered souls” of what importance is darkness without light? Of what dignity is the old without an offspring? Let the light live. Let the light reign. Let the light attain the peak of its goodness”.Dagga Tolar, a TV presenter and socialist, is reputed to have published many poems. At the event he presented No sad song and One bad kidney. These poems he used their choruses as songs.
Afro beat musician and leader of the Edaoto and the Afro genius band; Edaoto Agbeniyi also presented Feni-Foro and Don't Look Back, a poem replete with advice to be progressive.
Another interesting performer at the event was Sage Has.Son who presented Love is Strange, The Televised Revolution, Music, Musing Screw Poem
Speaking to National Mirror at the end of the event Conerstone revealed he derives inspirations from his spiritual father Robert Nesta Marley. “There is problem in Africa; my music is to set the captives free. Yeah man respect! I wanna start from where my spiritual father stopped” He wants musicians to stop singing about love but to sing revolution since people are suffering.
All the performers were supported by the popular Biodun and the Batik Band.

Word Slam 2: Poetic journey under the Samarkand Tree

2008-09-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

By Bayo Olupohunda
*Culled from The Guardian Friday Sept 26. 2008

THE biblical, cultural and historical significance of the Spoken Word as captured by legendary sayings such as this Yoruba proverb oro la fi da ile aye (the world was created through the spoken word) was re-enacted recently by the poetic journeys of the Word Slam series from the stable of the Culture Advocates Caucus and Goethe Institut Lagos. The success story of the maiden edition of Word Slam which began on that rainy day in July continued penultimate Saturday under the Samarkand tree at the National Theatre Lagos.
From the scenic beauty of the Lagos Lagoon which provided the background for the court yard of Goethe Institut Victoria Island where the first edition was held in July, lovers of contemporary live poetry blended in beats, dance, music and live performances moved to the nature gardens of the National Theatre under the Samarkand tree. Where else could be more appropriate than under the poetic ambience of the Samarkand tree?

Legend has it that the tree derived its name from the antics of the then (Ogbanje or is it Abiku) NEPA now resurrected as PHCN which seized light in one of the rooms at the National Theatre, when Professor Wole Soyinka was reading from his collection of poems “Samarkand and other Markets I have Seen” prompting him to relocate his reading under the tree where the audience joined him.
The maiden edition of the World Slam series redefined the well-worn perspective of poetry as tortuous and long winding words strung together and meant to be read to an equally sleepy audience. This second edition of the programme featured a new set of prominent, as well as up-coming poets, who performed their poems with themes that addressed issues, such as survival, politics, religion, city hassles, hustles and bubbles, love and hatred and the general “wahala” of life.
Any one in the audience who did not witness the first edition was in for a surprise. Word Slam 2 was bigger and better. Poetic flights and dance with live beats in the background, energetic stage performance, music and instrumental without losing the contextual and thematic concerns of traditional poetry took the audience on journey of poetic fantasy. Artist dealt with a range of themes in contemporary Africa social, cultural and political milieu. Word Slam 2 also concretized the vision of the organizer which was to bring poetry to life in the tradition made popular by the ancient Yoruba Alarinjo Theatre, West African griots and the troubadours of the Middle Ages’ Europe.

Artists on the bill at the event took the audience on a poetic journey and had them glued to their seats as they savoured the beauty of the spoken word. Audience includes culture enthusiast, members of the diplomatic corps and poetry lovers. The collaboration between the Goethe Institut and Culture Advocates Caucus continued to break new grounds in redefining the expression of poetry as a creative art.
The beauty of Word Slam 2 was in the surprises and flexibility in the choice of themes for the day. The event kept the audience glued to their seats because they could not predict what would come next. Ropo Ewenla, the compere and Organizing Secretary, Ife Festival of Poetry added a lot of anecdotes, spiced with Ijala chants and occasional burst of songs rooted in his rich Yoruba tradition. From the intensely cultural voice of Seun Beckley and her group came a new voice in chants rich in African Folklore and spiritual tunes. She uplifted the audience and reawakened the need to go back to the roots.
Then the pleasantly strange but tuneful theatrics of Segun Eluyemi, a multi instrumentalist with an incredible ability to make sound out of the most improbable places in his body. One of the highlights of his performance was when he blew the hand held piano and accordion with the nose. The themes addressed by the poets at Word Slam 2 captured our very existence as a country grappling to redefine our existence in the comity of nations. Why is our country stagnating in spite of the enormous resources at our disposal?
Why is African a laughing stock and one of the most backward continents in the world always depending on handouts called aids? Poets like Ayodeji Akinpelu used his performance to remind the audience that our policy makers need to think for tomorrow rather than live for now while future generations suffer from their painlessness. He asks the audience” are they better than us? To which the audience replied in the affirmative. Ayodeji posits that the advanced countries where some Nigerians run to are not better but are lucky to be governed by forward thinking leaders.
He however left the audience in hopeful note. The hustle and bustle of our land formed the crux of the reggae beats of the emerging artist Cornerstone who through his music asked Africans for a cultural rebirth. The old reliable at the Word Slam maiden edition did not only put up performances that drew standing ovation from the audience, they further confirmed that they have come to stamp their feet on the poetic landscape which the Culture Advocates Caucus through the Word Slam events represent.
With the beats, chants, poetry and commanding performances from established poets like Awoko a multiple instrumentalist and utility performer, he is certainly a small compact explosion waiting to happen. Cornerstone, a distinct word artist and one of the emerging few possibilities of the new age of reggae music, Edaoto a distinctively unique artiste with his equally distinguished musical composition and arrangement, Dagga Tollar, a cool and unassuming revolutionary poet , and the poetic raps of Sage Has. Son is one of the most engaging interpreters of the confounding realities of these times.

They all presented a distinctive individual style and also expose the vast array of talents that abound in the poetry performance genre in our country today. Awoko’s energetic display showed that he is a master of the spoken word and so were others who lightened up the evening with poems and scintillating performances. Biodun Batik electrified the audience with Afro beats anytime he takes the band stand.
For example how could one have known that talents abounds in this genre but for the flexibility of the organizers of this programme who introduced the open Mic and Mind Session that threw up the sensual and beautiful voice of Aye-Ola Mabiaku, a multiple poetry performance winner? The performances of the sensual Aye-Ola Mabiaku, Uche Nwadinachi and Ras Banjo, Wale Laoye were some of the highpoints of Word Slam 2.
The burst of energy from the subtle revolutionary performance of Ayodeji Akinpelu, who was also one of the stars of the Open Mic and Mind session maiden edition in July, who is the described as young voice with a mature message lit the place up and sent the audience for their thinking cap.

The youthful but sensual Aye-Ola Mabiaku, who is the younger sister of Dede Mabiaku, particularly caused some stir among the men folk. She was enchanting. Her stage performance was magical as she elevated poetry into an art, with the soft beats in the background. She was alluring and beautiful as she dazzled the audience with a blend of romance poetry which one of the audiences called “Anatomy of a Woman”.
As a medium of cultural, social, political and national discourse, poetry is a medium of communication that had hitherto spoken only to the learned and the schooled. Sometimes long and boring. The culture advocates Caucus has redefined the old school poems read in classroom or to a listening, boorish audience to a more lively, open and gay atmosphere with beats and a blend of dance and music.
They have so to speak brought poetry to the “market place” of our daily lives. And because there is an element of poetry in our personal and national lives, the Word Slam series has indeed brought poetry to the public domain to be appreciated by all. For every day our lives is a mixture poetic beats that derives from our very existence. It is in this mode that the poems of the day spoke of the struggles of our lives and our inadequacies as a nation.
The show also featured the drum poet of Wale Laoye, the scion of the legendary traditional drummer, the late Oba Laoye, Timi of Ede who created the BBC tune of the sixties. The Open Mic and Mind session feature poets like Ajankoro from Ife who also used the Yoruba Language to deepen the poetic element of pun. The evening of poems was also enriched by the acts of Wale Laoye, Segun Ola, and Lanre Ari-Ajia who brought life into an already excited audience.
Footprints, a group of young dancers curated by Segun Adefila of the Crown Troupe added colours to the event. The maverick Dede Mabiaku, the Fela Anikulapo Protégé sang one of Fela’s old songs. As a feast of poetic chants and performance, Word Slam 2 did not disappoint and one cannot remember when last the Samarkand tree witnessed a rebirth of what gave the tree its name in the first place.
As Word Slam 2 got under way and the poetic performances reached a feverish point, my attention was caught by the swaying branches of the Samarkand tree which moved in gentle rhythm as it swayed in the evening breeze. For a moment, the swaying was in tune to the rhythm of the poetic beats and chants below. So just like the humans gathered under it, the historical tree seemed captivated by the performances of the young poets in performance under its relaxing presence. These young poets are fast becoming the face and future of an emerging genre of the spoken word. And for the Word Slam series and Culture Advocates Caucus, the organizers of the event, the poetic beat goes on.

WORDSLAM 2 IN THE PRESS

2008-09-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Culled from GuardianLIFE 21/9/08

2008-09-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

A flight into the world of poetry

2008-09-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

By EVELYN OSAGIE
(Culled from The Nation 17/9/2008)

*Sage Has.Son

Poetry and music are two of a kind; it seems there is an invisible knot tying them together. It was in the spirit of creativity that poets thundered their poetic essence last Saturday, under the Samarkand Tree at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. People from all walks came to listen to the poets’ rhymes at the second edition of WordSlam tagged: A feast of poetic flights. Evelyn Osagie reports.

Under the Samarkand Tree at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, Mainland, was where the bards and poetesses met, dined and wined with "Mother Nature" and "Father Creativity".

It was at the WordSlam II, which turned out to be a poetic feast, garnished with rhythm, rhymes and chants. The word truly came alive as the poets took turns to render their lines.

* AJ Dagga Tolar
The National Theatre, Lagos never had it so good. The audience left there soaked and deeply immersed in the creative muse. Folks from all walks of life turned out in their numbers to celebrate poetry.

In the first edition at the German Cultural Centre on Ozumba Mbadiwe Road, the audience was thrilled to rounds of poetry renditions by frontline poets, such as Odia Ofiemum, and young ones who kept them glued to their seats. The latest edition was quite refreshing; staying out with nature seemed to do the audience a lot of good. Not minding the flight of time, they allowed themselves to be taken on a poetic spree.

* Cornerstone

Poetry is as old as man; what keeps changing is its mode of performance. Little wonder the organisers said of their initiative that they were merely experimenting with the newness in the mode of performance of the genre, and not with the creative impulse.

They, however, warned: "One of the errors to make in the case of engaging poetry on the African continent and in pre-literate cultures is to assume that it is read."

* Awoko

With WordSlam II, they believe that they are again on the terrain of their forebears; this is a journey back to the beginning of poetry; and that is why, once more, they brought together some of the best chanters of the spoken word whose performances were backed by exotic tunes played by Biodun and Batik Band who played their hearts out.

But they are not alone in such experiment for an age of poetry is born - the rise of the era of poetic monologues. Various poetry slams have begun to take-off across the country, from one geo-political zone to another; and the genre is beginning to enjoy the recognition it deserves. One of such is the popular Abuja Slam which is an annual poetry feast where the lords and ladies of poetry meet and challenge one another on a poetry arena. With events, such as this, the new found prominence and attention the genre has stated to receive will be sustained. Fresh talents would be discovered and encouraged until it becomes a way of life.

*Dede Mabiaku and the Batik Band

* Dede and Aiyeola Mabiaku with the compere Ropo Ewenla

It appears that this new mode of performing poetry is wading its way through the entertainment industry. And it is likely to continue until it becomes a brand.

On parade at event were five of those who featured at the first edition – Marxist disciple Dagga Tolar; Awoko, the oral performer who combines the beats of gongo with his renditions; Cornerstone, the fabric designer-turned poet and musician; Edaoto, the Afrobeat musician and actor and Sage Hasson who would do well as a rap artiste.

New poets found their way on the poetic runway. They included the young voice with a mature message, Ayodeji Akinpelu; Lanre Ari-Ajia, the poet in the mode of traditional pun masters; Aye-Ola Mabiaku, sister of the Afrobeat eccentric Dede Mabiaku who was also at the event to watch his sister perform; Segun Eluyemi, the multi-instrumentalist with an incredible ability to make sound out of the most improbable objects; Ajankoro, lord of traditional Yoruba play-on-words-style; Prince Wale Laoye from the ancient town of Ede; Uche Nwadinachi who makes one think he has seen the first real performance from the West African region, particularly, Benin Republic; Segun Ola and Seun Beckely, among others.

* The Priest of the proceeding Ropo Ewenla with members of FootPrints who were also in attendance
There pieces centred on themes, such as life, death, history, love, pain, success disillusionment and so on.

Each bard had his unique style and mode of rendition. Some from Yoruba blended their oral traditional poetry, like Ewi, Isorokewi, Iforodara (pun) and the likes, with modern style of renditions. Some maintained the modern genre though with various styles of rendition while others, such as Sage went a step by having a fusion of rhythm and poetry. They spoke poetry in various languages but were united by the genre.

Whichever medium of rendition, the power with which they read their poems and highlighted their themes aroused various emotions in the audience, who were carried along in the Flight of Poetry to the land of inspiration. The themes treated by each varied from life, death, love, hate, pessimism, optimism, history, religion, erotic, romantic, as well as current themes in our national polity. Like drama, each session was engaging as most of the poetic renditions were interactive, involving the audience.

* Wale Laoye and the drum poetry

The audience was flooded with highly elevated language. Among the poets that performed, Aye-Ola’s performance was striking.

With the likes of Aye-Ola, women now have a voice to speak out on their behalf through a more refined medium – poetry.

* Aiyeola
Some members of the audience said her rendition scared them; others said it was exotic. Whatever emotion that she stirred, on stage, she carried on with passion and became a voice for the women folk. Each of her renditions bordered on women as the subject matter: her strength, weakness, joy and pain. I don’t wish to be a man, Passion of the mind and When a mad man died were some of the poems she performed.

"My genre of poetry is the ancient kind. In English, it is called pun," said Ajankoro who played with words in Yoruba. He treated the audience with a session of Iforodara.

His major rendition warned people that while enjoying the things of the world, they should not forget living a life of purity and intergrity. Ema je doo gbagbe ododo and Jabata Labata were the two Yoruba poems he presented.

The poets were not the only ones that entertained. Dede Mabiaku played one of Baba‘s songs entitled Wahala which was an interactive session; the audience was compelled to sing along.

For everyone present, it was an opportunity to join in the Felabration which is already in the air as the world remembers the late Afrobeat King, Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

* Uche Nwadinashi

Footprints, a group of upcoming and young poets, also performed at the event.

The slam has ended but the memories lingers. Those who graced the occasion left with high expectation for what the next edition would bring and which poets would feature.

Let Word Mend Our World!

2008-09-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

Word like an egg
Roll down the mouths
Of some satirical sages
From edge to edge
Under the sacred,
Aged tree, christened: The Samarkaned
At the heart of National Theatre.

Just like the ancient ways of Africans. At night, children will gather themselves under a tree at twilight to listen to folk-stories from a traditional storyteller. And No story will be told without a sequential lyrics of poetry having chorus and stanzas. The children, who are the audience, will sing along with the storyteller - who sometimes is backed-up with an orchestra.

But today, this tradition is almost not in existence, even in the villages where we should still have some raw substance of our culture and tradition. And the is the reason why the Culture Advocates Caucus(CAC) and Goethe-Institut come together to revive this interest tradition of the African people with a modern view. Behold, WordSlam was birthed!

No one dare cage the word-
Spoken must be the word
That must mend the World...

At the beginning of the this movement, sometime in July of the year (July 5,2008), Culture Advocates Caucus with her partner - Goethe-Institut, promised to take the event tagged: WordSlam...a feast of poetic flights, to the street by making it a quarterly event. Then, the maiden edition which paraded poets like Akeem Lasisi, Iquo Eke, Edaoto, Juke Verissimo, Sage Has.son, Cornerstone, Muri Amulegboja, Awoko and Dagga Tolar was held within the premises of Goethe-Institut -the German Cultural Centre on the Island. Even though the rains threatened to displaced the staunch audience from their seats, the sonority of the poets' intonations wedded with succulent sounds booming from the ensemble percussions, glued them to their seats minding whether their clothes get wet or not. The first edition of WordSlam was an amazing success.

Word they slammed
Sagely on the Island-
Now on the Mainland
With word sages mend the World!

Saturday - September 13, 2008, fulfilled the promise of the Culture Advocates Caucus and Goethe-Institut by putting poetry back on the streets of Nigeria and Africa in general. The second edition of WordSlam which exhibited five artistes from the maiden edition also introduced six artistes selected from the Open Mind and Mic session of the past edition. These artistes include: Sage has.son, Edaoto, Dagga Tolar, Cornerstone, Awoko and Ayodeji Akinpelu, Aye-ola Mabiaku, Uche Nwadinachi, Lanre Ari-ajia, Segun Eluyemi.

Let the poet speak
Sincerity of his mind
With succulent word...
Let the musician sing
His freedom song
In accordant with the rhythm...
O, let the hunter chant
Not with witty words
The ills of this village...

Actually, there is will of choice of theme for this event since its inception, but this edition of the event had two prominent themes which are Corruption and Love. While some poets wouldn't drop anchor without letting the government realize that if care is not taken war-revolution will be the last resolution to this climax of shameful-drama of theirs being stage at every Local government, State and the FCT of the country - Nigeria. Ayodeji Akinpelu led this dialogue with his poem which discussed every ill of the country current statoscope. Sage Has.son, who would later perform a poem on love, also raged his distaste for the present economy and political stand. Dagga Tolar, the Ajegunle human right activist and Cornerstone, who is equally an activist and Edaoto continued this journey of emancipation and total freedom with their poetry and songs.

Swinging of waist
Twinkle the eyes...
Dangling of breast
Tingle the heart...

As it's certain that we can't cry all the time, some poets at the wordslam 2 dazzled the audience their erotic poetry, not minding the fact that the Muslims amids the audience are fasting. Aye-ola Mabiaku, the younger sister of Dele Mabiaku, who was forced to perform at the event by the orgernisers led this second phase of the thematic preoccupation initiated by the poets themselves. Fasting apart, if you're not mature at heart, you may have running stomach by listening to these poets. Is it the "behind" poem of Sage Has.son you can resist or the body gesticulation of Aye-ola in accordance with each line of her poem or Awoko who picked a light-skin lady from the audience to be able to do justice to his love poetry rendered in Yoruba language...these poets are irresistible.

It was fun all through. Every member of the audience did enjoyed themselves. Bunmi Oyinsan, Toyin Akiosho, Toni Kan, Austin Njoku, Segun Adefila are some of the celebrities that grace the event.

The Stage is Set

2008-08-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

You are cordially invited to the Wordsmiths' World - WORDSLAM 2 - at the National Theatre.

The 2nd edition of WORDSLAM, which is billed for September 13th, 2008, will take place at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

As a wordsmith, who knows, you may just be the star in our subsequent edition.

Venue: National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

Time: 3 p.m.

Date: September 13th, 2008.

And the following are the Artistes that will perform at the 2nd edition of WORDSLAM.

From the Past Edition

* Edaoto

* Sage

* Cornerstone

* Awoko

* Dagga Tollar

From our Past Open Mind&Mic

* Ayodeji Akinpelu -

* Uche Uwadinachi

* Lanre Ari-Ajia - The Yoruba Oral poet

* Ayeola Mabiaku

* Segun Eluyemi - The Nostril Trumpeter, an art you can't resist.

Introducing

* Segun Ola from Republic of Benin

* Wale Laoye with his Drum Poetry

These are the Artistes selected for the 2nd edition of the quarterly event.

Don't miss the fun,
Come share the excitement.

2nd EDITION OF WORDSLAM

2008-08-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Come September 13th, 2008, the second edition of Word Slam will hold.

As a poet, you have the floor. Please let us know if you'll like to perform at this edition of the event. Send your enquiry about the event to wordslam@yahoo.com

PHOTO FROM WORDSLAM STAGE

2008-07-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

by CHARLES OKOLO
From The Guardian

SegeBlack & Jojo Bodybeats

Dr. Oyeronke Oyewumi, from Stony Brook University, New York

Word Slam Provides Literary Gourmet For Participants

2008-07-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

(Daily Independent, July 8, 2008; www.independentngonline.com/life/arts/article03 )
By Darlington Abuda, Art Reporter, Lagos

Poetic art came to life on Saturday, July 5, at the Goethe Institut, Lagos, as poets and poetry lovers gathered to witness Word Slam - A Feast Of Poetic Flights, a venture that sought to provide answers to questions and seek solutions to life's problems through poem recitation, music, dance and choreography.
The programme, a collaboration between Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC) and Goethe Institut, featured poems and poets that addressed themes ranging from the religious, political, survival to the romantic, the hustles and bustles of life as it affects our land.

Given limited time, the poets performed their recent literary works backed with rhythm and music provided by Awade Jazz Ensemble, and Edun, the ensemble of young masters of the drum.

Among the artistes that performed in Word Slam are Sage, Arne, Ropo, Jumie, Iquo Eke, Akeem, Dagga, Awoko, Jumoke, Cornerstone, Muri and Edeato, all presented their individual style and exceptionality with different messages.
As a tool for political discourse, poetry can be seen as a medium of communication that speaks to all kinds of people from all walks of life. Akeem, for instance, in his poem Correct Pricing, wonders why in the face of hardship occasioned by bad leadership issues to do with the common good of the people are not addressed. Instead, leaders call for the head of the poet.
He also ponders on why pricing in Africa in general cannot be uniform and stable especially as regards petroleum products. Akeem, whose poetry is a recreation of the poetic tradition of the Yoruba, is a journalist and has two poetry albums to his credit.

Dagga, on the other hand, in trying to be philosophical in his poem, Killing Our Dreams, propounds that not all dead people's dreams are dead. He opines that the ideas of people like Martin Luther King (Jnr.), M.K.O. Abiola, Kudirat Abiola, among many activists gone, are still being pursued not just by their protÈgÈs, but poets who believe in their dreams.
Word Slam by the same Dagga, however, is a bit in the musical side; both poems were accompanied by instruments. The dreadlocked Dagga, who said he drew inspiration from the likes of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, is a teacher, socialist and community activist whose poems draw their themes from his everyday experiences.
Poetry was presented through Word Slam in the age-old tradition of African griot and the troubadours of Middle Age Europe. This was evident in Muri's rendition of Yoruba poetry with a blend body language, using dance in both pieces entitled Rain and Ife.

Known as a priest of Yoruba poetry production, his sequence of steps and dance pattern left much to be desired by the audience.

Adding a dash of romance to the contest, Jumoke laments the loss of a lover, Ajani, in her rendition entitled Ajani. A journalist who wrote for The Guardian on Sunday and winner of 2006 Prince Claus Awards, Women Writers in Nigeria (WRITA), Jumoke has her poems, short stories, and essays in several journals in different countries of the world.
Kaduna-born Sage, however, added a touch of modern music in the form of rap to the contest in his rendition of a poems What am I (the spoken word), The Televised Revolution and Music Musing. The poem, What am I (the spoken word) is one with religious message that seeks answers to the existence of man.

Rap music is generally believed to have evolved from poetry, which is an ancient art of black civilization. Ancient literature and history were handed down from generation to generation in African communities. The pattern of chanting customary songs has evolved to become rap music. Sage's The Televised Revolution can be seen to have followed the same pattern, as it is a blend of poetry and music considering its rhyme and rhythm components.

Let the WORD be our guardian

2008-07-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

WORDSLAM

Words are for the sage
Of old but now on page
We publish its message.

WOW! Fantastic, Fabulous, Mindblowing... were some of the adjectives deployed by members of the distinguished audience of the old and the young -- that congregated Saturday July 5 in the Goethe Institut garden in Victoria Island-- to capture their impression of the proceedings at the first edition of the newly-birthed WORDSLAM.
Under the misting cloud, they sat stubbornly and stuck with the artistes, defying the troublesome rains that kept disorganising the technical set-up (and eventually annihilated opportunity for a technical rehersal for the event) to flow with the flow of melody and rhythm of the poetic performances dished out by 10 specially selected artistes; and a score of unbilled budding and aspiring poets that featured in the programme. It was such a splendid evening of celebrating the essence of the WORD in the life of man; particularly, the very essentials of WORD expressed in poetic colours to the average African.

The rage
Of Sage
Mount the stage...

The proceedings started with an ensemble of drummers shocking the audience to life with a festive parade; and then the voice of the eclectic poet, Sage Has.son lazed his famous work RAGE on the staccato of drums. The Priest of the rite of the WORD, Ropo Ewenla came in strongly throwing the house back to the good old day of the celebratory hunter's chant amid a rhythmic trip of the drums.
Then flowed in JUMIE Imole's voice from her CD , IMOLE to which the fleet-footed MURI AMULEGBOJA gave an exciting dance and movement interpretation, drawing loud applause from the audience.
But this was just the beginning as the Ewenla lived up to his billing as the compere teasing the gathering: You Haven't Seen Anything Yet. He went on a trip, chanting, singing, welcoming, cajoling, romanticising... the house to get prepared for the MOTHER POET...

The quiet poetess, Iquo eke, who has performed in virtually all the poetry events (Word&Sound, Poetry Potter, Lagos Poetry Festival etc) swayed in as if in poetic trance... SAY MY NAME, she sang... wooing the gathering with her soothing voice and her seductive steps..... the house fell deeply in love with her, even as she reminded them of the CAGED BIRD. And she came on with VOICE FROM FARAWAY LANDS to sign off her performance.

Let my art
Suit your heart
Only tonight -
You may leave overnight
Without my thought...

Although, many thought that the resilient rain would not allow the event to take its destined shape but... the organisers -- the Culture Advocates Caucus and the Goethe Institut -- stuck to their own guns; and the never-giving-up rain met a hard-resolved Spirit of the Artiste insisting 'The Show Must Go On'.
While the rain unleashed its torrents, the Iremoje poet, Akeem Lasisi countered it with the power of the Word. Well, Rain is of God, and WORD is also of God.. afterall in the beginning was the WORD... No rainmaker was needed to halt the rain; and no rain-conjurer was employed to stop the flow of the Word too. Akeem Lasisi, the word-weaver appeased the rain with some line in Yoruba. And like magic, the rain petered out to mere drizzles till it faded to dryness. Poetry captivated minds, spoken words soothed hearts and rhythm caressed chilled body. And, everything melted into one another like a confluence of rivers that makes mighty ocean.

•The Acolytes defied the rain

AKEEM LASISI did Correct Pricing which did torch up the gray recesses of Nigeria's ailment. He weathered the rain and sent the rain to slumber.

Mind not my string
When my magical ring
Strum the Guitar
On the high alter...

Soon it was the AJ soldier-poet, Dagga Tolar that took the audience through the antics of the politrickians; how the thieving elites have decimated the soul of the land and make life nearly unlivable for the masses. The audience had a wow time with the gangling poet, whose dreadlocks kept flowing in the wind like the threads of the angry gods; and his eyes red-shot as he hopped and danced to his irresistible reggae-inflected poetic rendion.

Habeeb Ayodeji, whose stage name is Awoko sang truly like the weaverbird, twanging romantically at the soul of the accoustic guitar. sweat cascaded down his face and the gathering wiped him neat with ovations; even as they could not get enough of him, and kept asking for more. Awoko paid tribute to Children and the seeds of tomorrow; warning errant parents to ensure that whatever action they take today has no dent on the hope of tomorrow. He was speaking to the mood of now when quarrels among the elders in the teaching profession and the political class have left the young ones ever vulnerable... prowling the streets like hapless orphans.

Soon it was the Song of Suya&Wine segment that overwhelmed the audience as jazz music from the band of veteran musicians led by the bassist, Nik Abel.

Then came the poetic reggaist, Cornerstone, fondly called the Spokesman for the Motherland. The revolutionary thrilled with his song deep in philosophical postulations about Freedonm. He wailed 'We are not Slaves' and got the audience worked up to chant along as he strummed on his accoustic guitar. Muri Amulegboja, thrilled on oral poetry interpreted in contemporary dance, singingh the praise of the rain. SAGE, a rare act in the gathering of the poets is a master his art and he dazzled the audience with another of his dance-poetics on love... IFE. It was marvelous!

Perhaps the hottest of the act -- a mix of poetry, music, dance.. the very total art was deliberately left to the final act... This was Edaoto... the Unique Being. As the adage goes "the biggest masquerade leave the sanctum last" , Edaoto, a peculiar-being, trilled and warmed the audience with his participatory and energetic poetry.

Dews drop on leaves:
Small leaves;
Big leaves
Every morning
Without Mourning
The dried leaves
But in celebration
Of the awaken leaves...

Ropo Ewenla, that's the compere. He dropped the anchor of performances by the selected artistes for the 1st WORDSLAM and sailed on the vessel of Open Mind & Mic - a segment of the event - towards picking new candidates for the next edition of WORDSLAM. About 18 people performed their poems on the open session and five of them were selected.

Meet the Candidates For The Next Edition of WORDSLAM

Ayodeji Akinpelu

Uche Uwadinachi

Lanre 'Ari-Ajia

Ayeola Mabiaku

Segun Eluyemi

THOSE WHO SAW THE BIRTH OF WORDSLAM

1. Amb. Segun Olusola - Culture Patron, Founder AREF & Ajibolu Moniya Gallery

2. Odia Ofeimun - Poet, Literary Activist who was a Special Guest/performer at the event

3. Toni Kan - Corporate Affairs Manager, VISAFONE

4. Dr. Oyeronke Oyewumi, from Stony Brook University, NY

5. Jude Dibia - Author of Unbridled

6. Lanre Ari'Ajia - POETRY POTTER, Anchor

7. Ayeola Mabiaku - Overall Winner of LAPFEST, 2007

8. Deji Toye - Legal Secretary NEXTZON, Writer, member CORA

9. Tolu Ogunlesi - Pharmacist, Award winning Writer

10. Dafe Ivwurie- Journalist, Protocol Manager, OCEANIC BANK
11. Sam Umukoro - Writer, Author of Diary of a Jambite and Corporate Manager, ADDAX Petroleum

12. Ayo Arigbabu - Architect, Writer, and Design Sleuthe

13. Segun Adefila - Choreographer, Director, CROWN TROUPE OF AFRICA

14. Daniel Kotter - Video Artiste from Germany

15. Constance Fishberk - Video Artiste from GERMANY

16. Chris Ihedero - Editor MADE Magazine

17. Tosyn Bucknor - Writer

18. Kayode Aderinokun - Executive Director defunct, PACIFIC BANK, MD FIDELOGIC and ex-Chair ANA Lagos

19. Nduka Otiono - Writer, ex-Secretary General ANA from Canada

20. Austine Njoku - Writer

21. Dr. Ralf Teepe - Consul General GERMANY EMBASSY
etc

Photos by Charles Okolo

Count Down to WORDSLAM

2008-07-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

All the artistes performing at the 1st WORDSLAM gathered at Studio 868 on Bishop Aboyade Cole, Victoria Island today to perfect their arts. Also in the attendent was 'Ropo Ewenle the most charming Conpere in the art and literary circle of Nigeria. One of the representatives of the two organisations involved in the production of the great event - Jahman Anikulapo, was around for the rehearser and his presence indeed motivated the artistes.

The reheaser as viewed by the artistes was a fantastic arrangement by the organisers ( Goethe Institut & Cultural Advocate Caucus).

Therefore,
Tomorrow is going to be a day that its story
Will be written in gold in the book of history.

Make sure this event is not reported to you
But be sure you're part of those that will report it.

Catch you at Goethe Institut TOMORROW!

The Cultural Advocates Caucus (CAC) & Goethe Institut, Lagos Presents WORDSLAM

2008-07-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

Participating Artists
Awoko
Cornerstone
Edaoto
Iquo Eke
Jumi (Imole)
Sage Hasson
Dagga Tolar
Muri Amulegboja
Jumoke Verissimo
Akeem Lasisi
Ropo Ewenla - compere

Odia Ofeimun - special guest
Ben Tomoloju - special guest

NB: Snacks and refreshments will be offered.

IN THE BEGINNING....
On Saturday July 5th 2008, starting from 4:00pm,
daring and tested young poets will gather at Goethe
Institut Lagos to treat members of the public to a
remarkable feast of live poetry performances.. Hello,
WordSlam!!! is birthed. This new programme, a joint
venture between Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC) and the
Goethe Institut will parade poems and poets that will
address issues such as survival, politics, religion,
city hassles, hustles and bubbles, love and hatred and
the general ‘wahala’ of life.
‘Wild Cards’ for the main acts for this first edition
of what promises to grow to become a regular (perhaps
quarterly) programme include:

• AWOKO, multiple instrumentalist and utility
performer, a small compact explosion waiting to
happen;
• CORNERSTONE, distinct Word artist and one of the
emerging few possibilities of the new age of reggae
music;
• EDAOTO, a distinctively unique personality with
distinguished musical composition and arrangement;
• IQUO EKE, Mother Poet with the exotic and
captivating voice texture like the soothing-firm
caress of Oya’s flow;
• JUMI (IMOLE), the exotic and refreshing voice of the
quintessential poet performer, who has come on a
missionary task of shedding light on all areas of
darkness in our lives;
• SAGE HASSON, one of the most engaging interpreters
of the confounding realities of our times;
• DAGGA TOLAR, revolutionary poet par excellence;
• MURI AMULEGBOJA, cast in the mode of near extinct
traditional Yoruba chanters, he is capable of the
gripping blend of poetry of the body in dance and that
of the voice in rendition;
• JUMOKE VERISSIMO, an engaging poet with a robust
sense of satire and sometimes self-deprecating humour;
• AKEEM LASISI, of the Iremoje fame, master of the
blend of imageries of ages past and present, very much
in the tradition of the troubadours.
These are performers who have in the past few years
proven their mettle in the Lagos poetry performance
circuit. They would be backed up by one of the most
engaging jazz groups in the land, the Awade Jazz
Ensemble.
Apart from this main act which is to be the first
part of the show, members of the public in the
audience would also have opportunities of bringing out
their WORD from the closet and trying them out on the
audience in an OPEN MIND & MIKE session, which will be
judged by the audience in the process of discovering
fresh acts that will move to the next level of the
series. The session will also ensure that the event
has the interactive flavour, which is the salt of the
tradition of the griots of old with the audience as an
integral part of the circumstances of performance.

The compere of this feast of the Word is ROPO
EWENLA, Organising Secretary, Ife Festival of Poetry,
fellow conspirator in the establishment of similar
projects such as Word and Sound and Poetry Potter.
Here, he is on a familiar terrain as the umbilical
cord not just between the various poetry events he had
facilitated before now, but also between the various
artistes who are on display.

To grace the occasion as special guests are the duo of
ODIA OFEIMUM and BEN TOMOLOJU, two of the most
consistent sources of inspiration and motivation for
young, budding and aspiring artistes in the country.
Both are also poets cast in the finest tradition of
the genre.

WordSlam!!! brings poetry to life in the age old
tradition of African griots and the troubadours of
the Middle Ages’ Europe . The destination for this
Feast of Life & Word is the STREET; so watch out for
it in your neighbourhood soon.

THE WORD IS AN EGG... —The Culture Advocates Caucus