Nomfusi answered the symposium’s question through poetry, something she wrote the night before in a fit of sleeplessness.  She noted that “there is a spoken word within us,” and that she writes and performs because “every time there is poverty [she] appear[s]” and “every times there is crime [she] appear[s].”  Nomfusi combats this stereotypical vision of herself through music and, like others, states “we have something to say and we need ears to listen.”  Nomfusi then collaborated with jazz musician and moderator John Reid who accompanied on saxophone, a duet they rehearsed only fifteen minutes earlier.

Service, one member of Chadian family group H’Sao, said that through music “I found a way to answer some question.”  This question, for H’Sao, lies in the method of uniting Chad, a country with 100 different ethnic groups and a country plagued by war and political instability.  Thus for H’Sao “music is about love, music is about justice, music is about healing.”  Service delighted the Calgary Public Library audience with an a cappella performance, his co-member Israel providing back up vocals as he was resting his voice for Afrikadey!’s Saturday festivities.

Toumany Kouyate’s motivation stems from the need to make a living and also from his ancestry, a musical family of griots that have played for royal families, at weddings, and have even been invited to settle family disputes.  Kouyate explains that “griot means gree hoh — speak up.”  Kouyate prefers to speak up through his music, via his kora and vocals, and thus spoke quietly and briefly, but played valiantly, his melodies expressing something beyond words.

Remesha Drums chose to play first, and speak later.  The Central Branch’s walls reverberated for minutes while they beat their Burundian drums, its structure threatening to collapse with the thunder contained inside.  Noting their extreme athleticism, after Remesha’s performance moderator John Reid joked, “I know what motivates you — you don’t want to pay for a gym membership!”  Narcisse Ngenda, leader of the group, clarified that the real reason Remesha Drums performs is to keep a cultural continuity, to keep Burundian culture alive and present.  Their performances serve as a metaphor: the “drummer will never give up,” just as Remesha Drums will never give up their Burundi culture.

Toumany Kouyate, a man of few but poignant words, summed up the evening by dubbing his fellow musicians ambassadors of their countries.  A lively Q&A section and musical collaboration danced to by many an audience member concluded the night and the audience left the Calgary Public Library bringing with them lungfulls of air tinged with hope.

Are you a musician?  Why do you write and perform your music?  What do you think of these Afrikadey! artists’ motivations?  Fill out the “Leave a Reply” section below to comment!

What are your thoughts on Senegalese music and the kora?  Were you strolling down Stephen Avenue in the rain around the noon hour on Friday, August 13?  Comment below by filling out the “Leave a Reply” section.

This emotional beginning was carried on by the reading’s opening actor, a woman in a beautiful violet ensemble, who stood up and cried “Obaaaaaraaa!  Aaaahmooooo!”  The story of Chinua Achebe’s novel was reenacted on stage by ten actors through the medium of Cheryl Foggo, local playwright, and her theatrical adaptation.  Actors stood up from their chairs as their characters spoke and mixed reading with slight physical acting, eight beautiful batik material hangings as a backdrop.  The narration was read by Trevor, the director, and Cheryl Foggo’s word artistry came out in phrases like “the hot work of yams splitting.”

Protagonist Okonkwo was aptly played by an actor with just the right amount of sternness, determination, and exasperation.  Similarly, Okonkwo’s son was played with the right amount of naivety, hesitance, and youth.

The traditional sexism inherent in Achebe’s time and text was taken comically as gauged by the audience’s laughter.  Guffaws met phrases like “never thank a woman for serving your stew” and “children being property of their mother and her family is [as crazy as] a woman on top of a man making children.”  More customary comic relief was found in the mistranslation of “myself” as “my buttocks” and the exaggeratedly nasal British accent of a white character.

The reading, lasting about 2.5 hours, took up themes of violence, gender, community, retribution, and tension (between humans and the divine, and fathers and sons), themes quite relatable and universal.  Feedback questionnaires were distributed afterwards to help the playwright, director, and actors revise and improve the piece for its next incarnation.

What was your feedback on the reading?  Fill out the “Leave a Reply” section below to let us know!

The night’s MC – decked out in an elegant black polka dot ensemble – seemed very eloquent and enthusiastic.  I noticed a word she repeated often: “vraiment”.  The Anglophones in the crowd were helped out by MFive who introduced their songs mostly in English.  The five family members – Vince, Jay, Belinda, Grace, and Sephora – used the Alliance space to its fullest, performing choreographed dance steps and stepping off the platform at times to sing and rap.  Many patriotic heart strings were pulled with the ode to their new country “Oh Beautiful Canada”.  MFive also sang about Nelson Mandela and their trying lives as refugees from Congo in Bangkok.

Minsio Mundos provided a stunning a capella performance and then took up the conga as well.  A very interested little girl was so attracted to the sound that she rushed the stage and attempted to bang her own beat!  Tunde Dawodu, the Artistic Director of Afrikadey!, tried to engage this and another little girl less obtrusively by dancing with them at the side of the stage to the wonderful Congolese music.  A yellow and orange stuffed animal remained on the stage as a memento of the two girls’ time in the spotlight.

Kocassalé Dioubaté came onstage in a dazzling multi-coloured ensemble and showed the audience just how many parts of the hand can be used in drumming and how many different sounds can come out of one conga!  Koca engaged the crowd not only with his intricate rhythms but also with a sing-along section that the audience got so engrossed in that they drowned out his solo.  This faux pas did translate and everyone had a good laugh.

The many strings on Toumany Kouyate’s kora – its bulbous bottom held in his lap – were plucked with the ease of a seasoned musician.  Harp-like sounds wafted through the air gently at times and trilled furiously at others.  Spectators were so blown away that they felt the urge to slip five dollar bills into Toumany’s light blue cap, the compliment to his beautiful outfit of navy, sky, and azure.

Toumany Kouyate teamed up with Kocassalé Dioubaté and ended the night on a high with kora and conga as companions, Minsio Mundos and a collection of audience members dancing to the euphonious blend.

Were you at “Les Français d’Afrique”?  Share your thoughts on the evening by filling out the “Leave a Reply” section below.

The only way to finance Nollywood films is to have them speak directly to the populace who purchases them.  The revenue gained from these constant purchases at market stalls (individuals often watching three films a day) goes to the film traders and then to the filmmakers.  In this way the Nollywood film industry is capricious, volatile, yet brutally honest and accountable to its consumers.  And its consumers are largely the struggling poor in Africa’s largest city: Lagos.  What they want to see on film are hopeful stories of gaining wealth, entertaining stories, and stories that delve into the tension between Christianity, tradition, and witchcraft.  Nollywood has become so successful because it comes from and speaks to the people who are feeling the pain.

But where did Nollywood come from?  It officially began in 1992, but the social factors necessary for its birth long proceeded the 1990s.  Colonizers brought film to Africa and with this import cinema culture boomed, even though Africans were portrayed in these films in horrendous and offensive ways.  Films that perpetuated the social climate of colonialism and Western values were shown in theatres and everyone in Lagos began to enjoy going to the movies.  This cinema culture evolved into a huge industry of imported American, British, and Indian films, with no films made by Nigerians or Africans  available.  In the 1970s after the Nigerian Civil War small arms became more available and violence increased on the streets of Lagos.  People began to stay at home.  Why would they go to the cinema just to get their car stolen or worse?  Thus theatres closed.  Currently, Lagos, a city of about 10 million, has only three theatres.  In 1992 Living in Bondage, a film about a man who employs black magic and sacrifices his wife to gain wealth, was shot straight-to-video and became the first Nollywood blockbuster.  Enter Nollywood, an industry of films rapidly created, consumed, and viewed in homes and shops across Lagos.

Lancelot’s film crew confirms their tape is rolling by saying “my tape is blasting like a bullet.”  So is Nollywood, currently.  But can this possibly ephemeral industry transition into a slower-paced, more enduring film tradition?  Or should it?  What are your favourite Nollywood films?  Comment on all things Nollywood and Nollywood Babylon below by filling in the “Leave a Reply” section.

Nigerian dancers Amara Ijo, decked out in bands of yellow and red, astonished all with their electric torso pops, swirling hips, and exuberant arm swings.  Each of the five members also threw down with a solo, moments when you couldn’t count the flashes of the media’s photographers.

Adejoké Taiwo showed her modern batik masterpieces, a kaleidoscope of patterns and colours, which even included menswear.  Two male models swaggered onto the stage sporting vibrant red shorts, pants, and a fantastic plum jacket.  Trendy Strands exhibited put-together outfits for women perfect for events like the Afrikadey! Opening Gala.

Frankie Joe Rukundo started off the dancing and music of the night with his crooning.  A test of range, Rukundo invited the audience to imitate his melodic phrases – in three different octaves – with a call and response section.  OooooOOOOOOooooo, indeed.

Politics intersected art with a number of mayoral candidates, MLAs, and aldermen giving short greetings to the Afrikadey! Opening Gala crowd.  Issues important to Calgarians, or at least to Tunde Dawodu, were also brought to the mic such as transit.  Dawodu conjured candidates to improve the Ctrain for Calgarians.

And the pièce de résistance: Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba.  The sound of plucking notes wafted through the air of REPUBLiK, but the stage remained empty.  These notes and phrases got louder and louder, and suddenly Bassekou Kouyate appeared with his ngoni meandering through the crowd.  His band, Ngoni ba, followed him onto the stage, each picking up their instrument and joining in.  This trance-like, atmospheric musical arrangement quickly turned into a spirited, rhythmic orchestration.  Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni ba had the Afrikadey! Opening Gala crowd in the palms of their hands.  The band had full control of their sound: all-encompassing when they wished it and like a gentle interlude when they wished it.  The drummer who played his instrument on top of a barrel never stopped grinning, the female singer wound her wrists gracefully as she hit amazing notes, and beads of sweat dripped down all the faces of the relentless band.  Songs lasted tens of minutes and the population of REPUBLiK all migrated to the dance floor, moving their bodies in whatever ways they knew how (which included grabbing onto fellow patrons’ hips and making a locomotor-like line winding through the dance floor).  In short, the Afrikadey! Opening Gala was a raging success that lasted deep into Monday night.  See you at the rest of the week’s events.  Afrikadey! O Ye!

Were you at the Afrikadey! Opening Gala?  What did you think?  Click “leave a comment” and post your reviews.