The past week has been a bit busy for Proud to be African Clothing to say the least but has seen a really great period of trading, networking, meeting inspirational people within the African diaspora and beyond, with the coming cold months seeing the hoodys and sweatshirts outselling T shirts for the first time.
Between the 18th and the 21st we had a stall all day at the Albany Theatre in Deptford as part of the Where are we now? Nigeria Heritage Festival, a collaboration between the amazing young Nigerian playwright Bola Agbaje and the Stone Crabs Theatre Company. In addition to the African market which had yours truly Proud to be African Clothing, Monsura Bags, Yorubatik, Ugo, AyoDele Edwards etc there were different events each evening. Tuesday the 18th was the launch event with the launch of the documentary ‘From Biafra to England’ which was an oral history record of the lives of survivors and veterans of the Biafran war who had emigrated from Nigeria to the UK. This oversubscribed event had delicious food by So-Full Catering Service and a lively panel discussion with which was heated quite and elicited much debate. Wednesday had performances of Bola Agbaje’s new play ‘The Burial’ and Thursday another play ‘Dilemma of A Ghost’ by Ama Ata Aidoo. Friday evening saw the grand finale with monologues by various actors depicting characters from Nigeria’s history from the learned (Wole Soyinka), to the famous (Fela), to the infamous (IBB!). The actor playing IBB stole the show with a barnstorming comedic performance. Interspersing all of these was AyoDele Edwards singing with 3 backing musicians, a selection of beautifully rendered numbers in Yoruba and English, ending with the late Christy Essien Ibgokwe classic ‘Seun rere’
Friday and Saturday also saw the ‘Best of Nigeria Expo’ at the Excel Centre. This expo was held to highlight the non oil producing sector of Nigeria’s economy. Although there were not as many visitors as the venue deserved there was still a lively cross section of people visiting and exhibiting, with Proud to be African Clothing making a few new friends. Unfortunately my camera decided to die around this time so no photos.
Sunday saw two groovy events, the first being the Africa Rocks Expo at Hotel Russell, Russell Square, a fascinating extravaganza organised by Chinelle and Amaechi of the The Creative Initiative. The event consisted of seminars as well as performances by the London Afrobeat Collective (although they didn’t perform my favourite track from their album despite repeated requests and veiled threats!!) and a spectacular fashion show by Nikki Garriques, featuring yours truly’s creations!
It was graced by luminaries of the African diaspora such as British/ Nigerian sprinter Christine Ohuruogu, Edna Agbarha of Apprentice Season 7, Rachel Adedeji of X Factor to name but a few.
The Africa Rocks Expo was a first effort by the duo behind the Creative Initiative and was an excellent, well organised and patronised event. It was one of the few events I’ve attended in a while in which everything came together for exhibitors, performers and patrons.
I know we will be seeing more and more of them in future, hopefully they won’t notice me holding onto their coat tails as they fly to the top!!
I rounded the day off at the Bronze Bar, with Vocal Slender of BBC3 Welcome to Lagos fame, where he discussed his life experiences and motivations with host Lola Ogunbadejo and then performed his signature track ‘Owo Yapa’.
This week has been a lot quieter however another groovy weekend beckons.
On Friday Proud to Be African Clothing’s favourite jazz artist will be performing tracks from his new album Orin Meta at the Forge, Camden.
Saturday sees the Miss Nubian UK Grand Finale, a pageant with a difference where talented and beautiful ladies of African Caribbean heritage will be representing their countries of origin and demonstrating their talents as well as their beauty. This prestigious event takes place at the Thistle Hotel, Bryanston Street, Marble Arch, W1H 7EH, doors open 6.30pm. The after party will feature DJ Deoba Authentic so generally it will be an excellent evening.
On the same evening Proud to be African Clothing will be doing its best Oscar hopeful imitation as we have been nominated for our first ever award, the New Business Award by the Black Business Initiative!
The Black Business Initiative is a business support organisation and publishes the Ethno News Magazine as well. The 8th Black Business Awards show will be held at Hilton Tower Bridge, 5 More London, Tooley Street, SE1 2BY. This Black tie gala event seeks to promote, sustain and reward entrepreneurship within the black ethnic community.
This Saturday will also see Focus organisation’s Afrodite event at ZarZar’s in Stratford, so if your not at Miss Nubian or the BBI Awards get over to grove with Atta, Victoria, DJ’s Bogossy, KMT, Oya-Bun and Freshfrenchy.
We’ll let you know if we win!
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