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Last night was a classic night at 30 Nigeria House, Theatre Royal, Stratford East. The show
was the Nigeria Diasporama All Star Band with Asa, Tony Allen, Dele Sosimi and
Seun Kuti with the Egypt 80 Band. A
slightly more groovy line up than I have not seen in a long time. As well as
all the cultural stuff there is a market in front of the theatre where Proud to Be African Clothing has a stall, which I abandoned early to get into the show,
unfortunately it started late, but started well compered by Segun Arinze the
first on was Kuku a US based Nigerian singer with the Diasporama band as back
up singing in Yoruba and English and warming the crowd up for Dele Sosimi who
got people dancing before he even got on the stage much to the ire of the
friendly but flustered young ushers. However Afrobeat is infectious and the
nyash shaking began, and before people blame badly behaved Nigerians, the first
person to get up and start dancing was a middle aged white guy, like I said
Afrobeats is infectious.
Dele Sosimi
After shaking
nyash, Asa came on stage to the wild applause of the audience, she started with
‘Fire on the Mountain’, Asa is an endearing performer, with a raw and genuine
passion. Halfway through she took off her high heel shoes so saying they made
her uncomfortable and began to dance with even more abandon. Asa was rapidly
followed by Tony Allen. For those of you that have never seen him he is
notoriously reticent and is hidden behind his drums, which prompted some wags
to question whether it was truly him! He answered them by starting to play, the
response was instantaneous as nyashs began to shake again (cue the ushers
trying to stop us this failed and they had to call security!), after Tony Allen,
Asa and Dele Sosimi returned to sing Fela’s ‘Water no get enemy’, again more
dancing, more ushers, more security, more dancing! It was very sweet.
Asa
Kuku returned and
sang a beautiful ballad to Nigeria, which calmed the audience down and had the
audience choking up and singing along. All very emotional
This was followed
by Asa again singing another ballad which again got the crowd in a sentimental
mood. After a looooooooong break the Egypt 80 band came in, introduced one by
one Baba Ani as they started the first track they had to stop to repair a
faulty monitor, which was very fortunate for the young men who were enjoying
the gyrations of the back up singers. After the first song, Seun Kuti came in
and began to play, again the dancing was infectious.
Before he started
the next track ‘Slavemasters’ Seun complained that he was performing sober as
he was prevented from smoking his weed before coming on stage! They began
playing and inevitably we began dancing, the poor ushers had to get security
again!
And then in true Nigerian
fashion wahala started!!! Seun pointed out that he was contracted to play 9.45 to
10.15 (it was now 11.00pm) and he was only playing for the pleasure of his
fans, so if the security prevented us from dancing he would stop playing,
Security refused so he walked off!!!
Na so the evening
take end, we all spilled out into the street arguing, laughing and shouting.
All in all very Nigerian and despite the lateness and truncated show a good
time was had by all
Week starting 23rd July, Proud to be African Clothing spies with our little eyes something beginning with O...... but before that, there's a veritable all you can eat buffet of cultural goodness!!
Monday 23rd
July
Nigeria House kicksinto its first full week at
Theatre Royal, Stratford East, Raffles Square, E15 1BN with the Market, Boutique and Gallery
running from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
The week starts off on a literary note with the
inaugural Igbo Cultural and Support
Network (ICSN) Book Club, running from 7.00pm
to 8.30pm at Madam Chi, 187 Upper
Street, N1 1RQ. The book for this session is the African classic, Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’. This
FREE event is open to all so you
better start brushing up on your Okonkwo’s, Ikemefuna’s and so on!
Between
7.30pm and 10.00pm we have the
evening show at Nigeria House, Theatre
Royal, Stratford East, Raffles Square, E15 1BN consisting
of hip hop artiste and producer Naeto C who
will be performing tracks from his Fela inspired Afrobeat/ Hip hop albumLagos
City Hustla, Grammy nominated singer/song writer Tiwa Savage has been fusing R&B and Afrobeat since her 2010
debut single Kele Kele LoveandMi is a prolific
songwriter, producer and lyricist who has collaborated with the crème de la
crème of the Nigerian music. Tickets are £20.00and £25.00 for stalls
At 7.30pm we have 'What will survive of us' 5 short plays from award winning Nigerian playwright Janice Okoh at the Islington Community Theatre, 2 Fieldway Crescent, N5 1PF. Inspired and performed by young people, this FREE showing is innovative a highly sought after so RSVP by calling 0207 609 9651
At
7.45pm in the Purcell Room of the South Bank Centre we have the Vocal Ensemble of Africa the creation
of pianist and vocalist Juwon Ogungbe
(if you missed him at the Rhum Jungle last Thursday this is your chance oh!!)
this ensemble consists of 6 singers from 5 African countries a 4 piece band and
a combination of languages, harmonies and musical influences that will astound
you, not one to be missed it features Juwon
Ogungbe (Nigeria), Eugene Makuta (Congo), Eno William Uffort (Nigeria), Leila
Lawton (Uganda), Joyce Moholoagae (South Africa) and Thomas Moyo (Zimbabwe).
The band consists of Dele Ogundeko,
Renell Shaw on bass, Soji Ijaduola
on drums and Junior Balogun on
percussion. Tickets are £15.00 from
here, not to be sniffed at!!!!
Tuesday 24th
July
The
Market, Boutique and Gallery at 30
Nigeria House Theatre Royal, Stratford East run from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
In
the Nigeria House,
Theatre Royal, Stratford
East Auditoriumat 7.00pm it is
a Naija Nu Soul mix as Keziah Jones returns
for another set with his guitar hat and ever so funky individual style, he’s
followed by amazing newcomer, Bez,
whose Stupid Song has been a Proud to
be African Clothing favourite is an alternative soul singer who is getting alot
of time and airplay in the US and UK, a talent that will grow and grow. Then with
have the legendary King Sunny Ade,who’s
come a long way from his days in Moses Adejumo’s band in the ‘60’s, the first
Nigerian Grammy nominee expect a mix of juju, afrobeat, funk, rock, soul and
everything in between. Tickets are £20.00and £25.00 for stalls and dress
circle
At 7.45pm we have Funmi Olawumi of the Yoruba Women’s Choir in the Purcell Room of the South Bank Centre. She will be performing solo this evening with
a 12 piece band and 4 piece harmony group Naija Soul Sisters, songs from her
latest album Funmi Ti De. Funmi describes her music as faaji music so get ready
for some body-moving and nyash-shaking. A feel good evening with, tickets for £15.00
Wednesday 25th
July
The
Market, Boutique and Gallery at 30
Nigeria House Theatre Royal, Stratford East run from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Tony Allen-Master Drummer
Keziah Jones
Dele Sosimi- Gbedu Master!!
The evening show at 30 Nigeria House today is a Peach (not that the others have been slacking)
from 7.00pm to 10.30pm is The Nigeria Diasporama All Star Band featuring
such a sweet line up that I’m drooling all ready. First off we have global soul
phenomenon Asa whose debut album
fused Yoruba and English, pop, R&B, funk, soul and reggae into a unique and
sublime treat, Keziah Jones is a
committed guitarist artist who fuses so many genres from bossa nova to funk to
Afrobeat, to produce his Blufunk sound. We then have Afrobeat stalwart Dele Sosimi started his career as a youngster with Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 and has since carved a niche for himself as
one of the finest purveyors of Afrobeat, with monthly Afrobeat live shows in
London and standout performances, this is Afrobeat par excellence. It obviously
couldn’t get better but hey it just did! We have Tony Allen, Africa’s finest drummer and another Fela alumnus, with
a huge pedigree of work behind him and global collaborations this legend of
Afrobeat and world music will grace the stage followed by Fela’s pikin himself Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80 band, many
of the band are old members from the Fela days so this has the potential to be
the most awesome Afrobeat jam session known to man! In fact this is so awesome
that the government has declared an immediate state of awesomeness around Theatre Royal Stratford, and ordered
everyone to say “Ah ah!” don sunglasses and start shaking nyash with immediate
effect!!!! Tickets are £25.00 and £30.00 for stalls, NO
EXCUSES!
Bez-Stupid Song Singer!
At
8.00pm Hackney Empire hostsSweet
Jamaica 50th! With Gappy Ranks, JC
Lodge, Christopher Ellis, the Son of Alton Ellis, The Queens of Lovers Rock
Carroll Thompson & Sylvia Tella, Peter Hunnigale, Roger Robin, Mr Fraser
& Jamaican Comedian Ping Wing. Hosted by Robbie Gee with music by Younger
Melody with tickets from £21.00 from here
Thursday 26th
July
The
Market, Boutique and Gallery at 30
Nigeria House Theatre Royal, Stratford East runs from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
From 6.30pm to 10.00pm is the Nigeria House
Literary Series; a showcase of Nigerian literature presented through readings,
conversations and book displays. Today’s authors are Proud to be African Clothing’s good friend
playwright Ade Solanke, playwright Seffi Atta, Diran Adebayo and Nnorom
Azuonye. Ade is a screenwriter and playwright and creative director of
Spora Stories nad has worked and lectured in the US and Nigeria and most
recently had the excellent play ‘Pandoras Box’ on stage. Seffi is qualified chartered accountant whose debut novelEverything
Good Will Come won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, Diran is an acclaimed author of novels
and short stories a regular in the British media, on the culture Show and
Newsnight he is known for his vivid take on modern Britain and is currently
writing his 3rd novel. Nnorom
is the founder and editor of the Sentinel Literary Quaterly. His CV is so long
it will fill the page so let us go with poet, playwright and novelist, his
plays have been performed in Nsukka and his poems appeared in numerous books
and anthologies. This interactive evening will be moderated by Lookman Sanusi,
and will involve book readings, a conversation on ‘Imagine Nigeria!’ and book
signings. It’s FREE, so RSVP and come and
stimulate your minds
From 6.00pm
to 10.45pm, the Young Black Grads
presents... Speed Networking! Networking newbies or networking ninjas come
down with your business cards and make friends, contacts and acquaintances. In
business its 60% who you know so this is a good place to start. It’s at Poetry Café (The
Poetry Society) 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX and is FREE just register here
At 7.30pm in the Queen
Elizabeth Hall, with have Beninois superstar Angelique Kidjo back for another performance of tracks from here
2012 live album Spirit Rising. A superb vocalist you’re in for an excellent
performance in multiple languages with influences from multiple genres. I
expect to see you all Wombo Lomboing in the aisles! Tickets £22.50 and £27.50
Team Zimbabwe will be officially welcomed at the Stratford Old Town Hall by the Zimbabwe Diaspora Olympics Support
Network. This will be an opportunity for Zimbabweans to meet Zimbabwe’s
past and present Olympians, network and show community spirit
Friday 27th
July OLYMPICS BABY!!!!!
Today na today!!! The
Olympics comes to the wonderful city of London,
the opening ceremony in Stratford will be shown at various places like Nigeria House, at Theatre Royal, Stratford
East from 8.00pm to 11.00pm
Africa Village, Kensington Map
At
9.00am the Africa Village opens
in Kensington Gardens. The Africa Village is
the hospitality House of the 53 African countries participating in the London
Games and is FREE from 9.00am till 10.00pm. There will be modern and
traditional music concerts, fashion, dancing, photo exhibitions and African
Food FREE entrance from
27th July to 12th August, 9am to 10pm. There will be performances on stage from
1pm to 3pm and 3.00pm to 6.00pm with Nigerian dancers, Tunisian musicians,
French and English language storytellers, and fashion shows. Medal winners and
athletes from African countries will be coming along to hang out so come along
and see for yourself. The closest tube Station is South Kensington (Picadilly, District
or Circle line) , exit and follow the
signs to the Royal Albert Hall. More details here
During the day the Market, Boutique and Gallery at 30 Nigeria House Theatre Royal, Stratford
East runs from 10.00am to 5.00pm as
usual
From 6.15 to 9.30pm BBM/BMC
will be at Punch and Judy a health
drink business for Garvey + Rasta +Music
Part . Looking at the influences of Garveyism on Rastafarianism music and
roots reggae in particular. This is a FREE
event, RSVP and come and enjoy the drinks, debate and music
From 7.00pm to 10.00pm we have an Ice Reception at Emukay Bar and Restaurant, 91 Camberwell ROad, SE5 0EZ as part of WS- 78, The Mind of a Patriot. Featuring Tunji Oyelana
At Passing Clouds, 1
Richmond Road, Hackney, E8 4AA off Kingsland Road we have an excellent night with
the Desert Blues 5 piece band consisting
of Abdallah Oumbadougou, Kora player
Modou Toure and Ramon Goose (guitar), with DJ’s Koichi Saka and Sun Bailante.
Entry is £5.00 before 10.00pm and £8.00 after.
Saturday 28th
July OLYMPICS DAY TWO
The
Market, Boutique and Gallery at 30
Nigeria House Theatre Royal, Stratford East runs from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
At 11.00am we have the Festival of Yoruba Arts (FOYA) running
till 9.00pm Clissold Park, this is the 3rd incarnation of this
Annual Festival which celebrates the rich and vibrant arts and Culture of the
Yoruba people who stretch from Nigeria to Brazil to the Caribbean. FOYA has
Salsa, Afrobeat, Juju, Arts and Crafts, competitions, delicious food and it’s FREE!!! This is a family friendly event
with live bands and children’s games going till 6.00pm
Also at 11.00am we have the Uzima, Natural Holistic Expo at the Conway Hall, Holborn, 25 Red Lion Square, WC14 4RL. The aim is to
enhance the lives of the African Community by providing an atmosphere that aids
the mind, body and spirit. In the Main Hall from 11.00am to 6.00pm is the African
Market and then from 7.00-9.00pm
will be a Fashion and Culture Show. There are 3 other rooms as well with
Workshops, Free Activities and a Therapy Room
At 3.00pm with have Dr Djibril Diallo in conversation with Baaba Maal and friends in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre.
Dr Diallo is a Senior Advisor in UNAIDS and will be examining the role of sport
in AIDS advocacy and empowering young people in the AIDS response. Although
this is a FREE event, reserve your
ticket online, by phone or in person.
Another groovy event will be
Summer Soiree at the Troxy, 490
Commercial Road, London, E1 0HX, with an spectacular line up of Nigerian
superstar singer Nneka, Proud to be African
Clothing’s favourite grime artiste Afrikan
Boy, Mikill Pane, Gina Yashere, Dotstar, Bigz, SAS, Fem Fal, Saeon, A Dot
Comedian, Lyric L, Gfrsh, special set by DJ Abrantee hosted by Dont Jealous Me
and Amal Fashanu. Doors open at 5.30pm
event finishes 11.00pm, tickets from£27.00
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6.30-8.00pm we have Poetry Segment: Part I- Voices and Vocations- An exploration of poetry
at Nigeria House Theatre Royal,
Stratford East, a presentation and discussion of great poetry pieces from
Nigeria and includes a screening of Remi Vaughan-Richards documentary on poetry
and an invited mic poetry session. This event is FREE
At 5.30pm television talk show Effizi returns with a new guest in front of a live audience at Hackney Picturehouse, 270 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 1HE. This shows guest is Mrs Ogo Ogbata, business woman and author. More details can be found on the website and RSVP if you wish to be a guest
At 7.30pm in the Royal Festival Hall, for the final
event of Africa Utopia the man himself returns to what he does best, Baaba Maal and Friends present Yele Yela- a
Night from the Wild West of Africa. This performance brings this brilliant
festival to an end and sees Baaba Maal
joined by Malian ngoni virtuoso Bassekou
Kouvate as well as Guinean vocalist/ kora player Mory Kant and many more special guests (don’t ask you’ll be
surprised!!) Tickets are £25.00, £22.50, £20.00, £10.00
Nigerian
author and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka’s
latest project WS 78- The mind of a
Patriot hits London on Saturday at the Africa
Centre, 38 King Street, Covent Garden. It starts off this Saturday’s with a
lecture at 8.00pm – 9.00pm by Prof.
Robert Fox entitled “From Tigritude to Transcendence: The Conscience and
Conscientiousness of Wole Soyinka. This is followed by the play “Home” directed
by Segun Ojewuyi from 9.00pm – 10:30pm.
At
the Nigeria House again from 8.30-9.00pm we have a performance of Sefi Atta’s play ‘The Naming Ceremony’. This one act playis directed by Ifeoma Fafunwa and is about the preparations for
the naming ceremony (yeah the hint is in the title!) of a young couple Akin and
Tola, with Tola dreading a day of disagreements with her mother, mother in law
and husband. Tickets are £6.00
In Brixton, Upstairs at the Ritzy Picturehouse, Coldharbour Lane, SW2 IJG at 8.30pm we have Juwon Ogunbe (again! The man no wan rest!!!) performing tracks from his debut Life Force album. In collaboration with Colourful Radio with DJ Freestyle with his eclectic music choices on the decks an excellent night beckons. Tickets are £5.00 till midnight
Live at the Hootananny, 95 Effra Road, Brixton, SW2 1DF this Friday we have Kalakuta, Blak Twang and Extra Curricular. Kalakuta is big band Afro-beat par excellence led by Fela Kuti’s long term lead rhythm guitar player Emeka Elendu they promise to take us to an ‘underground spiritual game’ Oya begin shake nyash! Extra Curricular is a rhythm, brass and vocal; ensemble that combines soul, rock and hip hop, while Blak Twang needs little introduction as a highly acclaimed legendary UK Hip-Hop artist with a well earned status, credited as an inspiration to the likes of Roots Manuva, Estelle and many others now on the verge of his 6th full length LP release. FREE entry before 11pm, £3 after, resident DJ’s, DJ Snuff and MC Honey Brown explore hip hops roots and keep the party going
At 9.00pm we join our good friends
at Focus Organisation who will be at
Zar Zars, 405 High Street, Stratford,
E15 4QZ with special welcome party for all our 2012 visitors with an all
night Afrobeats party with DJ’s Bogossy
(Cote d’Ivoire), Patrick and Carlos de Carvalho (Radio Morali,
Angola), they will be playing Afrobeats, Azonto, Coupe Decale, kuduro, kwaito,
Naija beats, highlife and house all night till 5.00am. Tickets are £7.00, with ladiesfree before 11.00pm and all ticket holders from
Africa Utopia’s Baaba Maal concert free
entry until 1.00am. This is a definite number one choice to end the first
full day of the Olympics, with some special guests promised who knows who
you’ll bump into just fresh from the games?
At the if Bar, 71 Ilford
Hill, Ilford, IG1 2DG we have the Ghana
UK Olympic Party running from 10.00pm
to 5.00am. D’Cryme will be performing live with Vibes Squad, Tribal Mangz,
P Manand live PA’s from other supporting artistes, along with DJs, Frenchkiss,
Abrantee, Macusa, Invisible, Yaw Apofo-Akora and many more
Sunday 29th
July
WS 78- The Mind of a Patriot at
the Africa Centre resumes at 12.00pm with
a dance workshop by Peter Badejo OBE.
Then from 4.00pm to 8.00pm we have a
blues dance tea party, a Dance2Mesmerize presentation “Big City
Blues” by Stanley Amah (£10.00 for tickets) and then from 9.00pm till 10.30pm another showing of
the play ‘Home’
The
Market, at 30 Nigeria House Theatre
Royal, Stratford East runs from 7.00pm to 10.00pm, while the Boutique and
Gallery run from 10.00am to 5.00pm. At 8.30pm
we have another showing of Sefi Ata’s play- The Naming Ceremony. A very
thespian Sunday!
Its obviously a good time to be living in London and a super good week is lined up for you. In effect you would be justified in pulling a sickie on Thursday and grooving, listening, watching and dancing all the way till Sunday it’s that good. However when you are being queried at work please do not blame Proud to be African Clothing!!!!
Monday 16th July
At 7.00pm is the 70th Birthday Celebration for Nigerian juju Music legend Chief Dr Ebenezer Obey at CLIWOM Sanctuary of Praise, 709 Old Kent Road, London SE15 1JZ, Free admission to this memorable event
Tuesday 17th July
7.30pm at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, South African choreographer and dancer Gregory Maqoma breathes new life into his Xhosa past with Exit/ Exists. The piece involves Gregory Maqoma and 4 other South African dancers summoning departed ancestors, linking the past and present in a blend of traditional and contemporary dance to music from Italian guitarist Giuliano Modarelli performing songs by Simphiwe Dana, set against a rich visual landscape created by Johannesburg based artist Nicholas Hlobo. Tickets are £10.00-£25.00 from here
Wednesday 18th July
Oumou Sangare
At 7.30pm at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre there is the sublime collaboration between banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck with Malian Wassoulou singer Oumou Sangare performing original Sangare songs as well as tracks form Bela Fleck’s ‘Throw down your heart’ album. This album accompanies a documentary of the same name that explores the African roots of the banjo fro Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia and Mali. Joining them is a live band featuring Wil Calhoun on drums and percussion, ‘Benogo’ Diakite on kamele n’goni, Sekou Bah on bass, Dandio Sidibe on backing vocals. There will be a second show on the 19th .Tickets are £10.00, £22.50, £27.50 50% concs available from here
Thursday 19th July
At 10.00am Africa’s most dynamic and altogether awesome country (you can guess where this is leading can’t you!) celebrates its presence in London for the Olympic with an exhibition of sport, arts, music, fashion and distinctive productsat the Nigeria House in the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, E15 1BN, start up with a Fashion show and audio visual show, with a Market running concurrently from 10.00am to 5.00pm. This is an initiative of New World Nigeria and will be delivering a huge range of fun and games over the coming weeks. Entry is FREE but register here
From 6.30 to 8.30pm at the Africa Centre, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8JT we have African Awakenings? Interpreting Contemporary African Protest. This event hosted by Queen Marys University London explores the rash of anti government protest that have taken place across Africa. Frequently overshadowed by the Arab Spring, however protests against corrupt governments and unpopular decisions have taken place in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Gabon, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia Swaziland, Sudan, Uganda and Mozambique. The Panel consists of Firoze Manji (Pambazuka Press) Yash Tandon (South Centr, SEATINI), Bayo Oyenuga (Enough is Enough/ Occupy Nigeria), Ayanda Kota (Grahamstown Unemployed Peoples Movement, South Africa) and Patricia Daley (University of Oxford) To book email:h.a.blockley@qmul.ac.uk, more details on African Spring
Bela Fleck
At 7.30pm at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre we get the second installation of the magical collaboration of banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck and Malian Wassoulou singer Oumou Sangare performing original Sangare songs as well as tracks form Bela Fleck’s ‘Throw down your heart’ album.
In the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre at 7.45pm is Catalyst Rwanda. Les Enfant de Dieu are a group of 130 Rwandan street children between the ages of 6 and 20 who were taught to hip hop dance by London B Boy Pervez. Their story is told in the film ‘Yes Man’ by Bret Syfert, which will be shown along with a conversation with Catalyst Rwanda’s visionary leader Rafiki Callixte, some of the boys and the team behind them. The night ends with music by DJ Biznizz (Tha En4cers) in The Front Room of Queen Elizabeth Hall. Tickets are £10.00 from here
At 8.00pmJuwon Ogungbe’s Life Force Music comes to you live from The Rhum Jungle,Cottons, 70 Exmouth Market, Islington, EC1R 4QP. Juwon Ogungbe, mixes melds and manipulates Yoruba-Soul/ Latin infused reggae with his Life Force Band come down, pick up a Proud to be African T shirt, enjoy a rum/ fruit punch and get hit by the Life Force!!! Also featuring DJ Freestyle (Colourful Radio) Eclectic Afro Beats, in association with Outerglobe.co.uk and Colourful Radio. Book here for tickets which are £8.00
Friday 20th July
For you early birds The International Singles Conference 2012 starts at 7.00am at the Reading University Student Union, 360 Whiteknights Campus, Shinfield Road, Reading, RG6 6UR, themed ‘You like your arms on my shoulder, then put a ring on my finger’ this conference goes all the way to Sunday. This relationship conference will help you discover yourself, improve your self esteem, communication skills, dating skills and manage your emotions. Day 1 consists of workshops and seminars. Tickets are priced and found here
At 10.00amproceedings at 30 Nigeria House, Theatre Royal, Stratford East continue with the Market, Boutique and Gallery running from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
At 11.00am is a presentation by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre entitled A New Frontier- How to do business in Africa. A panel of UK businesses including the English Premier League, Tullow Oil, Osanimu, Standard Chartered Bank discuss how they do business in Africa and how UK companies can follow their success at this FREE event.
At 12.30pm in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre we have China Loves Africa a discussion on the nature of China’s relationship with Africa chaired by Funmi Otonisakin of African Leadership Centre, Kings College London with Henry Hall (editor China Africa News), Daniel Large of the Asia Africa Centre, Yiting Shen of Citigroup and others. FREE event.
At 1.00pm, in the Central Bar Foyerof the South Bank Centre is your FREE lunch time treat. Violinist Max Baillie and kora player Sura Susso, playing a mix of Baroque and West African pieces by Lully, Merula and traditional African spiritual pieces. Since meeting in Senegal in 2005 the pair have played in Womad, Moscow, Sydney and New Zealand and are now here to kick of Friday’s musical feasts
At 2.30pm in the Front Room at Queen Elizabeth’sHall is Africa and the Technology Revolution with Marieme Jamme of Africa Gathering, Stephanie Busari, CNN Digital Producer, Idris Bello entrepreneur, and kiwanja.net founder Ken Banks discussing technologies role in boosting entrepreneurship and empowering communities in Africa founder of East-African Incubator and blog Appfrica Jon Gosier will be appearing by video. FREE event
From 4.00pm to 5.00pm we have Africa is not a Country: Reporting Africa at the Queen ElizabethHall, NUMBI founder and editor of Scarf magazine Kinsi Abdulleh , BBC Africa Current Affairs Editor Stephane Mayoux, Marcus Courage of Africapractice, and journalist and blogger Belinda Otas of New African Woman magazine discuss the perception gap between how Africa is reported and the reality of the continent. A topic close to my heart!!! This is a FREE event
We move to ‘Eco Africa: Why Green is the New Black’ at 5.30pm at the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. BBC Africa Editor Solomon Mugera, Jonathan Bhalla (Africa Research Institute), Jacqueline Shaw (Eco entrepreneur and Founder if the Africa Fashion Guide) discuss how Africa is embracing sustainability. This is a FREE event
More freeness at 5.30pm in The Clore Ballroom with Gregg Kofi Brown and Friends, this critically acclaimed artist’s live set consists of Afrobeat, African Jazz and Afro/Latinpop classics. He has performed with Carlos Santana, Osibisa, Youssou N’dour, Damon Albarn, Beth Orton and features Sting, Billy Cobham, Stanley Jordan, Des’ree and Gabrielle on his album, ‘Together as One’. Yup you guessed it, FREE
At 7.00pm we take leave of Africa Utopia and the South Bank Centre and head to South London Gallery, 65-67 Peckham Road, SE5 8UH for Screen Africa’s showing of the Malian film ‘Bamako’.Abderrahmane Sissako;s film depicts a trial in Malis captila Bamako,in which two sides argue whether the World Bank, IMF or corruption are responsible for the poverty ridden state of many countries. Rwandan filmmaker Pascale Kasirabo will also present his short film ‘A Lifeless Life’ and there will be a Q&A. This is presented by Screen Africa’s Joseph Adesunloye, in association with Africa 2.0 and the Royal Africa Society. This is a FREE event but book online or by phone 020 7703 6120.
At 7.30pm the freeness ends (come on how much did you really want?) with the sublime Paco Pena: Misa Flamenca Africa at the Royal Festival Hall. This is a radical African interpretation of the Flamenco classic Misa Flamenca, in which Paco Pena collaborates with South African Composer Neo Muyanga to produce a classical beauty drawing of the emotional depth of Africa and passion of Spain. Tickets are £10.00 to £36.00 with limited 50% concs. available.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
Saturday 21st July
The International Singles Conference 2012 continues at 10.00am at the Reading University Student Union, 360 Whiteknights Campus, Shinfield Road, Reading, RG6 6UR. Day 2 consists of picnic, fashion show, and in the evening from 5.00pm to 10.00pm Love Can Music Concert, featuring Diversity, Rachel Kerr, Latoya Newland, SOS, Lulu and 4Fingerz, James A, John James Newman, E TIZZ. The concert combines music, poetry and dance and is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
At 10.00amproceedings at 30 Nigeria House, Theatre Royal Stratford East continue with the Boutique and Gallery running from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Nollywood or Bust: Africa at the Movies obviously knows its genre well with the dramatic titles and is on at 11.00am in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Don Omope, editor of African Screens and TV Director of Nollywood Movie Awards discusses the future of African cinema with David Somerset curator of the BFI’s African Odyssey season, Daniel Demissie (Town of Runners) Basia L Cummings (film writer for ‘ Africa is A Country’), and filmmaker Sheila Nortley. FREE event
In the Level 5 Function Room also at 11.00am is Afrikan Yoga. This FREE event is led by Pablo Imani to the beating of an African drum (bring your own mat though!!). Although it’s free, it requires a ticket which will incur a transaction fee of £1.75 (online) or £2.75 (phone)
At 12.00pm we need to step away and get to the London Pleasure Gardens, Royal Victoria Docks E16 2BS for the BTRiver of Music Africa Stage. This is part of the London 2012 Festival with stages all about London but of course the only place to be is here. At the Africa Stage!! Doors open at 11.00am and music goes on from 12.00pm to 9.30pm. Saturday’s line up is awesome, super groovy and marvellicious, as we have:
·Seckou Keita & The Bantamba Syndicate: kora and djembe playing Seckou Keita (Senegal) is joined by a wide swath of guests from across West Africa (and Cuba) for a beautiful set
·Modeste Hugues: Islands: Malagasy singer and guitarist draws singers from other African islands for his smooth African rhythms
·Hugh Masekela: a second chance to catch this veteran trumpeter, if you missed him at Back2Black, performing his brilliant South African jazz, with a unique beautiful township sound, first with vocal group SAfricanto and then with Angelique Kidjo
·Justin Adams & The Invisible Republic of JuJu: the guitarists is joined by guest artists from across North Africa
·Angelique Kidjo: is back with her band in the UK, hopefully we’ll get to hear Wombo Lombo, if you grew up in West Africa and are of a certain age you will know what I’m talking about! Google it if you haven’t got anything to do!
·King Sunny Ade: you will get to see a living legend in this British Council produced project as the Nigerian guitar and juju maestro shows why he is still up there when so many others have faded away
·Baaba Maal: continues with the constellations of grooviness as the Senegalese singer closes the evenings proceedings
The DJ is our good friend Rita Ray of The Shrine (hope you’ll be wearing your Proud to be African T shirt!!!) and hosted by Eddie Kadi. This is the time to clone yourself and split yourself right down the middle because there’s too much groove going on for one day. Tickets are a tiny £3.00!!! so book now to avoid disappointment from here
In the Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall is Imagining Africa: A Granta Salon at 12.30pm. This event hosted by Granta Magazine brings together artists such as Aminatta Forna, Yinka Shonibare, Diriye Osman and Michael Salu to explore how the realities of life across Africa find expression through Art, film and writing. Yup FREE
At 1.30pm in the Clore Ballroom, The South Bank Centre is a special FREE treat for all you African fashionistas; Africa on the Catwalk a collaboration between Ola Shobowale Creative Director if Infinite Beauty Factory and Sabrina Henry, Fashion Director, Arise Magazine, there are an exciting selection of designers originating from or inspired by the glorious continent of Africa. Designers from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and the UK to name a few will all grace the occasion.
Come 3.00pm and its time to Arise and Shine in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. You lucky lucky people will get Nigerian soul singer performing songs from his debut album ‘Super Sun’, our good friend Inua Ellams will be performing as will South African poet Lebo Mashile, alongside designer Tsemaye binitie, Missla Libsekalo of Another Africa website. Celebrating all that’s groovy in African music, fashion and culture, it’s brought to you by ARISE magazine and it’s all FREE
Quick Hide Madonna’s Coming: Adoption and Africa is at 4.30pm in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, in which adoptees Lemn Sissay (Sierra Leonean/ Nigerian), Hannah Pool (Eritrean), David Akinsanya (Nigerian) and Professor Adele Jones (antecedents unknown!) of the Centre for Applied Childhood Studies discuss adoption, Africa and creativity. FREE event
At 6.30pmat 30 Nigeria House, Stratford East we have another fashion show, with red carpet and music running till 8.00pm
At 7.30pmat 30 Nigeria House, Stratford East comes a treat of Nigerian music with Waliyah, multi instrumentalist WizBoyy performing from his new album ‘Infinity’, stunning vocalist Waje and TuFace of African Queen fame performing in the auditorium until 10.00pm. If you like don’t carry your leg to Stratford as quickly as possible! No Naija time oh, Tickets can be obtained for £20.00 - £25.00
At 7.45pm freeness ends in the Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, where we pay to see the superb Muntu Valdo, the Cameroonian one man band synchronising vocals, harmonica, guitar and percussion to produce a unique African sound. Tickets are £12.50
8.30pm sees The Ultimate Afrobeats Utopia, in The Clore Ballrom, The South Bank Centre; hosted by BBC1/1xtras DJ Edu with a special guest appearance of Nigerian superstar Ice Prince, also playing are DJ Neptixzzle, and afro house specialists Sef Kombo. Tickets for this funky mix of afrobeats, kwaito, naija pop, kuduro, azonto and kwaito are £10.00, with music from 9.00pm to 1.00am
Sunday 22nd July
At 10.00amthe Gallery and Boutique at 30 Nigeria House, Theatre Royal Stratford East, starts up again till 5.00pm with the market opening at 10.30am
Sunday’s Africa Utopia events kick off with the African Headwarp Workshop at 10.30am in the Level 5 Function Room. Dee McCalla of Wrappers Delight provides expert tuition for the perfect African headwrap. FREE event, but booking required either online (£1.75 fee) or by telephone (£2.75) or for free by visiting one of the South Bank Centre Ticket offices
In the Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall we have Future Africa: Acceleration and Urban Spaces at 11.00am with a panel discussing the effects of population expansion on the future of metropolitan Africa. This is a FREE event
At 11.00am the doors open for another day at the Africa Stage of BT’s River of Music at the Pleasure Gardens, at the London Docklands
·Tamarundi ft. Alhousseini Anivolla & Steven Sogo: Nigerien Alhousseini Anivolla meets Burundian Steven Sogo melding guitars with beautiful African traditional instruments for this unique sound
·East Africa United: sees 4 powerful and brilliant vocalists Mim Suleiman (Tanzania), Dorothee Munyaneza (Rwanda), Ayub Ogada (Kenya) and Geoffrey Oyama (Uganda) combining to capture the spirit of East Africa
·Muntu Valdo: The Cameroonian one man band is back on stage mixing, matching and blending in his unique way
·Krar Collective:The Krar Collective of Ethiopia present 'Horn of Hope' a new show with special guests Hassan Fourshed (Djibouti) Ikran Araaleh (Somalia) MeakleE Ogubamicael (Eritrea) as well as a special dance show.
·Noisettes: Shingai Shoniwa lead singer of this Indie rock band explores her Zimbabwean roots collaborating with a range of singers from across Southern Africa.
·Staff Benda Bilili + Zao: this collaboration brings together the capitals of the two Congo’s Brazzaville and Kinshasa, in musical unity from these two superb bands
At 12.30pm is Women Inspiration and Leadership in the Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, sees Beninois superstar singer/ activist Angelique Kidjo (hopefully rested from her performance yesterday), poet Lebo Mashile, Theo Sowa of the African Womens Development Fund, Jessica Horn and blogger Ms Afropolitan, discussing women inspiration and leadership (hence the title-Women Inspiration and Leadership!!). FREE event.
More Than Zebra Print: African Fashion Panel is in the Front Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at 2.00pm with Eyinne Owunwanne(founder of New York based fashion boutique Heritage 1960) , fashion blogger OneNigerianBoy, Hannah Pool (Eritrean Journalist/ Author), Christine Mhando (Chichia London) and Helen Jennings (founder of New African Fashion/ editor of ARISE magazine) talk fashion, Africa and fabulousness. Again this one is FREE
3.30pm at the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall is We Face Forward: Art from West Africa Today. Is hosted by The Manchester Galleries a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, curated by Whitworth curator Byrony Bond. This is a FREE event
At 5.00pm in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall is Music, Art and Social Change, in which singer/ activist Baaba Maal, contemporary performance artist Jelili Atiku, architect and RSA fellow Elsie Owusu and jazz singer Jumoke Fashola discuss the power of music to create social change. Another FREE event
It’s all happening in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall this afternoon you might as well find a good spot and sit tight because at 6.30pm the Eritrean singer Miryam Solomon performs her eclectic set in Tigrinya. FREE, FREE, FREE!
At 7.30pmat 30 Nigeria House, Stratford East comes another slice of Nigeria’s gift to the musical world with Choc Boiz consisting of M.I., Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince and Brymo and Wande Coal performing in the auditorium until 10.00pm. Tickets can be obtained for £20.00
Also at 7.30pm at Rich Mix, Bethnal Green Road we have Fernandos Kitchen a mix of modern Flamenco and North African music, tickets from £10.00 in advance and £13.00 on the door
At 8.30pm the Africa Utopia freeness ends but it is for a sublime treat as our good friend Inua Ellams brings his new play Knights Watch to the Royal Festival Hall. In a world where tower blocks are In a world where tower blocks are stone mountains and city walls are urban tapestries retelling epic fights, Michael keeps away from the warring tribes until a passerby helps him out of a tight situation Instantly, he is pulled into the culture he has tried to escape. The city spirals out of control as battle lines are drawn and redrawn. In the quest for balance, loyalty, faith and friendships are tested, but will Michael succeed in ending the war In rich poetry, and with a live soundtrack from drummer Aki Fujimoto and flautist Mikey Kirkpatrick, while Inua is at his poetic best conjuring up a city not unlike London and pictures a more beautiful world beyond it. Tickets are a mere £10.00 so you can take a friend it’s worth it!
Day 3 of The International Singles Conference 2012 continues at 10.00am at the Reading University Student Union, 360 Whiteknights Campus, Shinfield Road, Reading, RG6 6UR. With more seminars/ workshops and a Summer Ball in the evening featuring a BBC DJ and MTV Base comedian.
Many a wondrous events abounded this week for Proud to be African Clothing, however the key
ones for me were AFFORDs Africa Gives events.
Starting off with the launch on
Wednesday the 4th at Chatham House, St James Square, it was followed
by a full day of talks, workshops and seminars. Key note speaker on Saturday
was the Right Honourable Chuka Umunna MP, Shadow Secretary for Business,
Innovation and Skills, however he was preceded by 2 other speakers Ama Afrifa-Kyei and Herman Chinery-Hesse, both of whom were Ghanaian, both of whom have lived
in different parts of Africa (Ama in Kenya, Herman in Sierra Leone) and both of whom gave fascinating talks,
Ama who works in Employee Engagement and Diversity at Deloitte, but also has a background in CSR, spoke from the perspective of an ‘imported Ghanaian’, warming us up for what in terms of
content should have been the Keynote speech by Herman CEO of SOFTribe and
Blackstarline, Ghanaian software companies on the perspective of a returned
entrepreneur. Without doubt a fascinating, funny, honest and totally unscripted
account of his adventures and pitfalls of which I can barely do justice here,
hopefully the full presentation will be uploaded.
He moved back to Ghana 15 years ago with £200, having given
up his job on as an IT lecturer in a college in Oxford Street, once back in
Ghana he got in a drunken argument with his friend betting him he could get a
job in 2 days, once sober he was presented with the obvious dilemma of how to
make this work, at which point he took to trying to sell his a piece of
software he developed for Travel Agencies. Having got a meeting with the big
man he managed to sell it, and working out of his bedroom in his parents’ house
he slowly began to build his business.
From negotiating with angry mine workers who wished to lynch
him as his software had caused an accounting error in the Mining Companies
payroll to be corrected, to having to reassure worried company bosses that he
would not infect their computers with ‘bacteria’.
His company finally grew until it is now the number one
software company in Ghana, with his best selling product a subscription
physical security package whereby you sign up, your house is identified and if
you are in danger, you send a blank text message to the company which the
automatically alerts a private security company, your neighbours, the local
radio and (eventually) the police. To my mind a brilliant example of
identifying a problem (poor security and poor law enforcement), identifying the
tools for a solution (an abundance of mobile phones in every house), a way to
make it happen, (SMS, GPS, radio) and a way to monetise it (one off fee and
subscription). Really brilliant stuff.
Having obviously
proved his point that it is possible to succeed in Africa he observed that one
thing he had noticed was that Africa failed to trade with itself, to correct
this anomaly he has developed an online platform shopafrica53.com. An online
platform in which African micro businesses can sell their goods directly to
consumers, a fascinating task which involved merging the platform, with a
delivery mechanism, an international payment platform, SMS, the suppliers and
the buyers.
Allin all inspiring stuff, methinks Mr Chinery-Hesse is one
to watch.
The keynote speech was delivered by the Shadow Secretary
for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Right Honourable Chuka Umunna, a
son of Nigeria and a person to definitely watch in UK politics. He started by
recognising AFFORD and its efforts (a sentiment heartily shared by the audience)
and then mentioning how he viewed the issue from 3 positions from that of
someone of African heritage, as Shadow Secretary for BIS and as the
representative of an extremely diverse constituency.
He spoke about his late father who followed the well worn
path of landing in the UK and working in menial jobs whilst studying and once
he started his business remitted huge sums of money. He mentioned a study done
by Harriet Harman which showed the average annual wage was £12,000. This and
other factors had led the Labour Party to initiate a policy review on
remittances to which he encouraged AFFORD and other interested parties to put
in a submission.
There was a brief Q&A followed by a break and then the
workshops, these ranged from Masterclass: Pathways to Africa, Signposting, 4
simultaneous workshops, feedback and certificate awards.
AFFORD’s mission is to expand and enhance the contribution
Africans in the diaspora make to African development and I think this event
clearly ticks all those boxes
