Young people of colour in the UK don’t know enough about the history of British black music, according to Leee John, the former lead singer of 1980s soul funk group Imagination.
The band struck it big in the early 1980s with hits such as “Body Talk” and “Just an Illusion”, going on to sell 30 million albums worldwide.
Now, three decades after Imagination was part of a wave of new black artists, John says he is on a journey to “uplift and bring a positive message” to young black people beset by negative headlines about everything from the economy to stabbings and gangs.
The singer, now 65, has spent the past 10 years working on a history of British black music which he describes as his “life’s passion” and believes can offer young people knowledge to help unlock their potential.
“I think the issue with black music is that a lot of the kids don’t even know who, how, what or where things came from,” he told AFP.
“They feel like things may have started from the 90s and that’s it!”
John’s soon-to-be completed Flashback documentary project includes 400 hours of film edited into chapters going right back through the decades to the turn of last century.
It features over 100 interviews with a “kaleidoscope” of musicians, artists and others who have shaped black music in the UK.
They include Jaki Graham, Labi Siffre, Billy Ocean and Patti Boulaye as well as Pauline Black of The Selecter, Neville Staple of The Specials and Maizie Williams of Boney M.
– ‘Our time’ –
John, who grew up in London and briefly in New York during the 1960s and 70s in a family of St Lucian descent, says he was he was struck by the number of black British artists coming up after he returned from the United States.
“I thought, ‘Wow this is really interesting. So we can do it here too’,” he said.
Signed by a record company at the age of 15, he failed to score the hit record he wanted — something he describes as a painful experience that eventually made him “stronger”.
“That taught me a great deal and I had to learn my trade. I had to learn the industry and doing that made me stronger, wiser and more educated in the music scene and in how to survive,” he said.
John’s initial focus for the Flashback project was the late 1970s and 1980s, when he says there were many changes that “really changed the pathway for British black music on a global level”.
“I felt there was an organic-ness that we all had but what we didn’t have is support in distribution and marketing.”
As the new wave of black artists such as Sade, Trevor Walters, Maxi Priest and The Cool Notes started to make an impact, he says, record companies started to take note of the international interest they were generating and finally decided to invest in them.
“I think basically we found that we could do our own thing. We emulated the Americans but I felt that we found our voice.
“We’d studied, we’d learned and it was our time to create our own,” he said.
– ‘Positive message’ –
Imagination, a three-piece that also included Ashley Ingram and Errol Kennedy, had hits in 28 countries garnering them four platinum discs and nine gold discs.
Ingram and Kennedy left the band in 1987 and John and a new line-up continued until 1992 when they split.
John, also an ambassador for the SOS Children Village charity, has continued to perform both internationally and in the UK.
As some of those he interviewed for the project have since died, he said he was pleased to be able to help ensure their legacies.
“I think it’s taken for granted (but) you wouldn’t have half the artists doing what they do now if it wasn’t for these other artists,” he said.
“I think music is a universal language. That’s why they (young people) need to learn a little about Flashback and about the history of British black music.
“I think the more they learn about that, it will give them the incentive to understand what was, what is and what can still be,” he said.
“That’s my journey in life right now — to uplift and bring a positive message to the youth.”
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Iris Nevins’ Blockchain and NFT journey is captivating by all standards! As a woman in a male-dominated industry, Iris focuses on her contributions to the space rather than dwelling on potential limitations.
The CEO of Umba Daima’s determination and forward-thinking approach is evident as she continues to make her mark in the Blockchain and NFT world. Driven by her devotion to empowerment, equality, and innovation, her passion for aiding creators and promoting parity through technology is palpable as she shares her insights on the future of Blockchain and NFTs, especially in Africa.
Iris thinks NFTs will go beyond just artwork and become a primary method for storing and tracking various data, from medical records to legal documents and voting data. To fully leverage the potential of Blockchain in Africa, she emphasizes the importance of educating Africans on technology, supporting innovators, and improving infrastructure such as high-speed internet and access to computers.
MoveMint: Miss Nevins, can you relate your background and how you found yourself in Blockchain with MoveMint’s readers?
Iris Nevins (IN): “In 2020, I launched an online art store that helped Black artists in Africa and the Caribbean sell their artwork. Shortly after, I was introduced to NFTs by some college classmates. I was impressed by the opportunities that NFTs presented for creators but noticed that success required education, visibility, and community. So, together with my co-founder, we launched Black NFT Art to provide free promotion for Black/African NFT artists and to help them network and build relationships.”
MoveMint: With your background as an artist, where is the future of Blockchain technologies like NFTs heading?
IN: “I’m not an artist like most professional artists are, so I want to be careful with that term. My background is really in tech and education. NFTs will become the primary method for storing and tracking data, including medical records, legal documents, voting data, event registrations, user data, wills, deeds, etc. Its use goes far beyond artwork, but I do consider artwork to continue to be one of the more profound use cases because of how powerful a tool it can be for creators of intellectual property.”
MoveMint: Do you see Blockchain as a tool to mitigate socio-economic inequality in Africa?
IN: “I think every tool is employable for both good and bad. I hope that Blockchain is used to liberate, empower, and equalize, but that’s up to the people, leaders, and innovators within Africa to decide. It can just as effortlessly be used to create more inequality, so ‘intention’ and ‘values’ are what really matter.”
MoveMint: From your point of view, how does Africa bridge the digital divide to reap the potential of Blockchain tech?
IN: “I think empowering and educating Africans on how to use technology for problem-solving is really significant. Encouraging and supporting innovators who are building tech is really essential. And also, improving infrastructure is necessary. Investing in a robust infrastructure that supports high-speed internet will go a long way, and helping people access laptops/computers is crucial.“
MoveMint:What role do education and community building play in Blockchain adoption?
IN: “Any new technology is going to take time to adopt. And any technology that affects people’s finances should be very carefully taught to avoid unnecessary loss or suffering. So yes, absolutely, I think education is vital. It should be all forms, online, in-person, courses, etc. And then creating spaces where people can share what they are learning, and teach each other, goes a long way.”
MoveMint: Let’s look at the kind of policy that would provide Africa opportunities to derive maximum benefits from Blockchain?
IN: “I think policies that encourage innovation have positive consequences. In the US, we have some pretty outdated regulations around investments, making it very difficult for those with less wealth to actually build wealth because we’re not allowed to engage in “high-risk” or “unregulated” investment activities. The intention might be good, but the impact is restrictive for those of us who know what we’re doing and have the ability to take those risks. When it comes to crypto specifically, I hope countries realize that they don’t have to stick to outdated rules. It’s okay to evolve and let go of rules that don’t fit the new direction. People want the freedom to do what they want with THEIR money.”
MoveMint: Lastly, are there any challenges and biases against you as a woman in a male-dominated industry?
IN: “When people ask me this question, I always say, ‘I don’t know.’ I’ve never been blatantly mistreated or disrespected in this space for being a woman. Does my gender affect my opportunities, probably? Am I often in rooms with predominantly men? Yes, all the time! But I don’t spend much time thinking about what I might be losing because of my race or gender, and I try to stay hyper-focused on what I am contributing to the space!”
Follow Frisco d’Anconia on Twitter to ask any questions about Blockchain and Web3 technologies.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department is thrilled to announce its newest event, the Summer in the Park Series, presented by Marion Jewell and Kim Weyrauch of Keller Williams Realty.
This exciting series will replace Movies in the Park and offer an expanded celebration of art, theatre, and dance, showcasing the rich talent and vibrant arts scene in our community.
The Summer in the Park Series will consist of three separate events, each dedicated to highlighting a different aspect of the performing arts. These events aim to engage and entertain residents of all ages, fostering a deeper appreciation for the arts and promoting local talent.
The first event, Art in the Park, will kick off the Summer in the Park Series on June 10th, 2023, at Heritage Park from 3:00pm-6:00pm. This event will be a spectacular celebration of visual art and artistic expression. Visitors can expect an immersive experience as they explore diverse artworks, interact with local artists, and witness live demonstrations.
Art in the Park promises to be an enriching and inspiring event for all art enthusiasts. Any artist interested in participating can sign up at ClarksvilleParksRec.com or by following this direct link https://bit.ly/3pKwTX0
The second event, Theatre in the Park, will take place on July 22nd, 2023, at Liberty Park from 3:00pm-6:00pm. This captivating event will spotlight the world of acting and performance, bringing the magic of theatre to the great outdoors in the amphitheater at Liberty Park. Attendees will be treated to the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s abridged edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream presented by the Clarksville Arts and Heritage Development Council.
In addition to the professional show, attendees will enjoy performances by talented local actors from the Southern Black Arts Council. Theatre in the Park guarantees an unforgettable experience for theatre fans of all ages.
The grand finale of the Summer in the Park Series will be Dance in the Park, held on August 12th, 2023, at Liberty Park from 3:00pm-6:00pm. This energetic and exhilarating event will honor the beauty and diversity of dance in all its forms. Dance in the Park will be a vibrant celebration of movement, rhythm, and artistic expression, featuring local dancers and companies.
Amanda Pitt, the Event Planning Specialist behind the Summer in the Park Series, expressed her excitement about the upcoming events, saying, “We are thrilled to present the Summer in the Park Series, a platform for our community to come together and appreciate the immense talent in our local arts scene. These dynamic events will offer a next level experience that will be fun for everyone in the family. “
For more information about the Summer in the Park Series and other upcoming events, please visit the Clarksville Parks and Recreation website at ClarksvilleParksRec.com or contact the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department office at 931.645.7476 or parksrec@cityofclarksville.com
About the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department
Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department provides a variety of indoor/outdoor programs, facilities, nature activities and entertainment events for people living in Clarksville, Montgomery County and Fort Campbell. These free or reasonably priced, year-round experiences help residents enhance their health, wellness, and social engagement — resulting in a stronger, better community.
The Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department offers a wide variety of recreational facilities and activities for all ages, maintains more than 700 acres of parks and facilities, provides 22 park facilities that offer a variety of amenities, including playgrounds, picnic areas, walking trails and pavilions or picnic shelters and maintains three community centers with year-round programming for youth, adults and seniors, as well as four public swimming pools
The Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department is located at 102 Public Square, Clarksville.
To learn more call 931.645.7476.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Clarksville, TN – The Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is located in Historic Downtown Clarksville, Tennessee. Come explore an entire city block featuring large gallery spaces filled with fine art, science, and history.
Some of the events in June at the Museum include At Rest: A Still Life Invitational, David Smith: Tennessee Waterfalls, Between Tone & Texture: The Art of Edie Maney, Mapping Wars, Jammie Williams: Stories, Dreams and Visions, Jazz in June: An Evening with Kat Anderson, Recycled Robots with Dad.
Customs House Museum Exhibits
At Rest: A Still Life Invitational June 1st – August 30th | Orgain & Bruner Galleries
Even the simplest, everyday objects have the power to spark inspiration in an artist’s brush. This invitational exhibition features fourteen national, award-winning artists showcasing a variety of styles that celebrate the still life genre.
David Smith: Tennessee Waterfalls June 3rd – August 29th | Harvill Gallery
Local photographer David Smith captures the movement, spectacle, and allure of waterfalls across the state of Tennessee in this collection of photographs.
Between Tone & Texture: The Art of Edie Maney June 10th – August 21st | Crouch Gallery
Labeling herself an abstract expressionist, Edie Maney paints in a chaotic manner with layer after layer of color and strokes, finding a balance between intensity and motion. “For me, it is color that stimulates a conversation between tone and texture, between motion and shape. Four, five, six layers emerge – and a focal point is revealed.”
Mapping Wars Through July 6th | Kimbrough Gallery
This exhibit features artifacts from the Civil War to the Vietnam War, giving insight to the strategies and plans of those engaged in battle. Take a closer look at hand-drawn maps, government documents, battle flags, and more.
Jammie Williams: Stories, Dreams and Visions Through July 6th | Kimbrough Gallery
Jammie Williams is a professional painter and sculptor who lives and works in Middle Tennessee. His art is representational and often uses symbolic imagery. “My works are inspired by my personal memories, feelings, and emotions. I work towards conveying moods, the expression of dreams, wonder, and renewal bycreating personal myths and narratives. This series of works shows an exploration of these ideas.”
Pearl of the Orient: Celebrating the Early Cultures of the Philippines Through July 23rd | Lobby
Curated with members of our local AAPI community, this exhibit explores the various Indigenous cultures of the Philippines through languages, photographs, maps, clothing, and other artifacts.
Kitty Harvill: New to the Collection Through August 27th | Jostens Gallery
Kitty Harvill is an award-winning wildlife artist and illustrator. This exhibit features nine original watercolors of endangered animals, created during her time in Brazil. Since 2016, Harvill has led a group of like-minded artists through ABUN – Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature. Her work is included in collections throughout the United States, Brazil, Germany and Singapore.
Museum Events
First Thursday Art Walk June 1st, 5:00pm – 8:00pm Free to the public
The Museum offers free admission during First Thursday Art Walk Clarksville from 5:00pm – 8:00pm. Zander’s Woodfired Pizza food truck will be serving up some delicious pizza and photographer Nathan Collie will be doing a meet and greet at 6 pm for his book Moments with Birds.
Jazz in June: An Evening with Kat Anderson June 3rd | 6:00pm – 9:00pm Tickets $75.00 | 21+
The Museum welcomes Kat Anderson for a night of soulful jazz, food, drinks and dancing. Kat has toured with American funk band The Bar-Kays and is currently the lead female vocalist for the B.B. King All Star band at B.B. King’s Blues Club in downtown Memphis. She was recently featured on a single by The Justus Brothers that debuted on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Most Added list.
All proceeds for this event go towards the Museum’s mission. With your support, the Museum can continue to provide creative program opportunities for children, share artists’ work in new exhibits and preserve the history of our community by expanding our collection. Tickets are on sale now at customshousemuseum.org.
Pista sa Nayon: A Celebration of the Philippines June 10th | 10:30am – 12:00pm | All ages| Turner Auditorium This event is free and open to the public. Does not include Museum admission.
Join us for a special event honoring the diverse cultures, tribes, and communities of the Philippine Islands. This event will feature song and dance performances (including Tinikling, Bakya, Janggay, and more), food tastings, and a special craft activity for children.
Museum Programs
Storytime & Craft June 1st & 15th, 10:30am | All ages, with adult Free with membership or paid admission | Family Art Studio
Join us in the Family Art Studio to read our favorite children’s books and create fun summer-themed crafts!
*All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.
Recycled Robots with Dad June 11th | 1:30pm – 3:00pm | All ages, with adult $5.00 admission for children, FREE for dads/grandfathers/guardians| Executive Dining Room
Join us for a special Father’s Day art activity where families can work together to build their own robot out of recycled materials. Donuts and juice will be provided. Registration opens June 1 at customshousemuseum.org
*All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.
Buzzing About Pollinators! June 16th | 10:30am – 12:00pm | All ages, with adult
Free with membership or paid admission | Courtyard
To celebrate Pollinator Week, we’re spreading awareness about the preservation of native pollinator habitats. Come participate in fun, hands-on activities and enjoy bee-themed learning experiences and crafts. Janae’s Italian Ice will be set up in the Courtyard serving up cool, sweet treats.
*All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.
Celebrate Juneteenth at the Museum and create a beautiful Juneteenth-themed painting. Light snacks will be provided, and we welcome you to bring a bottle of wine or other libations (no hard liquor) to sip while you create. We will supply everything you need for a great night out with friends, family or a date. Space is limited! Registration on our website at customshousemuseum.org
Juneteenth Storytelling with Tammy Hall June 17th | 10:30am – 12:00pm | All ages, with adult| Turner Auditorium This event is free and open to the public. Does not include Museum admission.
Join us for a special Juneteenth storytime where children can learn about the history and culture of the Juneteenth holiday from professional storyteller Tammy Hall. Afterwards, stick around for a craft in the Coca Cola Café to create your own artwork inspired by African American artist Alma Thomas.
*All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.
Family Art Saturday: Filipino Art with Sheryl LaFond June 24th| 10:00am – 12:00pm & 2:00pm – 4:00pm| Ages 3+, with adult Free with membership or paid admission | Family Art Studio
In conjunction with one of our newest exhibits, Pearl of the Orient, use different paint and drawing mediums to create your own Filipino artwork along with local artist Sheryl LaFond.
*All parents are expected to participate with and supervise their children.
F&M Bank Huff & Puff Express Model Trains Exhibit open daily | Trains run Sundays 1:00pm – 4:00pm, Wednesdays 10:00am – 12:00pm, Fridays 10:00am – 12:00pm and the last Saturday of each month 1:00pm – 4:00pm
The circus is coming to town! Enjoy one of the largest model railroad layouts in the region boasting a miniature castle, UFO, scenic landscape, and an interactive circus. Interact with the miniature world by making carnival rides move and helicopters fly. The model train exhibit is open daily, and themes change every season.
Seasons: The Museum Store
20% off ALL wood and metal items Offer expires June 30th, 2023
Just in time for Father’s Day, shop an assortment of hand-crafted wood and metal items made right here in Tennessee for 20% off all month long!
About the Customs House Museum
Located in the heart of historic downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center is the State’s second largest general museum. The original portion of the building was constructed in 1898 as a U.S. Post Office and Customs House for the flourishing tobacco trade. Incorporating a number of architectural styles, the original structure is one of the most photographed buildings in the region.
With over 35,000 square feet of the region’s best hands-on activities and special events…people of all ages agree – the Customs House Museum is well worth the stop!
The Explorer’s Gallery is packed with fun, learning and fantasy in Aunt Alice’s Attic, McGregor’s Market and kitchen, and of course – the Bubble Cave! Finally, get “all aboard” to see our fantastic model trains. Our volunteer engineers “ride the rails” every Sunday afternoon from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.
Regular museum hours are 10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday, and 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Sundays. Adult admission is $7.00, Senior Citizens and College ID $5.00, Ages 6 to 18 $3.00, and under six years and Museum members are free.
The Customs House Museum is located at 200 South Second Street. For more information, call 931.648.5780 or visit their website at www.customshousemuseum.org
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Venice, May 20 (AP) Scottish-Ghanaian architect Lesley Lokko is giving a platform to voices that have long been silenced at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, which opens on Saturday, the first ever curated by an African, featuring a preponderance of work by Africans and the African diaspora.
The 18th architectural Biennale, titled “The Laboratory of the Future,” explores decolonization and decarbonization, topics about which Africans have much to say, Lokko said, citing the long exploitation of the continent for both human and environmental resources.
“The Black body was Europe’s first unit of energy,’ Lokko told The Associated Press this week.
“We have had a relationship to resources since time immemorial. We operate at a place where resources are not stable. They are also often fragile. They’re often exploited. Our relationship to them is exploitative.”
Lokko tapped global stars like David Adjaye and Theaster Gates among 89 participants in the main show — more than half of them from Africa or the African diaspora. To reduce the Biennale’s carbon footprint, Lokko encouraged the participating architects, artists and designers to be as “paper-thin” as possible with their exhibits, resulting in more drawings, film and projections as well as the reuse of materials from last year’s contemporary art Biennale.
“This exhibition is a way of showing that this work, this imagination, this creativity, has been around for a very, very long time,’ Lokko said. “It’s just that it hasn’t found quite the right space, in the same way.”
It is a fair question why an African-centric exhibition has been so long in coming to such a high-profile, international platform like Venice.
Okwui Enwezor, the late Nigerian art critic and museum director, was the first African to head the Venice Biennale contemporary art fair, which alternates years with the architectural show, in 2015. Lokko was the first Biennale curator selected by President Roberto Cicutto, who was appointed in 2020 during the global push for inclusion ignited by the killing of George Floyd in the United States.
“This is more for us than for them,” Cicutto said, “to see the production, hear the voices we have heard too little, or heard in the way we wanted to.”
Impediments in the West to inclusive events with a focus on the global south were evident in the refusal by the Italian embassy in Ghana to approve visas for three of Lokko’s collaborators, which Lokko decried this week as “an old and familiar tale.”
A refocusing of the North-South relationship is suggested in the main pavilion’s facade: a corrugated metal roof cut into deconstructed images of the Venetian winged lion. The material is ubiquitous in Africa and other developing regions, and here offers free shade. The lion, native to Africa and for centuries a symbol of Venice, serves as a reminder of how deeply cultural appropriation runs.
“I don’t see any lions around here,’ Lokko said wryly.
Inside, Adjaye’s studio exhibits architectural models created “outside the dominant canon,” like the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library in South Africa that takes inspiration from pre-colonial buildings. Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama explores the colonial exploitation in the installation, “Parliament of Ghosts.”
And Olalekan Jeyifous, a Brooklyn-based Nigerian national, creates a sprawling retro-futuristic narrative around the fictional formation of a united African Conservation Effort, something he imagines would have been constructed a decade after African decolonization in an alternative 1972.
His is no utopia. This new global Africa he imagines is flattened, at the expense of local traditions.
“It’s never utopia/dystopia. Such binary Western terms, that I’m really interested in operating outside of,’ said Jeyifous, who won the Silver Lion for a promising young participant. “It’s not just: We’ve solved all the problems now. Everything’s fantastic. It’s never that simple.”
The Golden Lion for the best participant in the main show went to Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal for their exhibit DAAR, exploring the legacy and reuse of fascist colonial architecture.
More than in previous editions, the 64 national participants responded to Lokko’s themes with pavilions that found a natural echo with the main show and its focus on climate change issues and an expanded, more-inclusive dialogue.
Denmark offered practical solutions for coastal areas to work with nature to create solutions to rising seas, proposing Copenhagen islands that invite the sea in to form canals, not unlike Venice’s.
The strategy contrasts with Venice’s own underwater barriers, which, underscoring the urgency of the issue, had to be raised during the Biennale preview week outside the usual flood season and for the first time ever in May.
Decolonisation was a natural theme at the Brazilian pavilion, where curators Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares show the architectural heritage of indigenous and African Brazilians, and challenge the “hegemonic” narrative that the capital, Brasilia, was built in the “middle of nowhere.” Their exhibit, titled “Terra,’ was awarded the Golden Lion for the best national participant.
“Decolonization is really a practice,’ Tavares said. “It’s an open word, like freedom, like democracy.”
The US Pavilion looked at ubiquitous plastic, invented and propagated in the United States, and how to cope with its durability, under the title “Everlasting Plastic.” In one of the five exhibits, Norman Teague, a Chicago-based African American artist, designer and furniture-maker, used recycled plastics from such everyday items as Tide laundry detergent bottles to create one-off baskets, referencing weaves from Senegal and Ghana.
Teague said he was inspired by Lokko’s themes to consider “how I could really think about the lineage between the continent and Chicago.”
Ukraine returns to the Biennale with two installations that, in the gentlest possible way, serve as a reminder that war continues to rage in Europe. The pavilion in the Arsenale has been decked out in black-out materials to represent ad-hoc, if futile protective measures ordinary Ukrainians are taking against the threat of Russian bombardment.
In the center of the Giardini, curators Iryna Miroshnykova, Oleksii Petrov and Borys Filonenko have recreated earthen mounds that served as barriers against 10th century invaders. Though long abandoned, overtaken by modern farming and sprawl, they proved effective against Russian tanks last spring.
Despite their serious message, the curators said they hope visitors will come to lounge, and that children will be left to roll down the grassy hills.
“These spaces, the fortifications, are a place to be quiet, to chill. But it is also kind of a reminder that somewhere, someone is fearing for their safety,’ Filonenko said.(AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
To paraphrase the opening lines from the classic sitcom The Odd Couple, can an African-American artist from Houston and a white artist from Austin share a collaboration without driving each other crazy?
Beginning Saturday, May 20, artists Robert Leroy Hodge and Tim Kerr will prove they absolutely can when they debut “Robert Hodge x Tim Kerr: No Kings But Us.” The new exhibit at Blaffer Gallery consists of collaborative pieces the pair spent nearly a year working on.
This union has been a long time in the making. Both men were already aware of each other’s work. “I had a show in San Antonio at a gallery with another friend and [the owner] just kept telling me about Robert — that we should do something together,” Kerr, 67, tells CultureMap.
Third Ward art vet Hodge admits he’s been a longtime fan of the DIY artist/musician. “I’ve been following Tim’s work since I was a kid,” says Hodge, 44. “He’s well-published, so I wasn’t a stranger to Tim’s work… That’s why it was so easy for me to say yeah.”
Art enthusiast/hip-hop producer Russel Gonzalez finally got these two working together. As someone who’s hung pieces from both artists in the lobby of the Dakota Lofts (where he also serves as property manager), Gonzalez knew this was a creative partnership waiting to happen. “As I’m looking at these pieces, Robert is telling me how he pretty much knew all about Tim and knew some things about Robert,” says Gonzalez. “But I just started thinking about how this could be a really wonderful collaboration because of their color.”
Their color?
“Just the colors that they were using, and some of the messaging,” he adds. Both men do have a knack for creating striking pop-art collages, usually sprinkled with righteous agitprop. “Robert and Tim’s themes are very aligned. They may have different images for different things on the paper or on the canvas. But I see their themes as being very much aligned.”
The collaborating started back in August, with Hodge and Kerr sending pieces back and forth to each other and Gonzalez serving as a courier. “From that point on,” says Gonzalez, “we just started to build the ideas and grow and throw in different ideas about what we wanted to do for branding, logos, names, where we wanted it to be at — and, then, go after it.”
Eventually, they knew they had to be in the same space together. Gonzalez got Hardy & Nance Studios to provide a two-week, temporary space for the pair earlier this year, and that’s where the work started flowing.
“Tim did a lot of work and, then, I’d have to figure how to respond to things he was saying in the work,” says Hodge. “When you collaborate, you gotta be thoughtful. You gotta think about where your placement is, what are you responding back to… It was always a trade-off, back and forth.”
With both men in the same space, the pieces became more unified. Says Kerr, “Because it’s not just a Black man saying this or a white man saying this, it’s Black and white saying the things that we’re saying — which kinda come off, to me, a bit stronger.”
With both men showing off the fruits of their labor at the Blaffer (they previously did a test run earlier this month at a Marfa gallery), the pair hopes this could lead to more projects in the future. “I’m looking forward to building more works with Tim,” says Hodge. Adds Kerr, “I’m sure we’re gonna kinda keep going with this.”
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Robert Hodge x Tim Kerr: No Kings But Us will run through June 4 at Blaffer Art Museum, 4173 Elgin St. The opening reception starts at 6 pm Saturday, May 20 and is free to the public. For more information, visit the exhibit’s site.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
White Coat Black Art26:30The secret to success at Community Health Centres
On any given day, the employees of Centretown Community Health Centre near downtown Ottawa see a diverse range of patients, from the unhoused to seniors to families with young children who have struggled to find family doctors.
Similar to a school catchment area, the idea is that anyone who lives in the area — which includes the Glebe, Centretown and Old Ottawa South — is automatically able to qualify for the centre’s services. It’s an attempt to patch the gaps in a province where over two million people are without primary care.
Now, though, much like primary care offices across the country, it’s contending with capacity issues of its own. While community health centres (CHCs) are aiming to be more efficient with their existing staff to address some of these issues, advocates are calling for ministries of health to expand their efforts toward providing more team-based health care.
Clinic staff and other primary care providers say there’s a lot the rest of Canada can learn from Centretown’s model of collaborative, comprehensive care and location-based access to family doctors.
The Centretown Community Health Centre provides location-based access to family doctors. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)
Unlike a family doctor’s office, which deals just with primary care, the CHC model teams up family physicians with other health professionals, like nurses, social workers and dietitians. This way doctors can focus on the medical piece while patients can access a range of care under one roof.
Centretown started in 1969 as a community resource centre, the first of its kind in Ontario, and then became a community health centre in 1974.
Clients are able to access an array of services, from harm reduction and showers for the unhoused, to mental health services, help finding emergency shelter and an early years program for families with kids under five.
There are also community health workers, dietitians and physiotherapists on hand.
The centre’s mission is to meet the health and social needs of clients who are complex and could be turned away by doctors restricted to standard, short appointments.
“If they are too complex, we say, ‘Yes, we are the place to serve you,'” says Michelle Hurtubise, executive director of the clinic.
Michelle Hurtubise is executive director of the Centretown Community Health Centre. It is set up as a not-for-profit organization where the physicians and nurse practitioners are employees of the centre. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)
It is also one of the few primary care practices in Ottawa that provides gender-affirming care for transgender individuals.
Family docs avoid small biz headaches
Another unique aspect of Centretown’s model is how the clinic is staffed. Unlike traditional family practices, where doctors usually function like small businesses — bearing high overhead costs and significant administrative responsibilities, like hiring and firing — Centretown is set up as a not-for-profit organization where the more than 220 full-time and part-time physicians and nurse practitioners are employees of the centre.
“I don’t want to be a small business owner. I want to do what I was trained to do, which is to be a clinician,” says Dr. Erin Hanssen, one of Centretown’s physicians.
Dr. Erin Hanssen is one of the centre’s physicians, who are also salaried in a way that’s distinct from their fee-for-service counterparts. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)
Physicians are also salaried in a way that’s distinct from their fee-for-service counterparts, giving them a stable income plus pension and benefits.
That difference has made hiring much easier, says Hurtubise. While family practice residencies and staff positions have gone unfilled elsewhere in the country, she says they’ve “been fortunate that we have not actually had difficulty with recruitment.”
WATCH | Behind the shortage of family doctors in Canada:
What’s behind the shortage of family doctors in Canada?
10 months ago
Duration 6:53
Family physicians Dr. Kamila Premji and Dr. Rita McCracken discuss the shortage of family doctors in Canada and what can be done to ease the situation.
Centretown is largely funded by the Ministry of Health, with 85 per cent of their funding coming from the province.
Responding to a critical need echoed across the country, the physicians at Centretown point to their expansive patient list — they have close to 15,000 clients — and successful health outcomes as proof that this health care model is working well.
Team-based approach to care
There are currently about 120 CHCs across Canada, with new ones in the works. The model is part of a shifting landscape of front-line care, one that many doctors say puts the patient first.
“I think that the team-based approach gives the best to the client because they can get the service they need when they need it,” says Centretown physician Dr. Alison Eyre.
We are preventing limb amputations, retinopathy, high blood pressure and hypertension and we then become a very cost-effective model.– Michelle Hurtubise
She points to the clinic’s ability to get patients specific services quickly, whether it’s immunization, a social worker or an outreach nurse. “Most of our fee-for-service [clinics] don’t have access to such resources,” she says.
Hurtubise also says CCHC has “better outcomes across the board,” for their clients when it comes to issues like diabetes, blood pressure control and smoking cessation. “So that’s a massive health care savings,” she says.
For example, she says someone with diabetes using a CHC can see an OHIP-covered dietitian to gain control of their blood sugar, and other health professionals they may need like a chiropodist for foot insoles.
“We are preventing limb amputations, retinopathy, high blood pressure and hypertension and we then become a very cost-effective model,” she said.
Plus, they may encounter a smoother referral process, as physicians know they’re sending patients to specialists with experience in vulnerable or underserved communities.
“I think team-based care provides better outcomes, period,” echoes Dr Jennifer Rayner, the director of research and evaluation at Alliance for Healthier Communities, a research program helping to determine how Ontario’s health care system can better serve vulnerable populations.
Patient Amanda Massia, centre, sits in an examination room at the Centretown Community Health Centre and speaks with Dr. Erin Hanssen, right, and Michelle Hurtubise. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)
Rayner also sees potential for places like Centretown to reach communities that may be overlooked by the medical field.
She points to “tons and tons of evidence” that settings like Centretown support communities that are “often not visible” elsewhere. And in doing so, reduces the amount those communities go to the emergency room.
“We saw that despite CHC’s serving a population that was 70 per cent more complex than the average Ontarian, they were going to the emergency room less often,” she says.
Researchers also found a 21 per cent lower-than-expected rate of emergency department visits for CHC clients compared with the provincial average.
Community health centres in Canada regularly take on more racialized and low-income patients than traditional doctor’s offices, says Dr. Andrew Boozary. (Submitted by the University Health Network)
Dr. Andrew Boozary, a primary care physician and the executive director of population health and social medicine at Toronto’s University Health Network, agrees. He says CHCs in Canada regularly take on more racialized and low-income patients than traditional doctor’s offices.
“There is not a risk adjustment, or an incentive, for family health teams to take on sicker, poorer, racialized patients,” he said.
That’s why, he says, there is often such a “mismatch in where health-care needs are and the kind of primary careresources that are being made available.”
WATCH | Inside Canada’s family doctor crisis:
‘I feel like I’m failing’: Inside Canada’s family doctor crisis
2 months ago
Duration 9:18
The family medicine crisis has two sides, and profound consequences for us all. Nick Purdon meets with an elderly patient in rural Ontario who’s been trying to find a family doctor for a year and an overwhelmed family physician who admits to missing things with her patients.
Hanssen says that’s definitely the case for patients like Amanda Massia who would otherwise struggle to find appropriate care.
“Amanda is on a fixed income. Amanda has significant medical and mental health challenges and she’s a smoker. So substance use is also part of her challenges,” she says.
For Massia, the care she receives at Centretown is “very, very important.” She says she’s been in and out of mental health facilities for much of her life and prefers the approach at CCHC. “It’s not nice to be locked up on a ward. To be free and to be able to come in and talk to somebody, it’s a lot better,” she says.
From left to right, Michelle Hurtubise, patient Amanda Massia and Dr. Erin Hanssen outside the downtown Ottawa clinic. (Trevor Pritchard/CBC)
At Centretown, Massia receives what’s known as comprehensive primary health care, which is distinct from standard primary care, says Dr. Hanssen. She sees primary care as managing illness, whereas primary health care also includes health promotion and disease prevention.
Centre now maxed out
However, even Centretown is not immune to the kinds of capacity issues that often hamper Canadians’ search for family care.
“Unfortunately, we are at max capacity,” says Hurtubise of the clinic. Though it remains open for drop-in services like mental health and addiction, when it comes to family physicians, even those who live in the catchment area are being turned away.
“Unfortunately, although we are in the Centretown CHC catchment area and have tried in the past, it is well-known that they don’t take new patients,” says Ottawa resident Carolyn Inch, a senior who says while she thinks the Centretown model is superior to traditional fee-for-service providers, so far she’s been unable to access their services. “There is a need for a complete rethinking of our approach to health care,” she said.
Hurtubise understands Inch’s frustrations. “Some of the conversations we are having [are] ‘So what can we do in our own systems to increase capacity? What are the ways that we could look at improving some of our own efficiencies?'” she says.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
A Dutch museum has provoked social media anger that has spread as far as Egypt with an exhibition on how ancient Egyptian culture has been seen through the eyes of artists with African roots.
The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, opened the show Kemet: Egypt in hip hop, jazz, soul & funk (until 3 September), to link its collection with black artists’ explorations of ancient Africa—from notions of spirituality, pride and power to eye make-up and costume.
But it has unintentionally provoked ire including, according to the Egypt Independent newspaper, questions to government from a member of Egypt’s House of Representatives for alleged cultural appropriation and showing artwork representing a Black man as an ancient Egyptian.
The exhibition runs coincidentally at the same time as a Netflix show that has stirred up international controversy by portraying Cleopatra as Black. In recent weeks, after outraged comment on Facebook group Egyptian History Defenders, the Dutch museum saw an influx of one-star Google reviews with comments like “Egypt was never Black”, briefly suspended its Facebook page and issued a defence.
Dr Daniel Soliman, the curator of the Egyptian and Nubian collection, who is half-Egyptian, says they were aware that the topic would be sensitive but that the show was displaying points of view that have often been neglected by the museum world.
“This is a very difficult topic and that is the thing with this exhibition: I think you really have to give it a chance,” he says. “There are several voices in the exhibition, and maybe some of that nuance is difficult to communicate through a single Facebook post, for example. There are Egyptians, or Egyptians in the diaspora, who believe that the pharaonic heritage is exclusively their own. The topic of the imagination of ancient Egypt in music, predominantly from the African diaspora, Black artists in different styles, jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop, had long been ignored.”
With the help of music, video, interviews and colourful artefacts, the exhibition compares its own pieces such as a wall relief from 640BC with the way that ancient Egypt has inspired Black artists including Erykah Badu, Beyoncé, Rihanna and John Singleton, the maker of Michael Jackson’s Remember The Time video.
It represents debates around cultural appropriation, looting, nose shape in ancient Egyptian statues and most controversially shows a golden, Tutankhamun-like statue by David Cortes, titled I Am Hip Hop. The statue, on loan from the artist, is based on a 1999 Nas album cover portraying the black rapper as an Egyptian statue. This has led to reported criticism from some Egyptian antiquities experts such as Abd al-Rahim Rihan that the museum was “portraying Tutankhamun as Black”—something it denies.
Dr Soliman stresses the show does not take a standpoint beyond giving space in a museum for a different set of viewpoints. “I think ancient Egypt oftentimes is presented either through images created in academia or in popular culture or art as being rather monolithic,” he says. “There will have been people who, nowadays, we would have called in Western terminology Black people. That doesn’t mean that we can put that label on an entire culture that lasted for 3,000 years. But that’s something that is difficult to maybe explain to people, especially if certain stereotypes have been perpetuated.”
Wim Weijland, the director of the National Museum of Antiquities, says in a statement the museum does not claim all ancient Egyptians were Black. “The exhibition does not have an Afrocentric perspective on ancient Egypt, but critically talks about some ideas presented in the music,” he explains. “For example, the exhibition explains that the word Kemet refers to the black fertile soil along the Nile, not to skin colour [and] that there is no truth to the conspiracy theory that the noses of statues were cut off in modern times to hide presumed African features.”
The museum says it welcomes all perspectives. “It’s very important that Egyptians in Egypt and Egyptians in the diaspora are included in talks about ancient Egypt, because it’s undeniable how they feel a connection,” says Dr Soliman. “And in fact, we’ve always tried to do this.”
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Nigeria has scored remarkable wins in music over the last decade, readying its local talents for a global industry that is dominated by African art.
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Afropop is driving concert euphoria and raking in massive numbers on digital streamers with its typical injection of indigenous styles, complex rhythms and percussion into foreign influences to create music that transcends cultures. Western hitmakerswant in on this power shift, attracting major collaborations that continue to fuel the genre’s global growth.
Nigeria is among the five minority countries thataccount for an estimated 86% of music revenue from Africa, so much so, that brands like UMG, Warner, and Sony who control about 69% share of the global music recording market are either prepping to set up shop in Lagos or snapping up Nigeria’s local talents in deals of various sorts.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), projects, that Nigeria’s music will hit $44 million in 2023, with live music alone already contributing $100 million yearly.
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The movie scene is not left out as cinema revenue is projected to grow to $12 million by 2026 from the $6.6 million recorded in 2021, while Nigeria’s OTT (over-the-top) video streaming market – which includes players like Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video – is to spiral up from the $14 million of 2021 to $26 million by the end of 2026.
Netflix alone invested over $23 million to either license local titles or commission original Nigerian content between 2016 and 2022, marking the country as being among its three priority markets for film in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside South Africa and Kenya.
Nigeria’s OTT Video & Cinema Revenue
Major production firms are making inroads into Nollywood through deals and partnerships with stakeholders to exploit untold stories and tap into what is widely believed to be the world’s second-largest film industry by volume.
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As a powerhouse of African entertainment, Nigeria captivates global audiences with a vibrant music and film scene, an unrivalled cultural heritage, and a growing reputation for producing world-class artists. The country has the potential to exploit its successes, its growing clout, and the accompanying hype in music and film to build a thriving tourism ecosystem. But discourse with creative sector bigwigs easily reveals a shared opinion; the majority think Nigeria is yet to fully leverage the dividends that the country’s showbiz wins hold for the tourism industry.
BRINGING THE HYPE HOME WITH AMPLIFIED LOCAL TOURING
Nigeria occupies a crucial spot in global showbiz, with over 218 million in population, so its commercial nerve doubles as an entertainment industry hub that should make the country a destination for music and film business in Sub-Saharan Africa. There should be more festivals, likeFlytime, and big concerts attracting foreigners to Lagos from within and outside the continent.
Afropop poster boys likeWizkid,Davido, andBurna Boy often report massive admissions and sell out concert spaces internationally but spread for local touring and live music on the home front beyond Lagos and Abuja is comparatively a sharp anticlimax.
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Music critic Motolani Alakewrote that Wizkid and Burna Boy demand up to $700,000 and $1,000,000 for a single show as of 2022, with promoters having to satisfy their production and hospitality conditions. Their ability to sell out 20,000-capacity venues in major US cities with relative ease while making tons of revenue therefrom, he adds, elevated the performance fees of Nigerian talents into global standards.
November 2022: Wizkid in concert at Ziggo Dome Arena, Amsterdam
One could argue that rising ticket prices for big artistes coupled with a shrinking disposable income in Nigeria are making local concerts of certain standards and scales unattractive to show organisers and, in turn, forcing high-priced performing musicians to instead prioritise foreign gigs for the forex they bring.
But there’s the long-standing discourse of purpose-built concert arenas and how many of those are available across states. Nigerialacks proper event spaces to host big concerts. Small venues such as The New Afrika Shrine owned by the Kutis, Terra Kulture, and the outdoor space of Freedom Park in Lagos host concerts and events. But besides Eko Hotel, the state lacks top-tier venues and show production infrastructure with the capacity to showcase local or visiting international artists, a major disincentive for both organizers and talents who are losing out on real value.
Open-air arenas like the Landmark Beach or Eko Atlantic can take up to 7,000 or 10,000 in capacity while the national theatre in Lagos, which is still being refurbished, has a capacity of 5000 people. Promoters, in many cases, have to pour resources into hiring workers, spend days setting up a stage, procure their own sound equipment, and then worry about whether or not they will be able to break or make a significant profit that is worth the trouble.
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“The purchasing power of concertgoers, event marketing, the venues, quality checks, the charges by the artistes, branding, and revenue for show promoters are some key elements of live music,” Alake told TheCable. “In Nigeria, local touring isn’t great right now but it’s fair to say that it is on its ascendancy.”
With a huge youth population, Nigeria already offers a domestic market that should be large enough to sustain a thriving local music ecosystem and the much more secondary tourism perks of it.
However, the media hype and other apparent signs of global success at the top, frequently conceal a deep-seating lack of structure on the domestic front that deprives many budding creatives of a clear path to climb to stardom. This makes it hard for Nigeria to produce local stars and leaves a privileged few gunning for an international break.
Alake thinks some level of regulatory grip on ticket pricing and the performance charge demanded by indigenous artists for home-front concerts could ensure that promoting shows remains a profitable venture, yet, aiding tourism. “Artists are charging an arm and a leg. Do we have a body that checks standards and makes talents understand they have to cut down their fee when throwing a concert back home, and not expect Nigerians to put together $500,000? No.”
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THE UNDERPLAYED COST OF INSECURITY
The southeast grapples with years of tension emanating from the activity of secessionist elements that often cause a clash between proscribed groups, local vigilantes, and the state’s security forces. Imo state in the region particularly struggles with an additional kidnapping crisis where victims are abducted and made to pay ransom. States in the south-south deal with militancy. In the southwest, abductions are worsened by communal clashes.
A part of the northeast including Borno has terrorism issues and hosts the long-dreaded Boko Haram sect.
Banditry is rife in the northwest, with Sokoto and Kebbi states affected. The north central also has a share of both farmer-herder clashes and terrorist tension. All six geopolitical zones deal with their own security situations, albeit, at varying levels of intensity and spread. No entertainer would embark on major tours across these states without exhaustive security situation analysis. This adds an extra layer of cost to what is traditionally required to put shows together, where concert promoters have to constantly worry about the safety of their audience and the artiste.
Insecurity over the years etched horrid stats on Nigeria’s development indicators,dried out investment, increased unemployment, cut state revenue, and affected overall economic growth so that the country ranked as the third most insecure in the2020 Global Terrorism Index, although later improving by only five places to rank at eighth place in 2023. This comes alongside rising poverty levels, with Nigeria’s Bureau of Statistics (NBS) classifying 63% of the country’s entire population as poor in late 2022. Inflation levelsare up and purchasing power isshrinking.
Map of Insecurity
This leaves promoters and invested stakeholders with an affordability problem to factor in when pricing tickets. But Folorunsho Cocker, drawing a parallel with the US, argues that Nigeria’s security crisis doesn’t pose as much threat as believed. “There’s beenover 100 mass shootings in America as of today. There’s a 50-50 chance that you’ll be killed. But you give people tickets to a US concert and they won’t reject it,” the politician, who heads the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), says.
Coker argues that there’s a need to reverse the negative image of Nigeria in the global media if the quest to build out the local tourism ecosystem would work. “Foreigners assume that, as you’re sitting wherever you’re now, there’s a terrorist with an AK-47 riffle to your head. But that is not the reality. Tourism is the reward for positive things unfolding in a place where a tourist doesn’t live. They naturally move from place to place to see it if they feel safe.”
The secessionist Biafran war of the late 60s nearly erased growth recorded in Nigeria’s music sector in the preceding decade. Local touring was how indigenous music talents amassed fame and built their fandom across the country into the 70s and the 80s, ultimately exporting this soft power to countries like France and the US. An artiste generating enough buzz got funded to do multi-city shows on a tour bus. Foreign labels like Interscope and Sony had a footing in Nigeria, signing talents directly or through affiliation. “By the 90s, it got progressively worse,” says sonic artist Brymo who himself has done gigs across Nigerian cities including Lagos and Ibadan in his pan-African leaning.
Alake adds that military rule, decadence, insecurity, and other issues “nearly snuffed the life” out of people. “Some of our music majors left Nigeria. They had intellectual property issues and no freedom to create,” the critic says.
In late 2022, the two brands Balmoral Group and The Temple Company called off a festival they had planned for two years, citing safety concerns in Lagos, a state that presupposed to be largely insulated from the security crisis plaguing other regions in Nigeria. “The decision has been made based on the advice of security agents with the safety of our audiences, artists, crew, and venue staff in mind,” said both companies in a joint press statement.
Burna Boy hosted an estimated 30,000 people and over 11,000 vehicles at Eko Energy City in Lagos in early 2023 for what he himself would call an “abysmally done” show after it ended in an indiscriminate attack and assault by thugs.
VALUE CAPTURE WOES DESPITE LARGE DOMESTIC MARKET
The lack of a strong business structure and state backing, coupled with piracy and existing challenges, leaves Nigeria’s music industry struggling to capture significant value. It explains why South Africa, with just over 61 million people, outpaces Nigeria in revenue from recorded music.
Nigeria’s Music Revenue & Projections
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), in its 2023 global music industry report, showed that Sub-Saharan Africa beat other regions to become the fastest-growing market for recorded music in 2022, with a dramatic 34.7% revenue increase. “The era when artists from English-speaking markets dominated the global pop charts has long passed,”says Billboard’s Thom Duffy.
But according to the IFPI, this growth was driven by a sharp 31.4% boost to revenues in the region’s largest market, South Africa. South Africa is hardly able to compete with the volume of music that comes from Nigeria, considering Nigeria’s emigration profile and die-hard hustle culture aiding global visibility. However, South Africa’s more mature entertainment & media industry remains its edge over Nigeria, which has largely untapped revenue streams in publishing due to a dysfunctional royalty collection ecosystem.
To demonstrate Nigeria’s value capture problem, Burna Boy earned $1.57 million for a single concert at New York’s Maddison Square Garden in 2022. Wizkid also made $1 million performing just one time at the venue. These monies neither contribute in any significant way to Nigeria’s economy nor grow the local market beyond the hype.
A couple of top artists in Nigeria are signed to foreign music companies, Wizkid to RCA and Tiwa Savage to Universal. These companies, with limited local presence in Nigeria, operate predominantly outside the continent, command significant rights to their signee’s works, and stash away revenue in banks local to regions where they were earned.
“RCA and Sony Music monetise Wizkid’s MIL album. The money this album would’ve generated if there was a strong local industry could have belittled whatever numbers come out of South Africa,” says Alake. “Afrobeats is our biggest export now and it’s sad that we don’t own any of the IP or the Afrobeats itself.”
Coachella, which enlists Nigerian performers from time to time, and Stagecoach Festival in the US, both generate up to $704 million in economic activity for the state of California alone. Nigeria already has lots of cultural festivals that can yield significant tax revenue if well-branded. The country has great potential on the music front that could boost the country’s soft power on multiple fronts if cross-regional barriers are tackled.
In 2019, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo launched his Year of Return project, a 12-month slate of events for diasporans to reconnect with their roots and mark the 400-year anniversary of the earliest record of enslaved Africans being forced upon the Virginia shore. The homecoming aimed to attract 500,000 extra visitors. Ghana’s tourism authority revealed in 2020 that the initiative injected about $1.9 billion into the economy. Entertainers of global repute figures like Cardi B, Idris Elba, and Steve Harvey visited.
This earned Ghana a major PR that the state authorities said could have cost $3.5 million if paid for.
At a governance forum in Nairobi, Nigeria’s vice-president Yemi Osinbajosaidthat African leaders shouldn’t “interfere too much” in the creative sector. He said the continent’s regulatory posture for the sector is favourable as it poses no hindrance and encourages a culture of independence and self-sustenance.
But the predominant sentiment among Nigeria’s showbiz executives is with their own government doing very little to aid their operations, yet,becoming proactive in taxation matters as it affects the industry.
Obi Asika, a well-rounded entertainment and media bigwig, says it was only in 2020 that the culture industry, hospitality, and tourism (CCHT) were factored into Nigeria’s national development plan as one of the core sectors capable of driving the economy in the coming decades. Asika is among the executivesleading the effort to achieve legislations that would create a framework on the basis of which Nigeria can build the sector and attract tourism dividends. “I led CCHT. We developed a plan for 2020 to 2025, the 2030 target, and the vision to 2050,” he said.
Asika argues that solving insecurity and investing in Nigeria’s global image is integral to building local tourism and its associated subsectors. He says Nigeria’s numerous cultural festivals could be “activated” into proper value-yielding brands that sell packaged experiences while the year-end homecoming in the southeast could be better communicated to attract cross-region and international tourism. “We have stunning locations. State tourist boards need to focus on building domestic experiences,” Asika adds.
The task, according to the M&E executive, is a long-term project that only private-public sector partnerships can achieve.
AFROBEATS, NOLLYWOOD, & TOURISM MONEY
Music and movies embody decades of culture that could translate to value in tourism. Foreign audiences develop an interest in the traditions behind stories told in films and cultural elements highlighted in music. Nollywood and Afrobeats have undergone years of evolution and built a great deal of soft power. “How about visiting the home and the birthplace of Afrobeats?”asks artiste and film director Dare Fasasi, who argues in favour of creating and selling tourism experience off Afrobeats. “We’re making a huge mistake, the same mistake the Caribbean made with reggae. We’re at our peak now. We need to own the music.”
Africa’s rich history, movies, and music can inspire or make for great sources of visual art, either in the form of sculptures, paintings, or other elements that can be displayed in state-backed art galleries. The musician Brymo, in 2022,pulled off a pivot to sonic art, which essentially makes visual representations of recorded music.
However, much of the effort in Nigeria’s art exhibition space, especially in Lagos, has been isolated and individualistic with little or no state involvement.
One option, Bolaji Alonge, an artist, notes is for state actors to significantly back curators and invest heavily in galleries and art exhibition projects, reverse the waning influence of local festivals, and drive tourist attention from these festivals to the art galleries.Festac 77 (Second Festival of Black Arts and Culture), was one catalyst. It brought over 15,000 artists, intellectuals, and performers from 55 nations across the world to Lagos.
National Theatre in Lagos During Festac 77 | Credits: Marilyn Nance
“The Calabar festival is there. The continuity started. Now it looks dead,” Alonge adds. “Now, it looks like the culture sector was left to itself. Artists go to foreign organisations for support, cap in hand, and get ignored. We need to create a viable market. It requires active state involvement and enabling policies.”
The US city of LA’s Hollywood district is located close to major film studios like Columbia Pictures, Walt Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Universal. Hollywood’s influence is so great that it became a metonym for the entire US film industry. There’s the allure of Hollywood Boulevard, iconic museums, theatres, and architectural benchmarks. Beyond film, these attract serious tourism traffic to LA, whichgenerated a record $36.6 billion from tourism in 2019 and isprojected to hit 51 million visitors in 2023. Major industries across the globe, Nollywood inclusive, easily dream to achieve a similar financial district.
In April 2023, the tourism ministry stated that it was willing to offer land to Indian investors interested in building “comprehensive” film cities in Lagos and Abuja. Proposing a stronger partnership, the ministry highlighted the Asian country’s prominence in filmmaking as the world’s largest industry by volume. Nollywood executives likeKunle Afolayan also speak of erecting elaborate structures that could serve as a “film village” in Oyo. This allows filmmakers to build out sets, cut down production costs, and could serve as a hub that will ultimately generate tourism in decades to come but the majority are hardly able to connect these dots.
Niyi Akinmolayan, movie director, thinks state governments should begin to lobby filmmakers to shoot at the tourist attractions sites under their purview, using movies as an avenue to promote these rarely abandoned locations.
The filmmaker says subsequent investments should be spread across the film value chain, beyond just production. “Our industry will grow; how soon depends on us and how much government support we get,” Akinmolayan adds.
PRIMING NIGERIA’S SHOWBIZ FOR TAX BENEFITS
There’s a palpable disconnect between state authorities and Nigeria’s creative sector on policymaking as they affect the music and film business. The local economy, as a result, loses out on potential revenue while the government gets to do cliché speeches only affirming the traction that the sector brings for artists, without ever getting a seat at the table. Ambitious plans and intentions are often discussed but with very limited implementation track records.
Due to this minimal interference, not much is public, beyond projections and estimates, on how much the local music scene makes. To date, the state authorities don’t provide adequate value or engagement with creatives so as to access raw data to track growth and optimize tax revenue.
Arguably, one of the low-hanging fruit is creating access to funding, especially for projects in music and film. Funding ideas, a high-risk and high-return endeavour, is relatively new in Nigeria’s creative sector, since the value involved is intangible and unpredictable, unlike investments dealing with goods.
An album or film could amount to a monumental failure on the streamers or at the box office respectively. Films could also simply take unpredictably long to yield returns depending on their distribution strategies.
This limits the funders available to these creatives and, in turn, the scope of the project. Filmmakers rely on private investors, crowdfunding, production deals, and grants to back their projects while the music front works out recording contracts, partner with labels, rely on personal funds, or seek unstructured loans.
In 2019, the CBN announced its Creative Industry Financing Initiativeoffering single-digit interest loans of up to ₦30 million for film production and ₦500 movie million for distribution, with a 10-year repayment timespan.
Multiple showbiz executives were contacted for insight on this fund but none among those contacted by TheCable had a colleague who has successfully accessed it. The CBN itself, when contacted, was unresponsive. Oris Aigbokhaevbo, a renowned film critic, says the management disincentives that arise with state funders make the source a huge pipedream for producers. “In fact, nobody mentions the government whenever they discuss funding for their films now,” he adds.
There are still massive structural gaps in Nigeria’s film and music ecosystem where state authorities can create incentives for private sector investment which could include tax breaks for companies that invest in creative industries and the long-lasting solution of creating investment funds that focus on the sector.
Infrastructure like creative hubs, studios, production houses, and co-working spaces that provide access to the necessary equipment and resources for creatives to develop their work could come in handy too.
Access to funding is an issue that impacts the kinds of stories being told in films and the slant they take. Consolidating efforts towards realising funding initiatives that include grants, loans, and venture capital funds could ensure that the film and music sectors are built and primed to generate more tax revenue. Relative state backing like tech-related local solutions for streaming and rights administration, as it affects film and music, will increase value retention and also augment tax income. Can Nigeria do what it takes to leverage the showbiz hype and build out the local tourism ecosystem? One thing is clear: there’s a long road to walk.
Copyright 2023 TheCable. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from TheCable.
Very early in 2020, The Old Globe invited local Black artists to an event with cast members of August Wilson’s play “Jitney,” which was being performed at the theater at that time. When those artists met again a few months later, the world was very different, calling them to action in creating the San Diego Black Artist Collective.
The organization “is a group of passionate, working (primarily) performance artists who seek to see better representation on San Diego’s major stages, backstages, and audiences,” says Danielle Bunch an artist, educator, and communications director for SDBAC. They were formed as a collective response to the messages of racial equity, unity, and inclusion that theater companies “rushed to post from pressures to demonstrate solidarity” during the Black Lives Matter protests that were growing that year, positioned next to their experiences as Black performance artists in predominantly White spaces. “The collective reflects the Black theater community demanding more from our peers and colleagues. We’re a rotating group of volunteers and a newly established nonprofit.”
As a resource for connecting local Black artists to paid opportunities and connection with an arts community that helps each other hone their respective crafts, they’ve helped dozens of artists and raised thousands of dollars in support of their mission. Their Black Arts Festival at The Old Globe is a four-day festival celebrating Black playwrights, actors, musicians, visual artists and more from May 25 to 28.
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Bunch, 32, also works in social media, marketing, and communications for the Coronado Playhouse and Create CA, which advocates for arts education in California schools with a focus on racial equity in that advocacy. Originally from Houston, she and her husband live in Spring Valley and have been in San Diego for the past four years. She took some time to talk about her work with the San Diego Black Artist Collective, their upcoming festival at The Old Globe, and how San Diego inspires her creativity.
Q: How were you introduced to the SDBAC?
A: Funny enough, I knew of our current president, Joy Jones, back in Houston where we’re both from. Joy is an incredible artist and performer; I never got a chance to work with her there, but when my husband’s job brought us to San Diego, I remembered she was here and reached out for guidance about how to break into the theater scene here.
Q: Why did you want to work with the organization?
A: I was looking for community. Houston is significantly more diverse than San Diego, but the experiences the SDBAC was looking to address and remedy were universal. The pandemic gave me time to reflect on my artmaking, and I decided I wanted to be much more intentional about where I was spending my time, money, and energy. The organization’s vision for a more just visual and performing arts community across greater San Diego was easy to get behind.
What I love about Spring Valley…
Our home in Spring Valley is on a half-acre and has a menagerie of animals that keep us endlessly entertained: skunks on the ring camera, stray cats playing on the porch, the cutest rabbit, a family of coyotes that use our front yard as their shortcut, and a seemingly endless number of colorful birds. We also love our food options out here—there are plenty of hidden gems we enjoy.
Q: Talk about the Black Arts Festival. What is the goal of the festival?
A: The Black Arts Festival is both a first-of-its-kind, as well as a continuation of last year’s residency at The Old Globe. In 2022, the “Black Lady Showcase” played for a few days at The Old Globe to very enthusiastic crowds; this year, we wanted to expand and keep accessibility in mind, so we’re piloting a format of multiple rotating shows, each with their own casts and directors occurring at different times throughout the run of our residency. We want to showcase the plethora of talent and stories that exist in our community. This will mark SDBAC’s first time staging a full script (“Barbecue” by Robert O’Hara) and that is one of many goals we have as a collective: to stage the full spectrum of Black stories as we are far from a monolith.
Q: What can people expect if they attend?
A: It’s so cliché, but in all earnestness, expect it all. Each show in the production contains a multitude of themes too vast to name this festival as only a comedy or a drama. I think the producing team members have done an excellent job of choosing pieces that speak to all aspects of humanity, including but not limited to the Black experience. You’ll smile, you’ll think, and we hope you’ll learn.
I hope audiences take from this festival how much not just the SDBAC, but all the Black San Diego community has to offer. These stories are just as rich and relevant as the local talent bringing these works to life.
Q: How do these programs in this year’s festival reflect the “unapologetic, authentic, and healing” artist work to the Black diasporic experience?
A: Each show in the festival speaks to deeply personal and very human experiences. “Barbecue” sees an intervention of two families by the same name and different race, “Black Voices, Black Writers” is a series of monologues and poems from the pillars of Black literature, “A Black Man’s Song” and “Black Lady Showcase” features all of the nuances of navigating being Black in America. There’s something for everyone in the diaspora and then some.
Q: From your perspective, what are some of the differences between Houston’s Black arts scene and San Diego’s Black arts scene?
A: The biggest difference between Houston’s and San Diego’s Black art scenes is size — Houston is a massive city that is incredibly diverse, so there are literally more Black arts, artists, and organizations to be found. The beauty of San Diego’s scene is that I think there are more opportunities for collaboration simply because artists here are in closer proximity to each other; there’s a lot of potential for shared visioning for long-term goals here. Everywhere in Houston is a trek and it takes a greater effort to convene.
Q: What are some ways that being in San Diego inspires you in your creativity?
A: I’d say San Diego’s natural beauty inspires my creativity. I started painting again when I moved out here, both because it has been an easy pastime away from screens (especially at the peak of quarantine), but mostly because it’s just so beautiful here. I love the proximity to the beach, the mountains, and the desert.
Q: When I read that one of the performances is the “Black Lady Showcase,” I was reminded of HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” If you watch the HBO show, do you have a favorite sketch from the show?
A: I’ve only seen Season 1, but the “Rome and Julissa” [a play on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” featuring the central characters as members of rival fandoms for Cardi B and Nicki Minaj] made this theater kid and Shakespeare lover laugh out loud!
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A: The best advice I’ve ever received is appropriately aligned with my work: “F— what they think, and give ‘em a show, ‘cause they’ll keep watching.”
Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?
A: I’m not sure there’s much someone would be surprised to learn about me as a loud-mouth, oversharing Gemini, ha! Despite what my acting resume looks like, I think people would be surprised I get more nervous before stepping on stage than I let on.
Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.
A: An ideal San Diego weekend would be French press coffee in the backyard with my husband after sleeping in, hitting the Little Italy farmers’ market for food and browsing, a trip to City Farmers Nursery, followed by an afternoon back home gardening, and lastly, ending the day with a beach picnic with friends.
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