2021 Ake Arts & Book Festival holds October
Ake Arts & Book Festival popularly known as Ake Festival will hold in Lagos in October. The three day event would start on October 28 and end on 30 with the theme ‘Generational Discordance.’
the Ake Festival, has been running in Nigeria since 2012 as lovers of books and the arts attend book readings, panel discussions, poetry recitals, film screenings, theatre and music performances.
It has hosted many of the continent’s top writers including eminent personalities like Wole Soyinka, Niyi Osundare, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nuruddin Farah, Maryse Condé, and Tsitsi Dangarembga as headliners.
“Now in its 9th year, Ake Arts & Book Festival has brought over 800 artists, writers, poets, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, actors, filmmakers and thinkers together to dialogue and celebrate creativity on the African continent through panel discussions, art exhibitions, workshops, storytelling, book chats, poetry performances, a concert, stage
play and unforgettable films,” the organisers said in a statement.
The festival organisers announced with the following video message on their social media channels;
“From relationships, love and marriage, spirituality and religion, gender and feminism to politics and activism, the Internet has exposed generational differences. Where earlier generations of Africans are anchored to their cultural identities, our younger compatriots see themselves as part of a globalised world.
“From Boomers to Millennials to Gen Z, the pace of societal change means our lived experiences are diverse, but this does not mean that our aspirations are. Africa cannot afford the luxury of endless culture wars. Engagement and communication, characterised by a willingness to listen, mutual respect, and empathy are what will face down the retrogressive forces and the structures and systems that oppress, asphyxiate and dehumanise us.
“We must eschew the sensationalism and divisive influence of digital algorithms and find a more harmonious continental rhythm that allows us to talk to, and not past, each other.