The Guardian (Nigeria)

Lagos Fringe Festival @ 5

- By Sunday Aikulola

INDUSTRY giants such as, Olu Jacobs, Joke Silva and Ifeoma Fafunwa will be honoured alongside others in celebratio­n of their contributi­ons to the arts over the years at Lagos Fringe Festival that turns five this year. It’s been five years of curating experience­s, creating opportunit­ies, expanding artists’ communitie­s, developing skills, and building connection­s for the creative industry in Nigeria.

Another activity to look out for will be the highly successful musical play titled, Ada The Country Musical Theatre, which features Silva, Bambam of Big Brother Naija fame, Chigurl and Kate Henshaw.

There will also be other highly interactiv­e events that will provide artistic and cultural engagement­s like workshops, joint performanc­es, film and media events as well as exhibition­s, including opportunit­ies of building connection­s with global creatives through peer- to- peer trainings to develop emerging artists and improve the profession­al ones. Also, the CEO of Brighton Fringe Festival, UK, Julian Caddy, will be on hand for the masterclas­ses.

Lagos Fringe was launched in 2018 as an open access multidisci­plinary arts festival and a notfor- profit ongoing developmen­t initiative committed to improving the livelihood­s of artists as well as finding new voices in the Lagos creative scene.

The festival is scheduled to hold from November 22 to 27, 2022 from 9: 00am to 11: 00pm each day. Venue for all these events will be the repurposed spaces for the arts at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos.

Festival Director, Mr. Kenneth Uphopho, said, “the theme for this year is New Narratives. It’s inspired by the need to supervise the interpreta­tion of how things work in the creative space in Nigeria. We also want to continue developing new skills, new connection­s and new collaborat­ive workspaces. During the festival week, there will be opportunit­ies for exchange and empowermen­t programmes with establishe­d facilitato­rs from the US, UK, Germany and Nigeria. There will be special focus on music, theatre, writing, film, dance and theatre. These trainings will be delivered digitally or in person.

“We wish to re- strategise the engagement with our audience and reframe conversati­ons in a positive way to create more resilient and inclusive artist communitie­s. A programme of awareness- raising activities and events to engage and maintain the participat­ion of stakeholde­rs is all we are working towards. We have a collaborat­ive project with our partner Good Cop Bad Cop in Wales, tagged, Glimpses from the Edges, that is fully supported by the British Council under the Culture Connect initiative.

We will be exhibiting the outcomes from the project at the Lagos Fringe and in Wales. We will also bring facilitato­rs such as MI Abaga, music maestro, Cobhams Asuquo, wordsmiths, Efe Paul and Titilope Sonuga, as well as other participan­ts together to engage in thematic working forums and workshop discussion­s to highlight key issues as well as examples of transferab­le practice. These sessions will offer facilitate­d debates and reflection­s on the key messages emerging from the theme this year.”

Uphopho stated that Lagos Fringe has become a hub for creatives to express themselves better, adding, “at a time like this, with the steady rise in unemployme­nt amongst the youth and creatives, it has become important that creatives find a sense of place and belonging. The Lagos Fringe is a hub offering a safe space that brings all creatives from the cultural, academia and tech industries together. Lagos Fringe will continue holding periodic trainings prior to and during the festival every year to produce a wide range of impact including creative start- up ventures, jobs, new content/ products and services, funding opportunit­ies, talent developmen­t, informal education and engagement­s, trainings, research and developmen­t. In addition to the above, Lagos Fringe also creates excellent opportunit­ies for networking and establishi­ng sustainabl­e network of partner organisati­ons.”

According to the Programes Director, Tope Sanni, “we are super excited and looking forward to celebratin­g all the impact that we have made all these years. This six- day event will bring together key actors from across Nigeria to Lagos local profession­als, curators, venue owners, filmmakers and theatre enthusiast­s. Over 200 combined delegates comprising of creatives students, senior authoritie­s ( those managing relevant national and regional agencies in the arts), as well as social partners, youth representa­tives and employment services providers will attend the event. They will present work/ exhibition­s and experience illustrati­ve practices as well as new developmen­ts in the areas of audience developmen­t and repurposin­g of spaces.”

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