ktravula - a travelogue! » Art

The Impossible Brief

Kola — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:09:08 +0000

Are you creative?
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Can you think outside the box?
Can you crack “the impossible brief”?

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On “Stickfighting Days”

Kola — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:17:31 +0000

I read the 2010 Caine Prize-winning short story yesterday. “Gore” is the first word that came to my mind afterwards.

Olufemi Terry’s Stickfighting Days is a moving story that one never forgets in a hurry for its description of raw violence among (pubescent) boys in an imaginary dump site. I’ve read a few stories of raw violence that moved me. One of them was Fola by my friend Olumide Abimbola. It is a short family story with enormous prospects that I believe should be expanded to a standard short story length. It definitely comes to mind right now, but Terry’s offering takes us deep into an isolated world free of societal interference. There is no redemption at the end, just violence, and perhaps some jungle justice that must serve as the only catharsis afforded the reader.

Benson Eluma has written a review aimed at the insularity of the lives of the characters of the story. My friend’s observations in his review take the dialogue on literary craft and responsibility of the writer to a different direction and force us to ask a different kind of question. For me however, it is the stark violence without a chance for a real redemption that puts me off the story. It is not a deficiency as far as craft is concerned. The story is very well written and I don’t think I’ll be reading it again. Read the review on Nigerianstalk. You can read the story itself here.

Ife

Kola — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:53:09 +0000

These were taken in Ife on the 7th of July.

I remember feeling very inspired while watching the morning rehearsals of students of dance and theatre at the Faculty of Arts from afar while waiting for my other colleagues in nearby offices. The students were rehearsing for a performance, and there was an affecting charm in the energy they displayed while moving to the rhythm of the drum beats. So early in the morning, there they were grooving into the day’s dawning promise with all their spirit. It was charming.

I wrote a poem of the experience. I hope I can still find it.

Sand in My Socks

Kola — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:32:32 +0000

After attending the Bookjam @ Silverbird event that had in attendance writers from many corners of the world and catching up with friends and colleagues, I was talked into a visit to the Lagos Bar Beach a few about a kilometre down the road from the Galleria. We had some fun moments riding horses, picking sea shells, writing names in the sand, catching up on old times and generally being silly at the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.

One of us the Punch journalist and author of the NLNG shortlisted novel Under the Brown Rusted Roofs. It’s the girl, although the other guy seems through these pictures to love her more than I do .

On the Third Mainland Bridge

Kola — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:47:17 +0000

Pictures from a thirty minutes walking time around the continent’s longest overhead bridge.

Obi

Kola — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:09:46 +0000

Obi is a very small town about thirty minutes by car from Lafia. Unlike how the name sounds, it is not an Igbo town. It is inhabited mainly by a people called the Alago. Their language is also called by the same name, and the king is called the Usuko. As small as it is, it enjoys a relatively regular supply of electricity, a good road, and a clinic where my frien, the doctor, works. The rain of two days ago flooded much of the town and overran the main bridge. A few hours later, it had subsided and life went on as usual.

Abuja by Night

Kola — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:50:57 +0000

Featuring the National Assembly and a few other places.

Abuja National Mosque

Kola — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:43:24 +0000

Here is one of the monument to religiosity, a crucial and often inseparable aspect of the Nigerian personality – The Abuja National Mosque. A few metres away from the siting of this is the National Ecumenical Centre where Christian events of national significance is held. The amount needed to build this mosque would definitely run into millions of dollars, but it adds some beauty to the landscape of the city, hopefully to the mind and character of the people who worship there as well.

The auspicious site of the mosque and its sheer size makes it a landmark not to be easily missed. I compare it to the Washington Monument, thinking of how the obelisk guided me to itself through the labyrinth of Washington DC in December. Well, get to Abuja, anywhere from Zone 10 to Wuse Zone 3, you could probably find your way to the mosque on foot if you wanted to. I did, and I was rewarded.

Ilorin National Museum

Kola — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:16:59 +0000

I was at the Ilorin National Museum over the weekend in company of a few friends one of whom had just happened to be in the town by chance.

One peculiar characteristics of this museum is that it is housed in the same compound as a bar, eating joint, and a hairdressing salon. The signboard at the junction close to the museum itself had the name of the museum written in equally small letters as the other services offered in the premises.

It’s not altogether a bad thing. On the one hand, the presence of a bar might actually be a better attraction to the building than the content of the museum itself. From the patronage of the bar, it was clear that their is some complementarity at work there. The museum was closed because it was a Saturday and we couldn’t get to see the contents.

A Break

Kola — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:17:37 +0000

For some reasons beyond my control, I will be going offline for a few days (hopefully not weeks) from today. I won’t be able to update the blog until such a time until I get the issue resolved. Hopefully it won’t be for too long. If you need me, I’ll still be available to check my email occasionally so you may reach me at kt@ktravula.com. Please vote in my new poll to your right, and tell me what you think.

In the meantime, here are a few old picture posts. Enjoy.

Desertification June 1.

Time Lapse May 3

Defying Gravity November 23

Badagry June 8

Following Lincoln April 29

You should also check out Kiibaati.wordpress.com where a poet is taking new liberties with imagination.