Browsing the archives for the Art category.
It is a result of a competition of varying forms of art by students (graduate and undergrad) of this university. The winner gets a thousand dollars as price for buying the artwork off him/her by the university. Here are a few of the shortlisted artworks on display in the student university centre, yesterday.
One of the artworks has a picture of a pair of fancy women’s shoes and a bottle of perfume. The title reads “How To Kill a Man.”
The adaptation of a stage play to film is tricky, and one should credit Tyler Perry for attempting that uphill task with his adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s play into film. Full disclosure: I am a fan of plays. I am a bigger fan of adaptations, especially if I have read the play first. In this case, I hadn’t. All I had going for me was a perception of the director as one very much in tune with his female base, willing to approach them from the most emotional point of their interest.
I had seen The Diary of a Mad Black Woman – his first film I saw. Then I saw the Madea Family Reunion which featured some of my favourite actresses. Maya Angelou was there. Then there was Why Did I Get Married and its sequel which I grossly disliked (and blogged about) for its over-sensationalist approach to family dysfunctions in the black community. In all his films I have seen, what I always took away is his ability to portray things as they exist in the reality of many. In doing so, he contributes to the (some have said “stereotypical”) portrayal of black life.
Initial thoughts on For Coloured Girls is that it does like all his work – with the brilliant performances of Kimberly Elise, Anika Rose, Phylicia Rashad, and Thandie Newton – once again takes an unflinching look at the painful lives of black women, their pains and victories. The positives are a star-studded cast, a language that sticks as much as possible to the lines of the play, and a story that is as complex as it is haunting. The negatives include the failure of the story to offer more than the pain of loss and the beauty of community. The promise of the first half of the story fails to move anymore after an hour, and at times seems like an earnest fight against an inevitable failing. Maybe it’s in my expectation of too much from it all, or my sociocultural distance from the emotional experience being so beautifully portrayed.
The summation of course is not that we need less of these kinds of works. It is that we need more, and better. And this is where Tyler Perry gets a thumb up.
I gave a long interview on the creative process, current writings, influences, projects, opinions on language, publishing etc to the editor of ImageNation last week. Find it here.
Two poems of mine have been published in the 5th issue of Sentinel Nigeria. Check ’em out.
An essay I wrote: “The Blank Sheet: On Blogging and Other Botherations“, an expose on the blogging journey, rewards and motivations, is published in the Anniversary Issue #7b of Saraba Magazine.
That picture –> is of Jacob Moorleghen doing a few tricks with the drum as part of our skits on stage last weekend. I think I may have arrived at a new creative cycle.
A play to commemorate the Black History Month was staged at the Dunham Hall Theatre at the weekend. I was there to see the last show on Sunday on recommendation from friends who had seen it days before and had been impressed. 
The play, a series of short skits and vignettes, explores the many dimensions of being black in America.
From the problem of identity to the challenge of belonging, from the choices of hairstyle to family life, homosexuality, single motherhood, movie portrayal/stereotypes among many others, the play takes on everything inviting the audience to laugh, and then ponder. I overhead one of the performers explaining that it’s called “The Coloured Museum” because each skit represents an exhibit in the imaginary museum of racial relics. This gives the performance some perspective.
My favourite, Git on Board, was a satirical take on the middle passage, where passengers were admonished by a chatty flight attendant to “fasten their shackles” at all times, and endeavour to keep their drums and different tongues silent during the flight in order to prevent a mutiny. At the end of their trip, there awaited them a very promising future but not after about 300 years of hardship. The reward included a star-studded cultural evolution that included Aretha Franklin, basketball, a complex culture, and hip-hop. The play is hard to describe to anyone who hasn’t seen it so I won’t even try. It’s even more difficult because taking pictures of any of the acting scenes was prohibited from the start. I can say this though: it was an amazing performance by a cast of students. It stirred up the playwright in me.
The Coloured Museum was written by George C. Wolfe and directed by Kathryn Bentley.
Away from the news of uprisings and unrests in parts of the continent, students and faculty of my university gathered on campus on Saturday to feast and celebrate what unites us all: the beauty of music, the graciousness of fashion, the excitement of dance, and the great pleasure of diversity. It was the annual Africa Night event which took place at the Meridian Ballroom. I was the host, along with Jacob Moorleghen, a volunteer from the S.P.E.A.C club – a charming co-host.
Written as a play of two friends from two countries travelling round the continent discovering places, people, food, artifacts and events, the show centred around showing the audience what they would usually not see on the news about Africa and its various people. A continent of (now) fifty-five countries is something that no one would be confident enough to claim to know without some sort of guidance, and the patience to explore. Jake was the American filmmaker, and I was his resource. A little tension of the “otherness” is added, and the drama of discovery begins. We went from Kenya to South Africa, to Congo and to Ghana, and to Nigeria, touching on sites of historical and economic significance along the way in other parts of the continent. The script was written by Julaine Fowlin and supported by a wonderful cast of students and other volunteers.
I am passionate about things like this – theatre, and such opportunities for social interaction and intervention, and I am very happy that it went very well. More than just the pleasure of bringing the beautiful aspects of the continent’s cultures to the appreciation of the most diverse audience, there is also a joy of being in company of such young people who hold the key to the next generation. It was a great night, and I thank the students for inviting/involving me.