CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. She is from Abba, in Anambra State, but grew up in the university town of Nsukka where she attended primary and secondary schools and briefly studied Medicine and Pharmacy. She then moved to the United States to attend college, graduating summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State with a major in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins and a Masters degree in African Studies from Yale.

She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and she has recently published a collection of short stories titled The Thing around Your Neck (2009). She has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007) and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2008).

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was also short-listed for the Orange Prize and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and long-listed for the Booker Prize. Her short fiction has appeared in Granta, Prospect, and The Iowa Review among other literary journals, and she received an O. Henry Prize in 2003. She was a 2005-2006 Hodder Fellow at Princeton, where she taught Introductory Fiction. She divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Half of a Yellow Sun takes place in Nigeria during the Nigerian-Biafran War in 1967-1970. The effect of the war is shown through the dynamic relationships of five people’s lives ranging from high ranking political figures, a professor, a British citizen, and a houseboy. After the British left Nigeria and stopped ruling, conflicts arose over what government would rule over the land. The land split and the Nigeria-Biafra war started. The lives of the main characters (two sisters Olanna and Kainene) drastically changed and were torn apart by the war and decisions in their personal life.

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story at TED Talks

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

"And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." "The consequence of the single story is this: It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar."

"Of course, Africa is a continent full of catastrophes. There are immense ones, such as the horrific rapes in Congo. And depressing ones, such as the fact that 5,000 people apply for one job vacancy in Nigeria. But there are other stories that are not about catastrophe. And it is very important, it is just as important, to talk about them."

TEXT SOURCES AND FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.halfofayellowsun.com/

http://www.l3.ulg.ac.be/adichie/index.html

http://www.ted.com chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

YINKA SHONIBARE - THE AFRICAN TEXTILE ARTIST

Yinka Shonibare MBE
"my art mainly basically explores issues around identity and its about my bi-culcutural background in a way."

British-born Nigerian textile Artist, Yinka Sonibare is an internationally recognized contemporary artist. Yinka Shonibare was born in London in 1962, and moved to Lagos, Nigeria when he was three years old. He moved back to England when he was 17 years old. In the 1980s he studied in London at the Byam Shaw School of Art and graduated from Goldsmiths College in 1991. Whilst in art school, he began with life drawing and later his art work became politicized focusing on global issues. One of his teachers once asked him why he made art work that addressed Western society and events and not authentic African art.

As a joke, Shonibare began to ask himself what is authentic African art. What does it constitute? What does it mean? He grew up in Lagos and felt that he had no special key into ethnic or authentic art as he sees himself as a cosmopolitan citizen.

Shonibare then visited a batik material store in Brixton market in London. He discovered that the 'dutch wax' fabrics he chose to use in his art pieces was originally manufactured in Holland by the Dutch as they were trying to copy Indonesian Batik designs. The Dutch industrially had produced the fabrics for sale in the Indonesian market. The mass produced fabrics failed to appeal to the Indonesians as they did not like the industrially produced versions and so the Dutch merchants began selling the fabrics in West Africa. The English also started to manufacture the fabric in Manchester. Many people think this are authentic 'African fabrics' and he likes the 'fakeness' of that. Today in West Africa, and in many parts of the African continent, the patterned fabric is now an important and distinctive element of the African culture and symbolic of African identity.

At the Victoria and Albert museum in London, in the costume section, Shonibare questioned the issue of class in relation to the colonial history. He was amazed at the scale of the paintings and decided to transform the paintings on canvas into the fabrics. (for more watch video interview here)

A professional theater costumer makes the dresses used in his art pieces. Shonibare has enjoyed increasing international renown with his western historical figures dressed in the Dutch wax African print.

Yinka Shonibare has taken part in numerous international art exhibitions. In 2004 he was nominated for the Turner Prize. Yinka Shonibare is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London; and James Cohan Gallery, New York.

He has a son Kayode Shonibare-Lewis who hopes to become a computer games artist.

"the idea for me using Victoriana as a metaphor came from Margaret Thatcher in the 80's was talking about returning to Victorian values."

"I was thinking: Okay, so where do I stand? I live in England. I'm from Nigeria. Nigeria was colonised by the British. The Victorian era was the height of colonialism in Africa. How do I relate to the repressive Victorian regime? So Victorian for me actually means conquest and imperialism. And so, in a sense, it is actually my fear. So what I then decided to do was actually confront my fear and face my fear. And the way to confront my fear, to actually parody that fear. A lot of the work that came out of my desire to face my fear and to turn it into parody. The irony of all of this is that -- since my work has actually been about what imperialism means and how that relates to my own identity -- it's quite ironic that I was then made a member of the order of the British Empire." Yinka on Chris Boyds Blog click here for more

This work was inspired by a painting called Portrait of The Reverend Robert Walker Skating, 1784 by Sir Henry Raeburn

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 2008

La Méduse

"Swan Lake. It's my version. The film is called Odile and Odette. Odile being the bad character and Odette being the good swan. So what I've done... I've made two characters, one black, one white. And they dance opposite each another with a hollow frame in between them, so you get the illusion that one is a reflection of the other."Yinka on Chris Boyds Blog

Scramble for Africa, 2003, 14 figures, 14 chairs and table

" a recreation of the Berlin conference in the 19th century...It was when Africa was being divided up. It was in Europe. They had this conference in Berlin. And the conference was called Scramble for Africa. So on the table there's a map of Africa drawn. So it's merely capturing a moment when all these brainless people got around the table -- headless, brainless -- to actually divide up the spoils amongst themselves. See if they have original entitlements to it." Yinka on Chris Boyds Blog



"Diary of a Victorian Dandy," commissioned by the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in London as a public art project for the Underground.
Shonibare makes reference to a dandy ( an outsider in the 18th century who pretended through imitation to be part of the upper class in society and was happily rewarded with the benefits of that position). In this photographic works he produces, Shonibare also plays with role reversals between classes and castes, between black and white. In the series Diary of a Victorian dandy, for instance, a black dandy is featured surrounded by white servants. In a humorous way, Shonibare shows us how European prosperity is connected to the imperialistic exploitation of the overseas territories.Source: Absolute Arts
Photos by Arobotar

I had the pleasure to attend his art exhibition at the James Cohan gallery "Prospero's Monsters" in New York. AMAZING!!!

TEXT SOURCES AND MORE INFORMATION
Yinka Shonibare Official Site
Video Interview of Yinka Shonibare
Vlisco website to purchase the fabrics used in the art

ELECHI AMADI'S CONCUBINE

Elechi Amadi was born into an Ikwerre family in Aluu near Port Harcourt, in the Delta region of Eastern Nigeria. He studied at the Government College in Umuahia, and like other major Nigerian writers, he was educated at the University College of Ibadan. Its legendary English department and the student magazine The Horn encouraged a number of aspiring writers, the likes of Nobel Laurette Wole Soyinka. Amadi, however, studied natural sciences receiving his B. Sc. in physics and mathematics in 1959.

Amadi's early novels, like Chinua Achebe's, are set in his traditional African setting. Amadi's first novel, The Concubine, was published in 1966, six years after Nigeria's independence. The story was set in the area near Port Harcourt. It starts out as a depiction of village life, its conflicts, ancient customs, and gods, but then it proceeds into mythological level. Ihuoma is the most desirable woman in Omigwe village and the tragic heroine, whose well-fed look does a great credit her husband. He dies, but she has won the heart of the hunter Ekwueme. They deny their love so that Ekwueme can marry another woman, to whom he has been betrothed since birth. At the end Amadi reveals that Ihuoma is actually the wife of the Sea-King, the ruling spirit of the sea, but she had assumed the human form.



The widely acclaimed work was followed by his other works such as The Great Ponds, depicting a war between two villages over fishing rights, and The Slave, in which the protagonist fights against his background, but after a brief career in freedom. Amadi's books form a historical trilogy about traditional life in the rural, pre-colonial Nigeria.

BOOKS PUBLISHED

• THE CONCUBINE, 1966
• THE GREAT PONDS, 1969
• translator: with Obiajunwo Wali and Greensille Enyinda: Okwukwo Eri, 1969 (hymnbook)
• translator: Okupkpe, 1969 (prayerbook)
• SUNSET BIAFRA: A CIVIL WAR DIARY, 1973 (essays)
• ISIBURU, 1973 (play)
• PEPPERSOUP, 1977 (play)
• PEPPERSOUP, AND THE ROAD TO IBADAN, 1977 (play)
• THE SLAVE, 1978
• DANCER OF JOHANNESBURG, 1979
• ETHICS IN NIGERIAN CULTURE, 1982 (essays)
• ESTRANGEMENT, 1986
• ELECHI AMADI AT 55: POEMS, SHORT STORIES, AND PAPERS, 1989 (ed. by W. Feuser and Ebele Eko)

MORE INFORMATION
Elechi Amadi Official Web Page

WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, born in Abeokuta, Nigeria in 1938, was a singer-composer, trumpet, sax and keyboard player, band leader, and politician.

Fela was born to a wealthy Yoruba family as Olufela, Olusegun, Oludotun Ransome-Kuti. Fela recalls his father as having been very strict, to the point he thought his father as wicked man. Fela's father lived by the the biblical principle 'Spare the rod and spoil the child.' Nevertheless, Fela valued the lessons he learnt from his parents during his upbringing, as this experience contributed in shaping the man he grew up to be.

By the age of eight, he began playing the piano and organ. He became his school's pianist, playing at morning assemblies. As a young teen, he played in a band called Cool Cats. His rebellious side was also beginning to emerge; at age sixteen he formed a club called 'The Planless Society', with just seven members. Its sole aim was to violate all school rules. Fela also edited the journal of the club; 'The Planless Times Publication'. This was swiftly banned by the school authorities.

His political side was nurtured by his activist mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. She was a key figure in the nationalist struggle, and took Fela to political rallies. When Fela was 18, she introduced him to Kwame Nkrumah, a meeting Fela recalls as having 'changed his life'.

In 1958, at the age of nineteen, Fela went to Britain for further studies. He studied Classical Music at the Trinity College of Music, concentrating on wood wind instruments. He also formed a jazz band with his best friend, Jimo Kombi Braimah (J.K), called Koola Lobitos.

By 1961, he had met and married his first wife Remi Taylor and by 1963, he was back in Nigeria

A brief stint in the USA in the '60s nurtured Fela's radicalism, and he went home in 1970 determined to speak out for West Africa's oppressed urban poor. Fela led his sprawling, 30-plus-piece afrobeat band - first called Africa 70, and later Egypt 80 - through scathing broadsides against his government, international business and corrupt leaders all over. Early songs like "Zombie," a swipe at Nigerian Army soldiers, and "International Thief Thief" horrified authorities and earned Fela harsh retribution. He worked a short stint at the the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, as a radio producer, leaving the position to concentrate on his re-formed band, Koola Lobitos.

In 1975, Fela changed his 'slave' name from Ransome to Anikulapo meaning 'one who has death in his pocket'.

It is reported that of the numerous altercations Fela has had with the Nigerian government, 18th February, 1977 will forever remain a milestone in his life. His family house, called Kalakuta Republic, was besieged by Nigerian soldiers, and was set on fire. The damage which ensued cannot be quantified; however, valuable possessions, like a tape of his forthcoming film 'Black President,' perished. Dozens sustained malleable injuries. His 78/84 year-old mother whom was thrown out of a window, died months later as a result. Fela himself ended up with a cracked skull, one of a number of injuries which affected his capabilities on the trumpet and saxophone. Nor was he to recover financially. Kuti served time in jail for his role of 'safe guarding his person and property'. This incident led to the now very famous songs 'Unknown Soldier' and 'Sorrow, Tears & Blood', released in 1977 and 1979 respectively.

Fela’s affection for polygamy, condom-free sex, his advocacy of marijuana use and his penchant for performing in only his underwear provided the Nigerian government with the opportunity to repeatedly harass him, with the hope of suppressing his vocal political protests. Fela was arrested numerous times, mostly on unfounded charges, and was imprisoned four times.

To the Pan-African world, Fela was a towering figure who arguably combined elements of pure artistry, political perseverance, and a mystic, spiritual consciousness in a way that no other individual ever has.

Fela with his wives. According to Fela in African Culture women are taught not to be jealous.

"It is very important for a man to marry many women because a man goes for many women in the first place. Like in Europe,when a man is married he goes out when the wife is sleeping...he should bring the women to the house to live with him, and stop running around the streets. That is what a man is supposed to do...a man is not supposed to run around the streets after women...women should be in his home."

-Fela Kuti

In 1978, in a total act of defiance against moral and social issues, Fela married 27 women in one traditional ceremony. This event was televised around the nation. In 1986, Fela divorced his wives, explaining that "I do not believe any more in the marriage institution. The marriage institution for the progress of the mind is evil. I learned that from prison. Why do people marry? Is it to be together? Is it to have children? People marry because they are jealous. People marry because they are possessive. People marry because they are selfish. All this comes to the very ugly fact that people want to own and control other people's bodies. I think the mind of human beings should develop to the point where that jealous feelings should be completely eradicated."

The year 1997 marked the beginning of the end for Fela. He played his last public paying show in March at the Muson Center. The shrine was raided in April, and, yet again, Fela was detained for possession of and trafficking in drugs. In mid-July, Fela collapsed at his home and was rushed to hospital. Towards the end of the month, speculation had reached fever pitch over his health. A national newspaper announced his death - this prompted Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti to issue a press release, on the 24th July to quell such rumors; "He is responding to treatment", he announced.

One of his defining characteristics was his view on death. He told biographer Carlos Moore: "Death doesn't worry me man. When my mother died it was because she finished her time on earth. I know that when I die I'll see her again, so how can I fear death? . . . So what is this **** world about? . . . I believe there is a plan . . . I believe there is no accident in our lives. What I am experiencing today completely vindicates the African religions. . . I will do my part . . . then I'll just go, man. . . Just go!"

On the 2nd August 1997, at approximately 5:30pm, Olufela Anikulapo-Kuti died from heart failure arising from complications of HIV/AIDS. As Fela had said; "when you think you die, you're not dead. Its a transition." His son Femi now carries on the afrobeat tradition with his popular 17-piece group, Positive Force.

"I don't object to what people hear. But my music is African music."

WATCH VIDEOS
Fela Kuti Documentary and Music Click here
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

TEXT & MORE INFORMATION
The Talking Drum
Fela Kuti Project