The Arts-Muse Fair

The Minna Book and Art Festival (MinnaBAF) which held last week in Minna, Niger state celebrated the life and writings of late writer Abubakar Gimba who passed away in February 2015. Under a panel named “ Remembering Abubakar Gimba ”, panellists that included the late writer’s daughter, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar Gimba, discussed critical issues the late author treated in his books such as corruption and promotion of women rights. The uncommon humility and philanthropy of the late author as one of the greatest Nigerian novelists ever to emerge from Northern Nigeria also came under focus as participants recalled his support to people under need and patronage to the arts.   The 'Remembering Abubakar Gimba' panel at MinnaBAF According to Abdullahi Ismaila and BM Dzukogi, the late novelist remains the greatest funder and motivator of the Niger state chapter of ANA. They recalled the late writer consistently funding ASCAFS, the flagship project of ANA Niger for over

The inaugural edition of the Minna Book and Art Festival (MinnaBAF) held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna between September 18 and 20, 2018. The literary and cultural event themed “Northern Nigeria Creative Development: The Valley and the Boundary” is the first of its kind in Minna and the North-Central region of Nigeria. It served to create awareness, build capacities and promote all forms of arts.   Prof. Zaynab Alkali with students at the festival Professor Zaynab Alkali, the first female novelist from Northern Nigeria to be published in English, headlined the festival. Prof. Alkali’s commitment and dedication to writing and literary activities served as inspiration to guests at the festival especially school children who were excited to interact with her. In her Festival conversation, moderated by Professor Asabe Kabir Usman of Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, Prof. Alkali emphasized the importance of self-development th

The Northern Nigeria literary landscape is witnessing more colours and voices as Art initiatives roll out programmes and projects that engage the seemingly conservative art space of the region.   A week after the KABAFEST ended in Kaduna, a new Book and Arts Festival (MinnaBAF) is set to debut in Minna, Niger state next week with renowned writer Prof Zaynab Alkali headlining the festival. Scheduled to hold between September 18 and 21,  the festival is an initiative of AMAB  Books  &  Publishing and The Arts-Muse  Fair,  all  registered  outfits  with  their  headquarters  in  Minna.  These outfits have jointly and severally organized numerous Arts events in the past three years that served to rekindle the literary fire Minna is famed for. Minna  Book  &  Arts  Festival  is  a literary and cultural  event  that  is  designed  to  create awareness,  build  capacities  and  promote  all  forms  of  arts.  It  will accommodate  discourses  and  engaging  interact

Three books have been shortlisted for the 2018 NLNG Prize for Literature including “ Death and The King’s Grey Hair.” by Denja Abdullahi, the National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). The Advisory Board for the NLNG Prize lists other books on the shortlist as Embers by Soji Cole, and The Rally by Akanji Nasiru. The NLNG Prize for literature rotates annually amongst four literary genres – prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. The 2018 prize is for Drama genre, and 89 plays were submitted for the 2018 edition prize, from which a longlist of 11 were released in July this year. According to a Press Release signed by Andy Odeh, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs of the NLNG, Denja Abdullahi’s “ Death and The King’s Grey Hair” “confronts the issue of perpetuation in power, where rulers, like the king in this drama, employ all sorts of devices to cling on to power, long after they have overstayed their welcome”. Soji Cole

Writers, publishers and book lovers will gather in Kaduna from tomorrow for the second edition of the  Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (KABAFEST) scheduled to end on 8th September, 2018.   The Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (KABAFEST) is a four-day Book and Arts focused festival which features booklogues, panel discussions, poetry performance and readings, stage play, Art fair, film screenings, and workshops. The festival holds at Silversands Hotel, Unguwar Sarki in the heart of Kaduna town, Kaduna State. It shall have Nigerian and international writers and thinkers in attendance including Mukoma Wa Ngugi the son of Kenyan renowned writer, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Vamba Sherif from Liberia, Professor Zainab Alkali of Nigeria among others. The 2018 edition will feature many guests, comprising writers, poets, actors, musicians, artists and filmmakers. With stimulating panel discussions on a wide range of important issues with seasoned poets from all over Nigeria, organizers assur

OkadaBooks, Nigeria's top e-publishing platform, has announced the call for entries to the maiden edition of the Campus Writing Challenge. The initiative is sponsored by Union Bank, one of Nigeria’s long standing financial institutions.  The Campus Writing Challenge, which focuses on discovering students with raw, bold and creative writing talents, is open to students of tertiary institutions across Nigeria. It is aimed at providing the students with the exposure needed for them to hone their crafts and become master storytellers.  Entries for the Challenge which opened on Monday, August 27 ends on Sunday, October 7, 2018. Interested student as are to submit short stories of between 3,000 and 5,000 words through this link . The best entrant will receive a cash prize of N500,000 while the second and third best entrants will receive N200,000 and N100,000 respectively. There will also be a mini award category, including a N50,000 prize for the best short story,

The sixth edition of Ake Arts and Book Festival will take place for the first time in Lagos from October 24 to 27, 2018. This would mark a shift away from its traditional grounds of Abeokuta, Ogun state where the past five editions held.    The theme for this year is  Fantastical Futures . Events and conversations at the festival will focus largely on a re-imagined African future. Ake Arts and Book Festival is a five-day cultural immersion. As is always the case, Ake Arts and Book Festival aims to showcase the very best of contemporary African literature, poetry, music, art, film and theatre. Ake Festival 2018 will feature book chats, art exhibition, a stage play, an in-depth interview, school visits, stimulating panel discussions, film and documentary screenings, a musical concert and a night of poetry performance. Book-lovers and visitors are guaranteed to be thrilled by a range of affordable books at the festival's Bookstore.

Preparations are on to hold the maiden edition of African Indigenous Languages Film festival in Kano from October 23 to 27, 2018. The film exhibition is being organized to promote African films and its diverse cultures in the global market. According to  DailyTrust , the film festival would afford stakeholders in the movie industry in West Africa a platform to brainstorm and share ideas on emerging trends in the film-making business. The five-day event would aims to create a platform for repackaging narratives about Africa as woven by international media outlets for global consumption, and to also position African films into a formidable tool that can promote Africa, Africans and everything about Africa to the global community. The festival would promote city of Kano and the rich Hausa culture as guests and participants would be taken on a tour Kano city to enable them feel the rich cultural heritage of the city and appreciate the tourism potentials of the state.

Organizers have announced a list of fourteen photographers selected to participate in a three-day Native Creative Lab scheduled to hold in Lagos from August 9, 2018.   On the list are eight Nigerians, two South Africans, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Malagasy, and a Congolese. Female participants have dominated the list of successful applicants with nine female photographers against four males.  Native , in collaboration with the  African Artists’ Foundation, Blink  and  the International Women’s Media Foundation , are joint organizers of the Creative Lab conceived to celebrate local, regional and international visual heritages and train photographers on ways of  breaking colonial straitjacket in telling personal visual stories. Organizers received over 50 applications from photographers working on the African continent out of which the following 14   visual storytellers   were selected. Jonathan Chambalin  (Nigeria) Barry

For the first time, Nigerians will have the privilege of witnessing a Reggae Music Festival, not in Jamaica, the spiritual root of Rastafarians, but in Awka, the Anambra State capital. Between September 29 and October 1, 2018, a national Reggae Music Festival would hold Awka which the   organizers said they aim to use Raggae Music as a tool to preach and promote peace, unity and love and eradicate xenophobic attacks among African countries. The festival would provide a platform   to educate youth on the risks of teenage pregnancy and substance abuse. Late Reggae icon, Bob Marley and wife Rita Marley. Photo: Gettyimages   Envisioned and put together by Prince Emeka Ojukwu, the founder of Music Africa Awake,   the event would feature Jamaicans, Nigerians and other world celebrated stars. The three day festival, themed “Music As A Business” and “How to Collect their Royalties”, would draw guest speakers and representatives from music and Copyright organizations, to educa

Yesterday evening, at the Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos, the Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) announced nominations for the 2018 AMAA awards. The nomination list was announced at the Nominations party by Mr. Shaibu Husseini on behalf of the president of the AMAA jury for 2018, Dorothee Wenner.     Mr. Shaibu Husseini announcing the nominations list This year, over 400 films were submitted by filmmakers for the award from which nominations were picked for the 27 categories of the award.  AMAA, founded by Peace Anyam-Osigwe in 2005 is an African Celebration of film and African Filmmakers. It has evolved from a one-day televised live, event, into a premier annual African film event The award aims to facilitate the development and the highlighting of the social relevance of African film and cinema. The awards are presented to recognize and honour excellence in professional filmmaking in the African film industry and the African Diaspora.    Guests at the event in