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Dear Subscriber,
The 2021 Ake Arts and Book Festival ended last night. A weekend of book discussions, visual Art and live music performances ended on a high. The 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah headlined the festival. There were many events that are available on the Ake Arts and Book Festival YouTube Channel. You can watch Abdulrazak Gurnah’s conversation with Maaza Mengiste here.
Last night, the winner of the Nigerian prize for Literature was announced. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobi, author and lawyer was announced as the 2021 winner of the coveted prize with her book, Son of the House. You can read the excerpt of her winning book here, on our website. The 2021 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism was also awarded to Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike for his essays – “Self-Publishing in the era of military rule in Nigeria, 1985 – 1999,” “Postcolonial Ogres in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow,” and “Land of cemetery: funereal images in the poetry of Musa Idris Okpanachi.”
The Lagos Fashion Week is also wrapping up this weekend; it has been a gorgeous weekend for models, designers and fashion enthusiasts across the world. The event is getting bigger every year and you can have a sneak peek in this Vogue piece titled ‘The Best Street Style at Lagos Fashion Week Spring 2022.’
Some days ago, Cambridge University returned looted Benin bronze, ‘Okukor’ to Nigeria in a ceremony at the University. Another Benin sculpture was recently returned by the University of Aberdeen. There are ongoing discussions on social media and offline about the return of the Benin bronzes. Many questions have been thrown up by this issue and we are currently looking for an analytical piece that discusses one of some of the issues connected to the Benin Bronzes. You can send your essay to me or the publisher.
As usual, we have curated a list of gallery openings in Lagos on our website and you can look at it here.
More events are moving online because of COVID-19. While this makes people miss the physical feel of things, it also has an advantage as more people get to participate in the events. I am excited to announce to you that The Lagos Book and Art Festival is Back. This year’s edition is dedicated to Dame Taiwo Ajai-Lycett on her 80th birthday. You can read more about the festival on our website.
We will be bringing you updates on the festival and other arts and culture events in the city of Lagos and beyond, as usual. For questions, enquiries and comments, you can mail me on ayodele@bookartville.com or our publisher, Toyin Akinosho on toyin.akinosho@africaoilgasreport.com. We thank you for sticking with us as we continue to be the complete file on the arts. If you got this email from a friend, thank the fellow and subscribe to this newsletter on our website so you can get updates directly.
Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí
Staff Writer, Bookartville
