Africa’s ‘Re-Imagination Creative Hub’

www.simplesharebuttons.com Share this post...

The renowned African-American hip-hop artist/actor, Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), is in Addis Ababa along with more than 100 writers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and artists as part of a discussion entitled “Africa Re-imagination Creative Hub

(ARCH): Developing the identity, heritage, arts and culture chapter for Agenda 2063,” which is being held at the African Union conference center from May 21-25.

Apart from Yasiin Bey, some of the renowned personalities in the discussion include Jamaican reggae star Sizzla Kalonji; the Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri; the South African poet, sculptor, writer Pitika Ntuli and the Malian famous Kora player Mamadou Diabete. In this discussion not only the famous artists but also promising artists are also part of the discussion. The African Union Agenda 2063 sets to lay a foundation for how to involve the creative economy into the bigger picture and envision a 50-year plan. Some of the expected possibilities of the discussion are to present proposals on the participation of the creative economy in the development and implementation of Agenda 2063.

Some of the raised agendas are African identity and renaissance, democratic governance: role of the arts and cultural activists; determining Africa’s destiny; writing and designing Africa’s narratives and scenarios for and by Africans, social and economic development; utilizing technology to promote the creative economy and launch of Dot Africa; agenda for peace and security: securing lasting peace by 2020 through the creative economy raised.

Within the discussions, the cultural and visual, the intangible and cultural heritage, education and training, intellectual property, archiving and preservation, resources, both human and material to achieve the goals were reviewed.

There was also an open mic session with storytelling, poetry, music, dance and comedy. The discussion will be closed tomorrow with exhibitions and performances.

The ambassador for the event, the famous South African singer and songwriter, Simphiwe Dana said “the conference seeks to define and plan for the Africa we see in our imagination. We will identify our challenges and plan for how best to respond to them. Poetic, visual and musical performances incorporated into the presentations and discussions-reflecting an African holistic philosophy that should inform the development of arts and culture on the continent.”

In a related news, Yasiin Bey, a.k.a Mos Def, who has lived in Cape Town, South Africa, for about a year, has canceled his upcoming United States tour because of legal issues related to immigration. His official website says: “We regret to inform you that due to immigration/legal issues Yassin Bey is unable to enter back into the United States and his upcoming US tour has been canceled.”

The details of the legal issues were not mentioned, The 40-year-old artist who blames institutional racism for the incident made a documentary for The Guardian in July of 2013 in which he had undergone forced-feeding in Guantanamo Bay.

Source The Reporter