Kwara State Set to Hold First Book and Arts Festival
A poetry collective in Kwara, Nigeria, known as Poetry In A Million Voices [PIAM] is curating the first book and arts festival in Kwara State, Nigeria. Tagged KWABAFEST, the festival will highlight the cultural, artistic, and intellectual prowess of Kwara State and her people.
Throughout Kwara State’s urban history, despite its deep and diverse artistry, there’s yet to be a state wide gathering or celebration of either the arts or its artists. KWABAFEST aims to disrupt that, according to PIAM. Speaking with the convener of the festival and founder, PIAM, Hussein Abdulbasit, he added that the festival aims to “tell untold and unexploited stories in Kwara’s serene and artistic environment.”
He continued: “Here, we have the Dada Pottery, one of the largest and biggest pottery setting in the whole of West Africa; the Esiẹ Museum; the Owu Waterfalls, so these are some of the things KWABAFEST aims to export; our food, our music, our poetry, our art.” More than just being an appreciation of Kwara’s artistic heritage, KWABAFEST intends to showcase indigenous artists to the world, added the convener.
It is an in-person three-day festival proposed to hold in August. The theme is Stories From Scratch, which according to Absdulbasit captures the essence of the festival, “spinning our stories ourselves, stories that talk about beginnings, stories that are unexploited.”
The proposed guest and speaker list includes Tunde Kelani, Dike Chukwumerije, Peju Alatise, Maryam Bukhar, Beuatiful Nubia, Huwa Okowa, Prof. Albdulrasheed Na’Allah, Prof. Aderemi Raji, A’aisha Abdulkareem, among others.
KWABAFEST will add to the growing book festival presence in Northern Nigeria, joining other festivals like SOBAFest(Sokoto), KABAFEST (Kaduna), HIBAF (Kaduna), HIASFEST (Minna), among others.
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See also: All the Memorable Moments From the first Book and Arts Festival in Sokoto
