The work is described as a multimedia performance involving spoken word artist, jazz quartet and a slide presentation of images from the Harlem Renaissance. All of these components occur simultaneously. This multimedia presentation recreates Hughes’s vision of the global struggle for freedom in the early 1960′s. African American artists and photographers including Jacob Lawrence, Gordon Parks, and Romare Bearden link words and music to a kaleidoscopic collection of images. Music director and composer Ron McCurdy orchestrates the original musical based on the music cues suggested by Langston Hughes. You can see this exciting performance in South Florida on February 23. Visit here for tickets and details.

Here is a clip of the show:

                          

Spray Uzi, kings of Kenya’s nascent graffiti scene, are on a mission to show the world that there is more to Africa than child soldiers, emaciated babies and unaccountable despots.

These four artists have been invited to travel to Djibouti, to help with the renovation of a youth community centre. The trip will take them through Ethiopia, where they will join forces with local artists and youth organizations for a series of public art shows and installations.

Katy Fentress, a freelance journalist residing in Kenya, has decided to video-document the trip. She sees this as an innovative way to attempt to readjust some of the negative PR that Africa and Africans are subjected to.

The film will aim to be a playful way of conveying an important message that is often willfully ignored by the media and the global aid industry. This is a unique opportunity to show people across the world that we have spent too much time looking at Africans as if they are helpless victims.

Spraycan Safari aims to subvert the current understanding of Africa and Africans, by presenting us with a group of talented, savvy, modern youth, who do graffiti to brighten people’s surroundings and address some of the problems that we all face in society today.

By using graffiti/African street art as the backdrop around which the documentary will be framed, the aim is to speak to the younger generations. The ones that have been brought up on a diet of Mtv and jackass style television and who are enthusiastic about the idea of spray can art.

Spraycan Safari does not aim to revolutionize the world nor resolve the real and difficult hardship that is experienced by thousands of people in “developing” countries everyday. However Spray Uzi, the central characters of the documentary, are exactly the kind of role models that inspire their peers and give them scope to think that another future is possible.

Here is a taste of what to expect:

                          

The much-anticipated designers selected to participate include:

Adama-Paris (Senegal/France), Amine Bendriouich Couture and BS (Germany/Morocco), Amrapali (India), Angelo Van Mol (Belgium/Ghana), Be-Grey (Nigeria), Bestow Elan (UK/Ghana), Bridget Awosika (Nigeria), Buki Akib (UK/Nigeria), CHICHIA (UK/Tanzania), Christie Brown (Ghana), CLAN (Nigeria), David David London (UK), Davida (Nigeria), Duaba Serwa (Ghana), Ejiro Amos Tafiri (Nigeria), Eki Orleans (UK/Nigeria), Frank Osodi (Nigeria), Funlayo Déri (UK/Nigeria), Gavin Rajah (South Africa), Gloria Wavamuno (Uganda), HOUSE of DIVAS (Nigeria), House of Farrah (Nigeria), House of Nwocha (Nigeria), ICONIC INVANITY (Nigeria), Imane Ayissi (France/Cameroon), Jacob Kimmie (UK/South Africa), Jewel by Lisa (Nigeria), Kastle Designs & Treasure Chest (USA/Ghana), Kaveke (Kenya/UK), Kevan Hall (USA), Kezia Frederick (UK/St.Lucia), Kiki Clothing (Ghana), Kinabuti (Italy), Klûk-CGDT (South Africa), Koke (Botswana/India), Korto Momolu (USA/Liberia), Lanre Da Silva Ajayi (Nigeria), LaQuan Smith (USA), Laurenceairline (France/Ivory Coast), Loza Maléomsho (USA/Ivory Coast), Madam Wokie’s Couture (Sierra Leone), Mai Atafo (Nigeria), Maki-Oh (Nigeria), Mataano (USA/Somalia), Meena (Nigeria), Mustafa Hassanali (Tanzania), NKWO (UK/Nigeria), Odio Mimonet (Nigeria), Okunoren Twins (Nigeria), Osman (UK), Paul Hervé ELISABETH (Martinique), Poisa (Kenya), Re Bahia (UK/Nigeria), Sandra Kennedy (Jamaica), Sandra Muendane (Mozambique/Portugal), Sunny Rose (Nigeria/UK), Taibo Bacar (Mozambique), the Vessel. By Lois (USA/Jamaica), Tiffany Amber (Nigeria), Timo Welland (USA/South Africa), Tsemaye Binitie (UK/Nigeria), U.Mi-1 (UK/Nigeria), Virgos Lounge (UK/Nigeria), Viv La Resistance (Nigeria), William Okpo (USA/Nigeria) and Zekaryas Solomon (Eritrea/UK).

ARISE will invite this year’s intake of 77 designers to participate in its fashion extravaganza from Tuesday 6th to Sunday 11th March 2012. The event will end on the night of Sunday 11th March 2012 with the spectacular ARISE Magazine Fashion Awards where each designer will hope to secure a Golden Ticket to showcase their designs at the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week 2012 this September.

Award-winning New York-based producer, Kevin Krier & Associates and celebrated UK-based Inca Productions have been appointed AMFW 2012 show producers.

ARISE Magazine founder Nduka Obaigbena says: “There has been a surge of interest from around the world including major UK and American brands this year, following our successful inaugural event last year, which is why we have decided to give even more designers an opportunity to participate. The world has recognised that Nigeria has much to offer in the way of vibrancy and extraordinary talent in abundance making it the cultural capital of Africa. Once more we are proud to be associated with nurturing new designers from the vast continent – and continuing our support of those who are more well-known in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.”

                          

It attracts foreign artists, while Cuba’s masters take advantage of the event to make their works better known. Exhibitions, installations and performances take place at numerous museums, galleries, streets and other institutions.

The first Havana Art Biennial was established in 1984, long before the worldwide boom of biennials that emerged in the mid-nineties. for more informtion visit http://www.bienalhabana.cult.cu/

Here is footage of the Festival ( in French/Spanish) :

                          

Trailer Chico & Rita from estudiomariscal on Vimeo.

                          

The Department of Drama, University of Cape Town together with the Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts (GIPCA) will be hosting the 2012 annual African Theatre Association International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

The conference theme, Querying Africa: Dis-ease, Metamorphosis and Unconventionality in African Theatre and Performance, interrogates the transformations, adaptations, shifts in form and practice, ‘infection’ of social order, the mutation of content and the challenges of definition in contemporary African Theatre and Performance. This theme is supported by a series of sub themes that invite researchers to provoke, debate, contest, explore and celebrate the contradictions, appropriations, re-mixes and uncomfortable attachments to ways of thinking and practicing African theatre and performance.

Conference Sub-themes:

Ethics, Beliefs and Morality in African Theatre and Performance
Staging Africa: the Influence and Imprint of African Theatre and Performance on the Global Stage.
HIV/AIDS Theatre and its ‘Present Absence’ in Africa.
Politics of Space: Urban Spaces, Theatre Architecture and Site-Specific/Site-Responsive works in African Theatre and Performance.
Callers and Hearers: Song, Orality, Orature and Aurality in African Theatre and Performance.
Moving Bodies: Dance, Choreography and Physical Theatre in contemporary African theatre and performance
Theatre Management, Administration, Companies and Entrepreneurship
Theatre and Reconciliation in Africa: Violence, Mourning and Bodies of Memory
Innovations & Experiments in Visual Theatre and Performance, Puppetry, Design, Technology and New Media
Queer Africa: Performing Gender and Sex in African Theatre and Performance
New Plays and Emerging Playwrights
This conference offers a space for conversations between academics and practitioners that interrogate current practice in African theatre and performance through a wide range of forms including papers, panel discussions, performances, innovation in presentation, exhibitions, screenings, media and associated arts, public mediated happenings and events in the city. Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit abstracts or proposals for papers, performances, workshops or exhibitions.

Proposal Submission:

For papers:

Abstract of 300 words
Indicate any special technical requirements
Short abstract of 50 words
A brief biography

For workshops / performances / exhibitions:

Detailed proposal of approx 250 words
Indicate technical and space requirements
Brief proposal of 50 words
A brief biography

All submissions must be sent by email to: capetown2012@africantheatreassociation.org

Submission deadline is 29 February 2012

                          

Hannibal Lokumbe, 2011 Joyce Awards winner, will premiere In the Spirit of Being at the annual VocalEssence WITNESS concert on February 19, 2012 (4 pm), at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul.

VocalEssence commissioned Lokumbe (Dear Mrs. Parks, WITNESS 2007) to write In the Spirit of Being, a four-movement piece scored for mixed chorus, children’s chorus, jazz quartet and female soloist Tonia Hughes. In the Spirit of Being artfully presents the stages of the human experience — birth, struggle, forgiveness/resolution, and peace — as seen through the eyes of the composer. For more information and to order tickets, call 651-224-4222 or visit www.vocalessence.org/witness2012.

The African continent is rich in musical sounds for voices and drums. VocalEssence opens this year’s WITNESS concert by celebrating some of these sounds with music from South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon and Ghana: a wonderful combination of songs about work, praise, and animals sung in the dialects of Luo, Xhosa, Zulu, Kamba and Cameroon. Joining the VocalEssence Chorus and conductor Philip Brunelle will be the percussion ensemble from Macalester College and their director, Sowah Mensah. Don’t miss the opening procession with the seldom-seen royal drums of Ghana!

In 1991, VocalEssence created WITNESS to celebrate the artistic contributions of African Americans to the fine arts and to our common cultural heritage. By commissioning new works and programming rarely heard works by African American composers, we help broaden ideas about African American musical expression and introduce important new voices to our audiences through concerts, recordings and radio broadcasts.Hannibal Lokumbe is a composer and jazz trumpeter whose career spans more than forty years. After moving to New York in 1970, he spent the next 25 years there playing trumpet and recording with legends such as Gil Evans, Pharoah Sanders, and Elvin Jones. Lokumbe eventually formed his own Sunrise Orchestra, which has toured the world playing in every major music festival from Istanbul to China. He has composed more than 150 works, many of which have historical subjects such as John Brown, Anne Frank, and Rosa Parks. He is the recipient of numerous awards from the Bessie, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Soloist Tonia Hughes is a Twin Cities recording artist and actress. She has garnered critical acclaim for her leading roles in musical and theatrical productions including Encounters (2002), Southern Theater; Black Nativity (2003 – present), Penumbra Theater; Caroline or Change (2009), Guthrie Theater; Loves Covers (2010), Women’s Club of Minneapolis; Mahalia (2011), Fellowship Baptist Church; and Cinderella (2011), Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Here is an interview with Hannibal:

                          

On February 18, join our hosts Chello Davis of Blue Magic Open Mic Night & BET’s Comic View and Ama Mama – the Eritrean Diva live from NY, as we welcome you to Tempo LIVE in Downtown Hollywood for an electrifying night of freeing fashions, innovative designs, and culturally arousing performances inspired by African tradition! Advance tickets are now on sale for $20 and can be purchased online via AnkaraMiami.eventbrite.com.

Always wanted to go to Africa?? Enter a bid for the chance to win 2 ROUND TRIP TICKETS TO AFRICA- Courtesy of Arik Air. (Taxes & fees apply; Good for one year; NO BLACK OUT DATES)

A portion from all proceeds received will directly benefit Ankara Miami’s 2012 Community Spotlight, the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center (AHCAC). Centered in the heart of Liberty City, AHCAC serves as a nesting ground for emerging talent by providing quality training for children and adolescents in cultural, performing, visual, and media arts. These proceeds will be utilized to provide tuition scholarship opportunities and/or fund programs. For more information on the event, visit www.facebook.com/AnkaraMiami .

                          

Legendary, four-time Grammy Award-winning
hip-hop group, THE ROOTS, will make its Adrienne Arsht Center debut on
March 31, 2012 at 8 p.m. in the John S. and James L. Knight Concert
Hall. Considered one of the best known and respected hip-hop acts in the
business, THE ROOTS was the first hip-hop group to perform at Lincoln
Center as well as Carnegie Hall and the San Francisco Symphony Hall. THE
ROOTS’ upcoming Arsht Center concert will celebrate the band’s 25th
anniversary and is set to thrill South Florida with a rare live
performance featuring their greatest hits including “The Seed (2.0),”
“You Got Me (featuring Erykah Badu),” “The Next Movement,” and news
songs such as “Make My (featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw)” from their
2011 album undun.

Tickets range from $35 to $75, and go on sale to Arsht Center members
February 15, 2012 and to the general public February 20, 2012. Tickets
may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling
(305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org
.

THE ROOTS’ concert is part of the Arsht Center’s AMP’D Series.

“We’re delighted to host a respected, longstanding band such as The
Roots,” said M. John Richard, president and CEO of the Adrienne Arsht
Center. “The group’s renowned and unique approach to hip-hop, coupled
with their mastery over an array of musical instruments will make for an
unforgettable night in our Knight Concert Hall.”

Formed in 1987, in Philadelphia, PA, THE ROOTS consists of Tariq “Black
Thought” Trotter (MC), Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson (drums), Kamal Gray
(electronic keyboards), F. Knuckles (percussion), Captain Kirk Douglas
(electronic guitar), Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr.” Bryson (sousaphone), James
Poyser (electronic keyboard) and Mark Kelley (bass). Having previously
released twelve albums, THE ROOTS is one of today’s most influential and
critically acclaimed hip-hop groups, winning four Grammys, most recently
for Best R&B Album for “Wake Up!,” Best Traditional R&B Vocal
Performance for “Hang in There” (with John Legend) and Best Group or Duo
R&B Vocal Performance for “Shine.” In 2009, THE ROOTS became the
official house band on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” where they
currently perform every night.

undun, THE ROOTS’ first conceptually-based album and 13th major-label
release, has delivered continued critical acclaim from music critics,
bloggers and fans alike, reaffirming the creativity of the outfit
notorious for pushing the envelope. Furthermore, undun is an existential
re-telling of the short life of Redford Stephens (1974-1999), a
semi-fictional character growing up in an urban landscape struggling
with survival. Through the emotive use of language and Redford’s
internal dialogues the album seeks to illustrate the intersection of
free will and prescribed destiny as it plays out ‘on the corner.’
Utilizing a reverse narrative arc, the album begins as the listener
finds Redford disoriented–postmortem–attempting to make sense of his
former life. As he moves through its pivotal moments he begins to
deconstruct all that has led to his (and our own) coming “undun.”

“At this point in our career we’d like for our work to have a unifying
theme, and an experiential quality,” says Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson,
THE ROOTS’ co-founder and drummer. “We’ve been intentionally making our
albums shorter in length so that they can be experienced as a continuous
work. The music is band-oriented with an eye on the moody cinematic. As
a DJ, I am the ‘King’ of playlists, but I don’t want our albums to feel
like a playlist or a mixtape for that matter. We want to tell stories
that work within the album format and we want the stories to be nuanced
and useful to people.”

                          

This sale is Swann’s 17th devoted African Americana, and it offers one of the largest and best selections of Marcus Garvey material to date. This section of the sale features the only known copy of the earliest broadside for a speech delivered by Garvey at a Mass Meeting, Atlanta, 1917 ($5,000 to $7,500); as well as photos, essays and stock certificates for his Black Star Line.

The military section of the sale contains outstanding material related to the heroic Tuskegee Airmen who served in World War II. There is one of only two known copies of a poster of Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller titled “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty”, which was designed to inspire the black community to serve in the war, Washington, 1943 ($10,000 to $15,000). There is also an album of 77 photographs of the Tuskegee Airmen based in Italy, most shot at Ramitelli Air Force Base, many showing the men posing with their planes ($2,000 to $3,000).

A remarkable selection of material regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, includes a unique copy of the June 20, 1963 preliminary printing of what would become the Civil Rights Act, with Representative Emanuel Celler’s ink corrections and emendations, and a handwritten note to NAACP Washington Bureau Director Clarence Mitchell reading, “To Clarence-An indefatigable worker for Civil Rights, here is my home work sheet, Emanuel Celler” ($10,000 to $15,000). There is also an original tally of the votes, for and against the Act, as taken on the floor of the Senate, with a Typed Note Signed from Senator Claiborne Pell, presenting the document to Clarence Mitchell ($15,000 to $25,000).

Other major highlights from the civil rights movement: two inscribed copies of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Stride Toward Freedom, one inscribed to Senator Paul H. Douglas, longtime fighter for the Civil Rights Commission Act of 1957 ($5,000 to $7,500); the other to union organizer and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, which also contains extensive notes in Randolph’s hand ($8,000 to $12,000).

From Malcolm X comes a pair of important letters written to members of his inner circle while on his pilgrimage to Mecca, concerning the Muslim Mosque and relations with African Muslims. These were meant to be copied, shared and read aloud, and formed a part of the evening political education sessions of the Organization of African-American Unity, April and September 1964 ($15,000 to $25,000 for the pair).

There are more than 85 cartons containing the papers of educator Dorothy Porter Wesley, spanning 1905 to 1995. Within the archive are her writings, research notes, and original manuscript and documentary material for her numerous articles and books, together with her correspondence. Wesley was a scholar, librarian and bibliographer who became the first African-American woman to complete her graduate studies at Columbia University, and spent 43 years creating a modern research library at Howard University.

Celebrating the contributions of African-Americans in the arts are highlights such as a first edition of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, the first book of poetry written by an African American, London, 1773 ($25,000 to $35,000); a stunning watercolor portrait of Josephine Baker in her Folies Bergère pearl and feather costume, circa 1927 ($4,000 to $6,000); autograph material from jazz great Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus.

The auction will take place on Thursday, March 1 at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The items will be on public exhibition at Swann Galleries on Saturday, February 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Monday, February 27 through Wednesday, February 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Groups wishing to attend the preview are requested to make advance arrangements.

An illustrated catalogue, with information on bidding by mail or fax, is available for $35 from Swann Galleries, 104 East 25 Street, New York, NY 10010, (212) 254-4710, extension 0, and can also be viewed online at www.swanngalleries.com. Bids can also be submitted by e-mail via the website.

For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Wyatt H. Day at (212) 254-4710, extension 300, or via email at whday@swanngalleries.com.

Live online bidding is available via Artfact.com