Our cultures are so connected, it is just different generations and perceptions. What the younger people are doing is re-inventing what the older ones have done… Our main problem is our inability to translate our culture to one another
FROM November 22-30, artists and culture workers from across the country would converge on Abuja to honour the 2024 National Festival of Arts, NAFEST.
Organised by the National Council for Arts and Culture, NCAC, the festival will dot on the theme, “Connected Cultures.”
The theme was inspired by the similarities in Nigerian cultures and to encourage cultural integration, said Obi Asika, Director-General of the NCAC, in a press interview recently.
He added, “Our cultures are so connected, it is just different generations and perceptions. What the younger people are doing is re-inventing what the older ones have done.
“Our main problem is our inability to translate our culture to one another.
“Ogun State’s Ojude-Oba, Anambra State’s Ofala, and Kano State’s Durbar are all festivals that are connected. The difference is just the manner they are celebrated.
“NAFEST is the avenue to translate this to one another so that we can celebrate our culture together”.
NAFEST 2024, noted Asika, has been rebranded to focus on “rebranding to focus more on capacity building for creatives and talent discovery.”
On the national essence of the festival to national ideals and aspirations, Asika said, “NAFEST this year is critical to us, we are planning on rebranding NAFEST as we have engaged development partners, private sector partners, reality show development partners and more.
“The Minister of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy has developed a specific roadmap and has discussed with States to re-key into the programme.
Featuring mainly cultural dances, children’s drama, indigenous fabric, and fashion components, the festival would rely more on partnerships and live streaming so as to attract larger public interest, and especially to galvanise the youths, and especially children. The festival will also feature cooking competitions, fashion shows, dance-offs, sing-offs, and traditional games.
“Another way we are rebranding the festival is that NAFEST will be made a live event, to be showcased on DSTV channels, YouTube, Trace and all. We want to engage a lot of people.”
Continuing, Asika, a private culture entrepreneur and activist before his appointment last year, stated:
“I want a situation whereby kids will be able to watch NAFEST in the comfort of their homes, and they will be looking forward to subsequent editions of NAFEST.
“I want people to see NAFEST as our Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC).
“My over 30 years of experience as a producer will be brought to the fore.
“We have several things that will be different about NAFEST this year. We will have eight art galleries in Abuja running exhibitions around past editions of NAFEST. Eighty per cent of the festival will be held at the Artist Village”.
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More about NAFEST
TOWARDS meeting the challenges of our time, the Council is positioned more than ever before to deploy its diverse and rich arts and culture resources to be a spring board and an instrument for promoting national unity, national integration and an avenue for economic empowerment. The Cultural fiesta which attracts contingents from all over Nigeria does not only serve as a platform for the exhibition of Nigeria s Arts and Culture but also provides a unifying link for the diverse ethnic groups in the country as evidenced in the transactions, friendliness and atmosphere of warmth which is always at play during the one-week event.
The National Festival of Arts and Culture is the major flagship program of the NCAC and as of today remains one of the major cultural festivals that serve as great platforms for mobilizing Stakeholders in the Arts and Culture Industry at which they interact, showcase talents and project the values of our heritage as well as develop the spirit of national identity and peaceful co-existence.
