Leading arts and literature event, Aké Festival, is heading online for 2020, giving global audiences the chance to hear some of the most creative voices from across Africa.
The festival will be offering audiences a free programme of 65 inspiring talks, workshops, panel discussions and performances from the most exciting voices across Africa and the African diaspora.
Aké Festival goes digital
Now in its eighth year, Aké Festival is world’s largest collection of African creative voices on African soil and hosts some of the most sought-after, innovative voices in black thought.
The theme for the 2020 festival is African Time, in recognition of the global anti-racism movement that has gathered momentum and visibility in recent months.
Audiences from across the world are invited to join luminaries from contemporary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, film, theatre, music and visual arts in discussions about some of the most critical issues of our time, including race, gender, identity, equality and empathy.
The 2020 festival programme
Over the course of the festival, you’ll be able to join 27 stimulating panel discussions and 20 author talks, as well as storytelling sessions, workshops, poetry performances, films, a concert, and a stage play.
You’ll be able to hear topics under discussion, from intersectional feminism, blacktivism and colourism, to the burgeoning post-COVID mental health crisis and decolonisation of black spaces. Panel discussion highlights will include: Black Women Harnessing Anger for Social Change; Publishing While Black; Decolonising Feminism in Africa; Writing Queer, Writing Black; and Why African Needs Feminist Giants.
This year’s line-up of more than 130 authors, artists and creatives will include American best-selling author Tayari Jones; Booker Prize-winning Jamaican author Marlon James, who’ll join award-wining Nigerian-American science-fiction and fantasy author Nnedi Okorafor in a panel discussion; and two-time Giller Prize-winning Canadian author Esi Edugyan.
Beyond the world of literature, Aké Festival’s programme of film, music, theatre and visual arts will include a screening of new film Elders Corner; a concert featuring some of Africa’s most celebrated artists; and acclaimed new theatrical work Venus vs. Modernity, which will have its digital premiere on the evening of Saturday 24th October.
If you’re looking for more inspiring and creative online events, check these out.
When: 22nd – 25th October 2020
Where: Online
£: Free. Book a spot online
More info: akefestival.org
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