The annual gathering of young people across the globe, under the auspices of the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange(WSICE), comes up July 13 in a hybrid format – live and virtual.
Focussing on the theme: “That our FUTURE may not DISAPPEAR,” the event is expected to feature over 5000 young people drawn from across four continents of the world.
Taking a different direction this year, the WSICE, which in its youth segment had always featured a writing competition for students the past 13 years, will hold as a forum to air the views of young people about critical developments in world polity.
This year, according to a statement, young people from as many as 20 countries will engage in discourse on the now widely spread incident of ‘disappearing humanity’ through acts of kidnapping, abductions, human cancels, social and cultural discriminations on the bases of colour creed, faith, physio-mental features and others – all framed in the conceptual context of theme: “that our future may not disappear”.
Past winners of the yearly contests of the WSICE will be joined by contemporaries from other countries and cultures will converge on a panel named “The International Youth Assembly” to discuss the issue of disappearance of all forms and how it affects their future and the survival of the human family.
While the discourse will hold in the virtual space, the live event will hold at the Ijegba Theatre Resort located in the heart of the Autonomous Republic of Ijegba, A.R.I. – the thickly forested residence of the Nobel laureate who is the grand inspiration behind the project. This segment will have over 1000 pupils and students of Ogun State having a mentoring session with members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA, Ogun State Chapter)
The programme will also have group of specially selected eminent cultural and eductional leaders named “Advocates of Conscience” – who are renowned for having dedicated m their time, life and careers to speaking for and working with young people. They will share their experiences and remarks. Some of them are the renowned Caribbean performance poet-philosopher-activist, Mutabaruka, the American physician-storyteller, Dr Russell Low, and the classic musician, Jian Wang.
To further consolidate on its international profile which it firmly established last year, the WSICE has renewed its partnership with the San Diego State University, SDSU in the United States, which will be the virtual host, and as well supplying some of the resource persons.