A webinar on the Ori Olokun Theatre Company is to take place virtually on Friday, April 30, that is tomorrow at 4 pm in Nigeria via Zoom. The organisers said the theme of the online seminar to be moderated by Culture Curator//Producer, Jahman Anikulapo, is “Reflecting on the Ori Olokun: Legacy & Aesthetic Dimensions for Learning and for Culture”.
Interested participants can register in advance to attend the webinar which features original members of the Ori Olokun Theatre Company founded in 1967 at this link: https://SDSU.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UPX6jFL5SACLKaqfkXM8gg.
“It was one of the earliest culturally-centred, professional performing arts organisations in post-independent Nigeria. under the artistic direction of Ola Rotimi (late). It was affiliated with the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife),” the organisers said.
In the concept note, the convener of the webinar, Prof Niyi COKER Jr of San Diego State University, USA, himself a former student of the University of Ife, said the conference will feature presentations and discussions by the alumni of the Ori Olokun Theatre Company founded by Ola Rotimi at the University of Ife.
A wholistic arts organisation, it was a representation of the African aesthetic and cosmology. Its aesthetic was totally African in outlook as there was no compartmentalization of African art into divisions of dance, music, theatre, fine art, etc as in the Western context. This was African through and through. It was a Performing Arts unit that symbolized a University which was committed to Africa-centered learning.
The company comprised of many, some of who after almost 5 decades will – at the Webinar –provide us insight into “how” they made history and preserved our cultural legacies in the years following Nigeria’s Independence.”
Among the Alumni of the company who would be featuring the Webinar are:
ALUMS:
* Dr Emeka Akaezuwa – VC, Int’l Uni. of East Africa, Kampala, Uganda.
.*Mrs Banke Akosile Ola, now based in Manchester
.*Ms. Margaret Cleopatra Aninyen (nee Okonye), an author and NGO leader
* Mrs Bose Ayeni-Tsevende, director of Total New Image Theatre, Jos
* Sir Peter Badejo, OBE — Founder/Director, Badejo Arts, UK
* Dr Tunji Ojeyemi, director TURODE Theatre
* Dr Gabriel Adekola Oyewo, Asst. Prof, of Theatre Arts
.* Prof Akin Sofoluwe, retired University Professor of Theatre Arts
* Jimi Solanke, renowned Storyteller, Actor, Musician
* Mr Bob Sherry Oyeleke
* Otunba Charles Somade, retired Associate Professor
* Mr Kola Sorunke
Prof. Bode Sowande, playwright, director, Dept of Perf. Arts and Music, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo
RESPONDERS
drawn from the academic and the practising fields. These include:
* Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka, Prof. Emerita, University of Kansas, USA
* Deirdre Badejo, professor, University of Baltimore, USA
* Ms Toyin Bifarin Ogundeji, lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
* Dr Teju Kareem, theatre designer and art entrepreneur
* Dr Oyinlola Longe, lecturer, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife
* Prof. Ahmed Yerima, lecturer, Redeemer University, Ede, Osun State
* Israel Meriomame Wekpe, lecturer, University of Benin