Monday, 11 Nov 2024
Tag: Joel Sebunjo

The Agali Awamu Troupe at Bayimba Regional Festival in Jinja 2013. Photo by Gilbert Bwette Daniel.

Bayimba Jinja: Crowd-pullers wanted

There was that general feeling that the Bayimba Festival in Jinja had not been advertised enough, hence the slow attendance of people. Festivals are supposed to give you that sense of excitement and belonging. It’s hard to get that with a scanty number of people. That aside, the sound of music of its own is bound to bring you numbers since the event was in a public space and considering that shs 1000 is not a lot to pay. On this occasion, there was something missing in the music acts that performed. This festival needed at least one or two big names that are certain crowd-pullers to uplift the mood of the festival.

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Brian Magoba. Photo by courtesy of Brian Magoba's Facebook-page.

The influence of ancient drum practices on contemporary music

African societies, since time immemorial, have always been moved by the sound of the drum. Communication and celebration with percussions were norms within our numerous cultural contexts. Drums in African traditional societies were sources of identity that distinguished various social groupings. Samuel Lutaaya has interviewed Brian Magoba to learn how drums have been used in contemporary pop music compared to traditional music.

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Young performers at Bayimba Festival, Jinja 2012.

10 Lessons learned from a well-organized Bayimba

With the exception of the Laba! Arts festival, there are not so many festivals on the Ugandan calendar. So Bayimba gave us a feel of what a festival should be like. In the words of its Director Faisal Kiwewa, “Celebrating the feeling of belonging and experiencing the freedom of culturality.” And while at it, celebrate culture in all its diversity, so it seemed. Elizabeth Namakula reviews the Bayimba.

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Image collage from the LaBa! 2011.

Liberation-Arts-Participation at the 6th LaBa! Street Art Festival

This year Uganda will celebrate its golden jubilee, and what better way to celebrate such a milestone other than with art! On June 9, Mackinnon road Nakasero will be ready for the sixth LaBa! Street Art Festival, once again organized by Goethe-Zentrum Kampala (GZK) / Ugandan German Cultural Society together with Ugandan artists.

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Faisal Kiwewa, the Director of Bayimba, at the DOADOA, Jinja May 2012.

DOADOA: Taking African music to the global scene

“Africa produces the best music in the world, but getting the music to the global level is still a big problem.” This viewpoint was given by Ruth Daniel, a co-founder of the global grassroots and creative community Un-Convention, at a press conference in Jinja. The press conference was organized by the Bayimba Cultural Foundation; launching the annual Bayimba Festival and DOADOA, the East African performing arts market at the Bax Conference Center.

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Outlook 2012: Six leading Ugandan arts and culture professionals share their visions

Faisal Kiwewa, Director of Bayimba Cultural Foundation, Adong Judith Lucy, a renowned playwright, film maker and arts practitioner, John Bosco Kyabaggu, production manager at the Uganda National Cultural Centre, Ronex Ahimbisibwe, a renowned visual artist, Maurice Kirya, musician and brainchild of the Maurice Kirya Experience, and Joel Sebunjo, acclaimed Ugandan world music artist, all share some thoughts about 2011 and 2012.

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Ismaël Lo performing at Serena Hotel 2012. Photo by courtesy of Joel Sebunjo.

A Case for Good African Music

“There were a number of magical moments in the World Music showcase by Joel Sebunjo and Ismaël Lo on Friday. One was watching Sebunjo play the opening kora-solo to ‘Nakato’. Another one was hearing Ismaël Lo sing ‘Tajabone’, alone on stage with his guitar.” Serubiri Moses mediate on African music – “One must be able to feel the spirit of a people through music.”

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Maurice Kirya at This is Uganda, 2011. Photo by Will Boase (www.willboase.com). All rights reserved.

Is this really Uganda?

The idea of a festival of the arts in the Ugandan sun was welcomed. Like others themed alike, This Is Uganda was expected to celebrate the Uganda free spirit in all cultural senses. In its second year, TIU shows it has set out to celebrate a different culture. Even when the organisers expected the event to be endorsed by a big number of revelers, at the end they were not happy with the turnout. At this rate, TIU might need to change tack in the next edition.

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