Gigs & Events
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Find out what's going on in the world of African arts and music. We've listed everything from club nights to conferences.
If you have an event which you would like listed here, please contact us.
December 2007 Events
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Inhuman Traffic: The Business of the Slave Trade
- Exhibitions & Shows
- 1-31 December 2007
- British Museum
- London
This small exhibition explores how the Transatlantic Slave Trade functioned.It covers more than 500 years, including the Parliamentary Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807.
It features resistance leaders including Toussaint l'Ouverture, Olaudah Equiano and Nanny of the Maroons, and their continuing llegacy of the struggle to end enslavement.
Located in room 69a.
- Time: 10.00am - 5.30pm
- Admission: free
- Address: Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG
- Nearest stations: Holborn, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square, Goodge Street, Covent Garden, Euston
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Brent Black Music History Exhibition
- Festivals & Special Events
- 1-31 December 2007
- Willesden Green Library Centre
- London
A photographic exhibition of the photos of artists, music industry players, and buildings with a black music history, as captured by Patrick Friday and Kwaku for the Brent Black Music History Project (BBMHP) DVD and booklet. The year-long exhibition will be kept fresh with changes in photos, plus small events based around the exhibition.
- Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm
- Admission: free
- Information: 020 8450 5987
- Address: 95 High Road, London NW10 2SF
- Nearest station: Willesden Green
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Blind Memories
- Exhibitions & Shows
- 1-14 December 2007
- 198
- London
198’s contribution to the commemoration of the parliamentary abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Blind Memories proposes to look at the role of visual representations in the formation of collective memories of the Trade.
Memory traces, impressions or images, have figured in theories of memory from Aristotle through Descartes, Freud and into 21st century thinking. Precious devices of the mourning process, relics from the past have a crucial role in the foundation of group identities following the experience of a traumatic event. But how legitimate are these relics when, as per the case of visual representations of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, they are partly based upon strangely rooted, compromised emotions “such as envy for the slave as ultimate martyr, philanthropic sentimentality and even pornographic fantasy?” (M. Wood, 2000).
Gathering an eclectic body of work by artists Ana Avendano, Joanne Gibbs, Rita Keegan, Cheryl Lane, Taslim Martin, Agnes Poitevin-Navarre and Susan Stockwell, Blind Memories reinterprets, across a variety of media, the iconic representation(s) of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and their legacies, from 15th century portulan charts to 19th century anthropological photography, critically assesses their role in the History writing process, and their contribution to the politics of representing race and the fantasised, imaginary “other”.
Blind Memories evaluates how this bizarre assemblage of voices allows us to achieve any degree of understanding of the Slave Trade today, and ultimately begs the question: can we make art out of the middle passage?
- Time: 10.00am - 6.00pm
- Admission: free
- Address: Contemporary Arts and Learning, 198 Railton Road, SE24 OJT
- Nearest station: Brixton
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A Christmas Carol - Ikrismas Kherol
- Theatre & Dance
- 1-31 December 2007
- The Young Vic
- London
A vibrant, thrilling musical adaptation of Charles Dicken's most enduring of all ghost stories. This time Scrooge is a woman, the setting is today’s South Africa and the past is life under the apartheid regime. These are exciting times... The rise of a new economic class. Others face harsh poverty while Scrooge is rich and successful. But she lives a lonely, loveless life. Three ancestral spirits come to visit. By the end she understands it is never too late to learn from the past, to change and live a meaningful and happy life.
An extraordinary new company of 30 performers arrives at the Young Vic this Christmas with two world premieres, filled with the rich musical voice of South Africa - emotional, exuberant and hugely uplifting. Discover these two classics as you have never seen them before. With modern township backgrounds, both shows are performed in the languages of South Africa and English and feature Pauline Malefane, star of the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear-winning film U-Carmen (2005) and most recently seen at the Young Vic in generations.
Played in repertoire with The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo.
- Time: 2.30pm & 7.30pm
- Tickets: £24.50/ £21.50/ £9.50
- Information: 0207 992 2922
- Address: 66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
- Nearest station: Waterloo
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The Magic Flute - Impempe Yomlingo
- Theatre & Dance
- 1-31 December 2007
- The Young Vic
- London
The greatest piece of music theatre performed as you’ve never heard it: the South African way - thirty singers, marimbas, drums and township percussion. Sir Simon Rattle, Conductor Berlin Philharmonic on Mark Dornford-May's The Magic Flute/Impempe Yomlingo.
It’s a story about the trials of life - growing up, finding the love of your life, learning to be wise. Adventure, fairy story, comedy, drama are all set to glorious music.A delight for young and old alike, with its message of reconciliation. An extraordinary new company of 30 performers arrives at the Young Vic this Christmas with two world premieres, filled with the rich musical voice of South Africa - emotional, exuberant and hugely uplifting.
Discover these two classics as you have never seen them before. With modern township backgrounds, both shows are performed in the languages of South Africa and English and feature Pauline Malefane, star of the Berlin Film Festival, Golden Bear-winning film U-Carmen (2005) and most recently seen at the Young Vic in gernerations.Played in repertoire with A Christmas Carol - Ikrismas Kherol.
- Time: 2.30pm & 7.30pm
- Tickets: £24.50/ £21.50/ £9.50
- Information: 0207 992 2922
- Address: 66 The Cut, London SE1 8LZ
- Nearest station: Waterloo
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Component
- Music
- 2 December 2007
- Brixton Jamm
- London
An up-beat focused music session on a very jazzy tip. With ever rotating DJ's spinning worldwide sounds, Jazz, bad-ass Funk, Latin-Soul, Brazilian-Beats, Afro-Beats plus live music sessions. Components is a platform for creativity, experimentalism, freedom of expression and indeed you guessed it, quality sounds. Starts 2 December 2007, and then Every First Sunday of the Month @ JAMM
With free entry and a limited capacity of 150 people, please RSVP if you and your friends would like to come. RSVP by e-mail, text or phone.
- Time: 8.00pm - 3.00am
- Admission: free
- Address: 261, Brixton Road – SW9 6 LH
- Nearest station: Brixton
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Dangerous Words
- Exhibitions & Shows
- 3 December 2007
- The Poetry Cafe
- London
A great night of peotry and an open mic featuring several talented performers/ Bart Wolffe: Prominent Zimbabwean poet, playwright and journalist who could no longer write freely in Mugabe's Zimbabwe. His latest book is Persona Non Grata. Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu: Poet, novelist and short story writer who fled from Nigeria because of his novel Bosheth Williams. Janna on tambura and guitar and Martin on accordion playing Eastern European and Gypsy music. Victor Mavedzenge: poet and painter newly arrived from Zimbabwe. Video by Eugene Ullman: dangerous words at The Book Cafe of Harare
Food and drink available in the Cafe
- Time: 9.00pm - 3.00am
- Tickets: £4/ £2 members
- Address: 22 Betterton Street, London WC2
- Nearest station: Covent Garden
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Nneka @ Afro-pop + Black Valentine
- Music
- 5 December 2007
- Norwich Arts Centre
- Norwich
Future superstar Nneka, fresh from touring with Gnarls Barkley, shows work from her debut Victim of Truth (an album "as good as The Miseducation of Lauren Hill" according to The Sunday Times). She sings with a gorgeous voice that reflects the abrasions of her two continents, Europe and Africa, and new single God of Mercy has been hailed as an instant classic.
Born in Nigeria, Nneka relocated some 10,000 miles to Hamburg, Germany, at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in singing along side a degree in Anthropology. Having landed in the German port, the singer hooked up with DJ and Hip-Hop beatmaker DJ Farhot and ever since, their strong musical relationship has been the backbone of Nneka’s success. Her influences reflect her younger days in Nigeria as well as her time in the Western world. The distance she has travels shines through in her voice as does her diverse musical influences. She cites famous compatriot Fela Kuti and legend Bob Marley as well as contemporary rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep and Lauryn Hill as key influences in her pursuit of musical recognition.
AFRO-POP LIVE is a new revolution in the urban experience spawned from Mother Africa. Afro-pop is steeped in a fusion of afrobeat, hiplife, jujudance, pop, funkfuji, raggaehiphop laced with soulful melodies producing a hybrid of explosive sounds delivered in a punk attitude.
- Time: 8.00pm
- Tickets: £10
- Box Office: (0) 1603 660352
- Address: St. Benedict's Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG
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Nneka @ Afro-pop + Black Valentine
- Music
- 6 December 2007
- Colchester Arts Centre
- Colchester
Future superstar Nneka, fresh from touring with Gnarls Barkley, shows work from her debut Victim of Truth (an album "as good as The Miseducation of Lauren Hill" according to The Sunday Times). She sings with a gorgeous voice that reflects the abrasions of her two continents, Europe and Africa, and new single God of Mercy has been hailed as an instant classic.
Born in Nigeria, Nneka relocated some 10,000 miles to Hamburg, Germany, at the age of nineteen to pursue a career in singing along side a degree in Anthropology. Having landed in the German port, the singer hooked up with DJ and Hip-Hop beatmaker DJ Farhot and ever since, their strong musical relationship has been the backbone of Nneka’s success. Her influences reflect her younger days in Nigeria as well as her time in the Western world. The distance she has travels shines through in her voice as does her diverse musical influences. She cites famous compatriot Fela Kuti and legend Bob Marley as well as contemporary rappers Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep and Lauryn Hill as key influences in her pursuit of musical recognition.
AFRO-POP LIVE is a new revolution in the urban experience spawned from Mother Africa. Afro-pop is steeped in a fusion of afrobeat, hiplife, jujudance, pop, funkfuji, raggaehiphop laced with soulful melodies producing a hybrid of explosive sounds delivered in a punk attitude.
- Time: 8.00pm
- Tickets: £10
- Box Office: www.wegottickets.com
- Information: 0208 310 9147
- Address: Church Street Colchester Essex
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Undressing Empire: Black British Perspectives
- Exhibitions & Shows
- 6 December 2007
- Museum in Docklands
- London
An exciting panel discussion from SABLE Litmag's hot team of writers exploring issues of empire, art and liberation. Contributors include poet Dorothea Smartt, writer and playwright Michael McMillan and Susan Yearwood, SABLE Essay editor. Chair - Toyin Agbetu.
Entrance to this event includes a free viewing/walk around the new Sugar Gallery - which features the installations of Dorothea Smartt, Faisal Abdullah and Godfied Donkor, curated by Ingrid Pollard
The Museum in Docklands unlocks the history of London's river, port and people in a 19th-century warehouse at West India Quay. Originally used to house imports of exotic spices, rum and cotton, it now holds a wealth of objects from whale bones to WWII gas masks. The nine state-of-the-art galleries include 'Mudlarks', an interactive educational area for children and 'Sailortown' an atmospheric re-creation of the streets and alleyways of riverside Wapping as they would have appeared in the early nineteenth century.
- Time: 19.00pm - 20.30pm
- Admission: free
- Information: 0870 444 3856
- Address: West India Quay, Canary Wharf London E14 4AL
- Nearest station: Farringdon
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Afro-Tema
- Club
- 7 December 2007
- Cellar Bar 8
- Cambridge
AFRO-TEMA's intoxicating blend of Afro-Latin, Reggae & Mbalax dance music, enjoy a night with with DJ Africathy.
Explorer Magazine Review- "heady mix of traditional and contemporay vibrant live African dance music unlike anything you are likely to experience in Cambridge"
- Time: 8.00pm
- Tickets: £5 adv/ £4 students
- Information: amanasmusic@yahoo.co.uk
- Address: Cobble Yard, Napier Street, Cambridge
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Maribo Jazz Presents; Afro Jazz Live Xmas Party
- Music
- 7-9 December 2007
- Brixton Arts Space
- London
Be one of the first to experience the first Black wellbeing centre, salon and spa to open in a department store in the UK. And folks it's natural & holistic. Come and join us on the second floor of Morley's Department Store opposite Brixton Underground station. We'd love you to meet our team of stylists, beauty therapists and alternative health consultants many of whom you will already know from Adornment's exhibitions.
It's that time of the year again! Are you looking for that extra special item for yourself, family or friends? Adornment's Seasonal Studio Market will showcase work by UK and French creatives. We're talking fashion, accessories, products and much more. There will also be live poets/vocalists in the market space and a delicious juice bar throughout the day. Visit us at Adornment365 (second floor, Morley's Department Store) on Friday or Saturday, to pick up your free ticket for the Studio Market. Fresh, nutritious juices will be served throughout the weekend along with goody bags.
Friday 7th Dec - 11.30am to 9.30pm is Beauty Day - with mini manicures/pedicures, massages, makeovers and demos. Saturday 8th Dec - 10am to 7pm is Natural Hair Day with lock and braid demos, hair and scalp consultaions and complimentary head massage. Sunday 9th Dec -11am to 5pm is Well Being Day with complimentary massage, yoga and Breath Workshops.
- Time: 5.00pm - 11.00pm
- TIckets: £3
- Information: 0207 278 9983, 0788 419 1055
- Address: 130 Brixton Hill, SW2
- Nearest station: Brixton
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An African Experience of Handel's Messiah
- Theatre & Dance
- 8-9 December 2007
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- London
This showcase and preview, before moving to the Sadler's Wells theatre, is a mixture of story telling, poetry, African music styles, dance, drama, sound and costume in a 'Total African Theatre' style. This interpretation draws a parallel between personal, daily, and spiritual life and the African experience that considers the slave trade and colonisation through various storylines. In partnership with the Eyukamba Foundation.
- Time: 12.00pm & 3.00pm
- Tickets: £7.50/£6.00/£5.00
- Information: 0207 942 2211
- Address: Cromwell Road London SW7 2RL
- Nearest station: South Kensington
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Anna Mudeka Band
- Music
- 8 December 2007
- Norwich Arts Centre
- Norwich
The Anna Mudeka band brings an amazing and original fusion of African rhythms which is unique and a refreshing sound to the world music scene today. With spectacular songs and great hamonies combined with dances moves that will leave you spellbound.
Zimbabwean Singer/ Dancer Anna Mudeka has been based in England where she has created a big following of world music fans in the past 12 years. Anna Mudeka's fans love her for her limitless energy, fabulous dancing, high-energy African drumming and emotionally moving traditional songs from Southern Africa. With inspiration from the likes of Mariam Makeba, Stella Chiweshe, Dorothy Masuku, Anna truly combines the energies from her idols with passion and admiration which is there to see when she takes to the stage.
- Time: 8.30pm
- Tickets: £8 / £6 conc
- Box Office: (0) 1603 660352
- Address: St. Benedict's Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG
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Ausar Auset Society presents: Kamit Maatket
- Festivals & Special Events
- 8-9 December 2007
- Paddington Arts Centre
- London
Indulge in shopping and culture at the UK’s premier African Market. Don’t miss ‘Entrepreneurship in Action’ Workshops, Qi Gong Master classes, Edutainment, Children's Workshops and Fashion Shows. Kamit Maatket is a day out for all the family.
Come and check out the natural health and beauty products, alternaitve health therapies, spiritual readings. designer wear, soft furnishings, books, gifts and fine arts & crafts. Delicious vegan refreshments will be on sale to keep you going as you shop.
- Time: 10.00am
- Admission: free
- Information: 020 7372 2689
- Email: kamitmaatket@hotmail.com
- Address: 32 Woodfield Road, London W9 2BE
- Nearest station: Westbourne Park
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5th Northern Lights Film Festival
- Festivals & Special Events
- 8 December 2007
- Tyneside Cinema
- Gateshead
Since 2003, Northern Lights Film Festival (NLFF) has grown year-on-year into one of the UK's best-loved film events. Each year NLFF has brought the most exciting new films made across northern Europe to the UK and given audiences the chance to meet many of the filmmakers and producers who have created them. The festival has also made it its mission to encourage new talent by making films, from multi-award winning professional shorts to the awarding of NLFF's very own production prizes.
Northern Lights Film Festival 2007 is a springboard for a very exciting future and festival organisers have crafted a festival that celebrates The Past, keeps pace with The Present and looks ahead to The Future in one action-packed weekend! This year we're thrilled to present brilliant new Icelandic documentary AFRICA UNITED as part of the festival.
Never released in the UK, this is a funny and decidedly offbeat documentary about cultural diversity, self-belief and soccer in a (very) cold climate. Zico is a Moroccan immigrant living in Iceland with aspirations to create a new life and make a successful business. However, ten years on Zico's business has failed, and needing a new focus, he pours all of his energy and entrepreneurship into trying to mould an unlikely and hilariously explosive bunch of personalities from Nigeria, Colombia, Serbia, Kosovo, Gambia and Guinea into 'Africa United'.
- Time: 2.25pm
- Tickets: £7.50/£6 / £5
- Box Office: 0191 232 8289
- Address: Old Town Hall, West Street, Gateshead
- Nearest station: South Kensington
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Maribo Jazz Presents; Afro Jazz Live Xmas Party
- Music
- 9 December 2007
- Leonards EC1
- London
Presenting the very best in Live South African music - combining live sets and dance with a traditional South African food menu. Performing on the night will be Pamoja, Zasha, Kitsch In Sync and DJ Wala playing a mix of the best from his Afro Jazz collection.
- Time: 5.00pm - 11.00pm
- TIckets: £5
- Information: 0207 278 9983, 0788 419 1055
- Address: 42 Northampton Road, Clerkenwell, EC1R OHU
- Nearest station: Farringdon
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The Amazing Grace
- Film
- 11-12 December 2007
- The Drum
- Birmingham
The story of British slave trader John Newton's voyage to West Africa and the events that inspired him to write the world's most popular hymn, Amazing Grace. The first major feature from the growing Nigerian film industry featuring a cast of renowned actors from Nigeria, the US and Britain, including Nick Moran, (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).
Putting the African experience at the centre of the story The Amazing Grace is a sharp contrast to other films that have been criticised for overlooking the part that enslaved Africans played in the fight for their own freedom.
Dir: Jete Amata, 1hr 32mins. BBFC Advice: Contains moderate violence and scenes of slave trading
- Time: 7.30pm & 2.00pm
- Tickets: £4 (£3)
- Box Office: 0121 333 2400
- Address: 144 Potters Lane, Aston, Birmingham B6 4UU
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Tinariwen
- Music
- 12 December 2007
- Shepherds Bush Empire
- London
Rebellion and rock'n'roll have been strutting hand-in-hand for more than half a century, but only rarely has their union involved real weapons and a painfully real struggle for survival. Tinariwen fought a rebellion in the early 1990s to win greater freedom and self-determination for the Touareg people of the southern Sahara. The fight was brief and bloody but it gave birth to a whole new style of desert music, powered by rolling camel-gait rhythms and the electric guitars.
Tinariwen invented the style and used it to carry their message of desert pride and survival to the four corners of the globe. They are originators, survivors, the Stones and the Clash of the Sahara all rolled into one, and their roots rock rebellion of the soul is one of the most entrancing sounds to emerge from Africa in years. Watch out for their new album "Aman Iman: Water Is Life", their first album for Independiente.
- Time: 7.00pm
- Tickets: £17.50 + booking fee
- Information: 020 8354 3300
- Address: Shepherds Bush Green, London W12 8TT
- Nearest station: Shepherds Bush
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Yaaba Funk
- Music
- 14 December 2007
- Grosvenor
- London
From South London, Yaaba Funk is a 10-pieces hi-life afro funk explosion. Yaaba Funk! celebrates the sounds of 1970's Ghanaian Hi-Life. The eight core members all met through their love for African drumming and dance. The members of Yaaba Funk! have been soaking up strong rhythmic influences whilst playing in various outfits such as traditional African groups Adzido, Fri ti-ti and Jeli masa, Trinidadian avant garde funk poet Anthony Joseph’s Spasm Band and psychedelic Nigerian sounds of Eardrum.
The current outfit has been together since May 2006 setting various venues alights with their blend of London urban sounds and the Hi-Life of 1970's Ghana. While we have them around, I would suggest you come and witness the energy of Yabbafunk on stage this Saturday!! Oh, pls leave your bling-bling at home; this is Black music with a Punk attitude...
- Time: 9.00pm - 3.00am
- Tickets: £5
- Address: Sidney Road, Stockwell London SW2
- Nearest station: Stockwell
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Kanda Bongo Man
- Music
- 14 December 2007
- St Paul's Centre
- Cambridge
Kanda Bongo Man is one of the foremost figures in modern African popular music. He formed his first band as a 15-year-old in 1973, toured in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenyaand theDR Congo (Zaire) with their newly created Soukous, a music style that is a cross between Caribbean rumba rhythms and traditional African music.
In 1983 Kanda Bongo Man played WOMAD in the UK and his international reputation was born. The Bongo Man (his father was also called Bongo Man) sings in Lingala, and his high speed form of soukous gave birth to the kwassa kwassa dance rhythm where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips.
Please note: Food is limited and only 150 seats have been made available so book early
- Time: 7.30pm
- Tickets: £20/ £15/ £14/ £12/ £10
- Information: 07842 177 344
- Address: Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1JP
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AFFORD Christmas Fundraising Gala
- Festivals & Special Events
- 14 December 2007
- Afford
- London
AFFORD is UK charity with a mission to promote and fuel Africa's development through business, enterprise and job creation, with the help of the vast African diaspora across the UK . It was founded in a response to concerns that during the process of top-down development work, Africans themselves were being effectively marginalized in decision-making and implementation.
People Bid! Try your luck for one (or two if you are feeling greedy!) of our gorgeous and beautiful volunteers to take you on a mystery night out! Sweat! Experience the heat of Africa while you are entertained with the spectacular Zulu and Gum Boot Dances.Plus Indulge! Celebrate Christmas in a very un-traditional way with our spicy fish and rice cooked from the heart in traditional Sierra Leonean style…available for a small price. Sweet songs from Ifi Piankhi, madaliene kennedy-macfoy and other rising stars.
- Time: 7.00pm
- Admission: free
- RSVP: onyekachi@afford-uk.org
- Information: 020 7587 3905
- Address: 31-33 Bondway, Vauxhall, SW8 1SJ
- Nearest station: Vauxhall
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Ghana film premieres and celebration party
- Film
- 16 December 2007
- Rich Mix Cinema
- London
The final two films in WORLDwrite's Pricking the Missionary Position film series are complete! As the fiftieth anniversary year of Ghana's independence from British colonial rule draws to a close, it's a good time to reflect on the autonomy and freedom that still needs to be fought for. In this spirit WORLDwrite and Chew on it productions would like to invite you to an end-of-year celebration and premiere of these two films.
Keeping Africa Small challenges Western NGO practices in Africa. However well meaning they may be, their programmes often get up the noses of everyone - from fishermen to shanty town inhabitants. Godbless, Wofa, De Roy and local fishermen and women loathe the peanuts offered and sanctimonious lessons in good behaviour. They want jobs and material advancement. As Godbless tells us: "Africans have big brains, big aspirations... and want to live in liberty."
I'm a subsistence farmer... get me out of here! explains that whilst Westerners celebrate nature and moan about malls and consumer lifestyles, many in the developing world yearn for the comforts of modernity. Subsistence life means mud-huts and mind-numbing toil. As this film reveals, Ghanaians want so much more.
- Time: 7.00pm
- Tickets: £10
- Information: 020 8985 5435
- Address: 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1
- Nearest station: Bethnal Green
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