The second quarter of the year has come and gone, and we are half way through 2021 already. This past quarter, there were some really cool creative events both both online and offline, and here’s a wrap up of some of them:
Salone at 60: There were many celebrations and events this year to mark Sierra Leone’s 60th independence anniversary. Among them were the unveiling of the “I Love Salone “ art installation by Madengn Association, and another Jaylai Gomei festival with John Akar Foundation.
3rd Culture Kid Productions, owned by Sierra Leonean creative Adenike Hamilton, hosted a Made In Salone festival, which featured good old gumbe music, Dr Olo’s milo band, fresh palmwine and the most peppery pepper soup we’ve had in a long time. It was a really great vibe to usher in our independence day!
Poda-Poda Stories also interviewed legendary playwright Charlie Haffner, about his creative journey and his message to Sierra Leoneans for our 60th independence anniversary.
The Young Sierra Leonean brought Salone Week in honor of Sierra Leone’s 60th independence anniversary, and they had so many goodies! One of them was a virtual event about the Krio Language, which you can watch on their IGTV.
We have a new favorite hangout spot, and its at one of our favorite places in Sierra Leone-Barla at Lumley Beach! Owned by Sierra Leonean writer Ibe Kabba, Barla is more than a beach bar. With it’s mini library and excellent sea view, its’s fast becoming a creative hub as well. In May, they started a poetry slam called Nu Griots, hosted by Sierra Leonean folklore singer, Fantacee Kamara AKA Fantacee Wizz, and another open mic night in June. We can’t wait to see more Nu Griots events at Barla!
Kip Kompin Cinema Series: More Kip Kompin cinema series, this time brought to you by Poda-Poda Stories and Young Salone. This Kip Kompin held in June was focused on Sierra Leone Women in film, and featured a social justice segment with a film produced by Purposeful called Blood Rite. Other films shown were Bureh Beach by Filmmaker Seun Babalola, and a beautiful love story Okada Love, produced by Fantacee Wizz. Our plan with Young Salone is to bring Kip Kompin live in Freetown in December, we’re excited!
The Gilded Ones Homecoming: Remember when we had the IG live chat with Namina Forna in February? Well the Gilded Ones came home for real this time! Namina Forna visited Sierra Leone in June and had two events which we attended. The first was hosted at her home in Freetown, and it was amazing to chat with her about the book and readers had a lot of really great questions for the author. The second event was hosted by Yasmine Ibrahim of Mina Bilkis, and it was an intimate chat between Namina Forna and readers . She offered a lot of good nuggets about writing , how to navigate the world of publishing and did a book signing as well .
