Women’s Day: Artists stage a feast for Ajai-Lycett at 80

AS part of a year-long series of events to celebrate the life and illustrious career of the iconic actress and culture advocate, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett (MoN), the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), will stage the first of its ARTHOUSE Forum in 2021 on Sunday, March 7 in a hybrid live and virtual format.

Programme officer to the prime Art advocacy group, Samuel Osaze, said in a release yesterday, that the event produced in collaboration with the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), the Forum will treat the theme: “Women- Now that the Glass has been Shattered: What Next?

The ARTHOUSE Forum, said Osaze, a poet, is the first in a series of four to be staged in the course of the year.  

The veteran actress, art activist and culture advocate, whose career has spanned over six decades, Mrs Ajai-Lycett, was 80 on February 3rd, but the “rising second wave of the pandemic prevented her constituency, the culture community, from rolling out the drum to celebrate an artist whose exemplary life and career have remained inspirational to several generations of practicing artistes and culture producers”, said the CORA programme officer.

The event, Osaze discloses, “will feature, among other activities, eminent women speakers, screening of a documentary film, ‘TAIWO AJAI-LYCETT — MATRIARCH of the ACT’, musical performances, dance, drama, and spoken word.”

“The March 7 event is strategically positioned to coincide with the World Women’s Day on March 8 as well as the “International Women’s Month (March). To this end, the programme is designed as an all-women event, which means from planning to execution, it will be handled by carefully selected women, who are individually accomplished in their own field,” said Osaze.

He continued, “eight remarkable Women leaders in the education and culture sectors speak for 10 minutes each on eight areas considered dear to Anty TAL’s life and career – the Arts, Environment, Education, Mentorship, Communication, Administration, Empowerment and Culture Activism.

“Each speaker’s contribution will reflect on her lived experience(s) or in her field of operation/discipline. Essentially, the individual contribution will serve as a means of mentorship to the body of students and youths (not more than 30) that we expect to form the main audience.”

He gave the name of the speakers as: Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industries, LCCI, who is leading the session. Other speakers are:
* Joke Silva –– Actress (Acting)
*  Ifeoma Fafunwa – Theatre Director/Producer (Production)
* Sola Alamutu — Environmental/Girl Child Activist (Environment)
* Noma Sodipo – Educationist/ Social Activist (Education)
* Sandra Obiago – Curator/Communication Activist (Mentorship) 
* Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo – Poet/Visual Artist (Art & Litt) 
* Iyabo Aboaba – Administrator/Art Manager (Empowerment)
* Chinwe Uwatse – Art/Culture Activist (Culture Advocacy)

Goodwill messages would also be delivered by the theatre producer and managing director of Terra Kulture, Mrs. Bolanle Austen-Peters, a board member of the CORA and the popular actress in the rested TV soap, Village Headmaster, Lara Akinshola, who will be speaking for the NANTAP.

Performances will also be bended by an all-women cast, each representing an interest of the actress: Yinka Davies (Jazz), Ranti Ihimoyan (folk classical), and Ayeola Mabiaku (poetry).

The event is being produced by Kennii Ekundayo, an art curator, whose career is on the rise as a young producer of creative contents; and also. programme and communication assistant to the CORA, founded 30 years ago in June 1991.

CORA expects to professionally record each contribution to develop a document that it can use for advocacy and as mentorship tool for thousands of students and youths to whom it intends to screen the presentations in the course of the year and in the future.

Guests are expected to join the event by zoom on the following protocols:
Meeting ID: 838 2078 7819; Passcode: CORAforum
The ace culture production site, Freedom Park by Broad Street, Lagos Island will host the live event with limited number of guests while others will join by zoom, YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms, according to the CORA.

The ace culture production site, Freedom Park by Broad Street, Lagos Island will host the live event with limited number of guests while others will join by zoom, YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms, according to the CORA.