On the 4th of May, I had the opportunity to attend BlackFor30’s AfriKaleidoscope event at Sydney’s Flow Studios. It was an exhibition to showcase various African diaspora talents highlighting poetry, dance and visual artworks. AfriKaleidoscope will aim to run as a series with various themes as the creative centre. This event was called “Eternal Echoes: Rediscovering Ancient African Worlds” and the artists and performers drew their own interpretation of what that meant to them. When I think of Eternal Echoes, I think of the stories and messages passed from our African ancestors and which, we in turn, pass on to the next generation. I spoke to the BlackFor30 founder, Fungai Mutsiwa, and he envisions AfriKaleidoscope events tapping into links across the African continent and allowing the audience to rediscover ancient civilizations and re-imagine what they would have looked like without outside influences of slavery & colonization. He definitely doesn’t lack ambition!

The brilliance of creative spaces and art is that you can take from it what you will. If you want to analyze art on a philosophical and existential level you can, but if you just enjoy listening to poetry/music and looking at art then that’s okay as well.

The event was refreshing because of how it attracted a diverse crowd of people from all walks of life. The young and old were catered for and it felt fun without being performative and mature without being pretentious. Which is a hard task to pull off in Sydney on a Saturday evening. In addition, the food provided was by that of Alick Matewa — a Zimbabwean chef who provided a healthy sample of various dishes inspired by his country.

During the first 45 minutes, people were allowed to walk around the studio space and look at artworks and watch short form videos projected on the wall. This allowed for time to mingle and talk to strangers and friends alike. This was followed by an open panel chaired by Fungai, where he spoke to Nyaluak Leth (model, poet & actress), Lucky Lartey (Choreographer/ Visual Artist), Victor D Fuente (Artist), and Steph Martei(Artist). The guests were asked to talk about their various crafts and work philosophies and how this bleeds into their work. I often find it interesting to hear creatives talk about their process and Fungai goes out of his way not to ask conventional questions!

The first person to perform was Nyaluak Leth. She is a South Sudanese multi-hyphenate and performed some poetry which was engaging and got the crowd excited for more. In addition, during the event she was next to a typewriter and would punch out some unique poetry for anyone who approached her. Nyaluak is fun to watch in action because her crowd work is captivating. The next performer was Lucky Lartey, he showcased a unique blend of dance and theatre which included echoes to his Ghanaian heritage. Lucky is a Ghanian Australian dance choreographer whose contemporary dance work focuses on themes of social justice, identity, and movement inspired by African cultures. Victor D Fuente was on hand to talk about his artwork and influences. Victor, like his art, has come a long way. He was born in Rwanda but grew up mostly in Kenya before immigrating to Australia where he has been for over 14 years. Victor’s art is hand drawn and he has various influences from animation to landscapes. He predominately avoids color allowing his black and white images to stand out amongst the sea of color that is contemporary art. Finally, Steph Martei is an artist of Ghanaian descent who utilizes her skill with illustrations and graphic design. She mostly draws her art and then makes finishing touches digitally, producing a sci-fi futuristic effect on some of her prints. All the artists were easy to talk to and had their artwork on display and available to buy. In addition, all the guests have active social media and share their work online to consume.

In Sydney, we often feel that our nightlife is not vibrant and consisting mostly of the same rinse and repeat night party events. With Afrikaleidoscope, we can expect another dimension to our local scene, one that supports and highlights various African diaspora talents across the country. It’s been over a month and I still think about that night and I know many more feel the same.

The people have spoken and they want more!