Black Heritage Festival brings back Brazil

By Prisca Sam-Duru

As it continues its tour round countries , culture lovers in Nigeria will enjoy yet another opportunity of cultural extravaganza as Lagos State hosts the 2013 Lagos Black Heritage Festival (LBHF).

Still on the theme, The Black in the Mediterranean Blue, the 2013 edition which will have its focus on Bring Back Brazil, according to the festival  consultant Professor Wole Soyinka, is to map out how Nigeria and Brazil influence each other.

Prof. Soyinka who spoke during a conference at Freedom Park, Lagos, disclosed that  the festival will  celebrate African creativity by featuring  traditional and contemporary dances, music, art exhibition, photo exposition, drama, symposium and several other artistic and intellectual programmes.

Explaining reasons why Brazil is in focus, the Nobel laureate pointed out that “Our children do not understand why we have people who practice Nigerian cultures in Brazil, all they know is that in Brazil they have blacks who are descendants of slaves from Nigeria. They are astonished to see traditions of the Yoruba on streets of places such as Salvador during carnivals”, adding that the whole idea is to come and recover all enriching things the ancestors left behind.

H RH Erelu Dosumu Fernandez who is the festival chief host said that most of the cultures practiced in Brazil are of Yoruba origin. She expressed her excitement about the festival adding that the title alone conjures peace, love, celebration, grandiose just as Brazil conjures Nigeria’s  relationship with their culture.

She described Brazilians as promoters of the Nigerian cultures due to the way and manner they display with passion, most of the cultures and traditions of the Yoruba, stressing that they are more loyal than Nigerians and disclosed that plans are in place to bring cultural representatives from Brazil to come and show Nigerians during the festival, the need to appreciate their cultures. This she added will be a continuous exercise.