Camden Events

Camden will mark the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade with a series of commemorative and informative events.

A range of films, talks and exhibitions will be staged throughout the year aimed at raising awareness of the trade and its legacy which is still effecting countries and communities around the world.

Resistance and Remembrance Day, on Sunday 25 March, is the centrepiece featuring a wide programme of activities and exhibitions at the British Museum. From 2pm to 6.30pm, visitors will be able to learn all about the slave trade and the rise of the resistance. The programme includes films, music, workshops, storytelling, poetry readings and dramatised contemporary accounts of slavery and the struggle for freedom. There will also be spaces for quiet contemplation and remembrance of the achievements of the African Diaspora.

The event will conclude with a Ceremony of Remembrance in the Museum's Great Court at 5pm featuring short readings and testimonies from guest speakers Kwame Kwei Armah, Jean Binta Breeze, Bonnie Greer, Neil MacGregor and Wole Soyinka.

The slave trade helped Britain become one of the world's greatest powers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Almost three million Africans were transported in terrible conditions across the Atlantic by British merchants.

Those interested in finding out more about the trade including Camden's prominent role in the advancement of the anti-slavery movement will be able to find more resources and information in their local library. Camden's secondary school children will also learn about the history of the slave trade.

Camden's website - camden.gov.uk/slavery - will be updated each week with information about forthcoming events and web links to useful learning resources.

Events

From Courage to Freedom: El Anatsui, Romuald Hazoumé, Owusu-Ankomah
Now to 28 April 2007
October Gallery
The October Gallery has commissioned three leading visual artists from West Africa to create works to mark the bicentenary of the UK's parliamentary abolition of the trans atlantic slave trade. Selected for their uncompromising and visual engagement with the histories that connect Africa, Europe and the Americas, the artists each map personal and universal relationships between past and future, yet in three very different ways. For detailed information: www.octobergallery.co.uk
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL
Tel:020 7242 7367

A Homecoming for jobs in Africa
Premiere of new documentary on Diaspora Self Help followed by Q&A Friday 16 March, 7pm - 9pm
Tricycle Cinema 269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6
Tube: Kilburn, Jubilee Line
This is a fundraising event - £10

Box Office: 020 7328 1000
A compelling 30-minute documentary, directed by Ishmahil Blagrove, tells the powerful story of how Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs are given a "hand-up" (not handouts) from Africans in the diasporas working with them as business advisors, friends, & mentors.

Q&A chaired by playwright and TV personality, Kwame Kwei Armah.

Panel includes returned Diaspora Resource People Ife Piankhi and Angela Kiire; documentary maker Ishmahil Blagrove and AFFORD Executive Director, Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie

For More Information Contact: Onyekachi Wambu, AFFORD, onyekachi@afford-uk.org / 020 7587 3905

The Nature of The Beast Book Launch & Discussion
Tuesday 20 March 2007, 7pm
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL (Tube: Holborn)

Introduced by Dr Daniel Hinchcliffe (ICIA), Richard Hylton will be in conversation with writer and curator Eddie Chambers. Tamara Sivanandan (Middlesex University) will provide an appraisal of The Nature of the Beast. Followed by a Drinks Reception.

Admission Free. To reserve a place contact: ICIA, University of Bath, email ICIAinfo@bath.ac.ukor call 01225 386777

The book will be available at the launch at a special price of £7.95.

Resistance and Remembrance Day
Sunday 25 March 2007, 14.00-18.30 British Museum

Placing a strong emphasis on resistance to the slave trade, the day includes poetry readings, a film programme, storytelling and dramatised contemporary accounts of slavery and the struggle for emancipation. The programme invites visitors to engage with the history and continuing legacy of slavery in the world. There will be tours of the exhibition La Bouche du Roi, a performance of 'Moj of the Atlantic: An African Odyssey' by Mojisola Adebayo and music performances by community gospel choir Vox Simba and kora players Seckou Keita and Diabel Cissokho. Families and young people are particularly welcome to the workshops and events in the Great Court organised by young people themselves. There are spaces for quiet contemplation and remembrance of the achievements of the African diaspora, including those involved in all forms of resistance to slavery and the denial of human rights.

The day will culminate at 17.00 in a Ceremony of Remembrance in the Museum's Great Court, opening with a choral performance and continuing with short readings and testimonies, both personal and public, from a variety of guest speakers drawn from the worlds of arts and politics. Hosted by Brenda Emmanus, the ceremony will feature contributions by a variety of speakers, including Kwame Kwei Armah, Jean Binta Breeze, Bonnie Greer, Neil MacGregor and Wole Soyinka.

Resistance Film Season
In partnership with the British Museum and BFM 500 Years later
Friday 16 March 18.30
Stevenson Lecture Theatre, British Museum

Crime, drugs, HIV/Aids, poor education, inferiority complex, low expectation, poverty, corruption, poor health and under development plagues people of African decent globally. 500 Years Later from the onset of slavery and subsequent colonialism Africans are still struggling for basic freedom. Filmed in five continents, and over twenty countries with Frances Cress Welsing, Desmond Tutu, Maulana Karenga, Paul Robeson Jr. and Dr. Hakim Adi.
Director: Owen 'Alik Shahadah

Film Double Bill
Friday 23 March 18.30
Stevenson Lecture Theatre, British Museum

Baldwin's NiggerThe famous African American author James Baldwin compares black life in the USA and Britain during the 1960s.
Director: Horace Ove , UK, 1968, 46 mins

Reggae
Charts the popularity of this Jamaican music form in Britain in the 1960s focussing on social and cultural sources, the difficulties encountered and what reggae musicians wrote about. Includes footage of performances, social life and political protest.
Director: Horace Ove, UK, 1971, 60 mins

Quilombo Country
Friday 13 April 18.30
Stevenson Lecture Theatre, British Museum

A portrait of the qulilombos (rural communities) in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or began from abandoned plantations. Brazil was a brutal and deadly place for slaves but they did not submit willingly. This film tells some of the stories along with footage of contemporary ceremonies, dances and lifestyles.
Director: Leonard Abrams, USA, 2006, 73 mins