LABAF 2023: 25 Years in the Service of Literary Promotion
The Zimbabwe International Book Fair was on the agenda of writers,publishers and book sellers in the first decade that followed the independence of the former Southern Rhodesia, under president Robert Mugabe.While the purpose of this feature is not to relate how the Zimbabwe International Book Fair foundered but to admit that the gap created by the festival lack of dynamism is now filled by LABAF or the Lagos Book and Art Festival. A festival that celebrated its 25th annivesary in November 2023 with the usual blend of contemporary art exhibitions,tough questions on Nigerian History and a marvellous retrospective session.
Photo:The 2023 edition poster,Prof.Wole Soyinka exhibition and illustrations by the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria.
Three important exhibitions
A display captioned The Man Who Didnt Die In The Face of Tyranny was a narrative on the prison experience of Prof.Wole Soyinka.In the year that the titan of Nigerian literature is celebrating his 89th birthday.This photo exhibition showcased the works of the writer between 1966-2023 and the curator hinted in his introduction a literary genius,who stood unflinchingly against tyranny welding the written word as his sword. Beside this exhibition is a presentation of 20 cartoons selected by the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria that used this headline,Drawing Attention with a spotlight on Nigeria economic,political and social issues as you see in the cartoons of Josy Ajiboye of the former Daily Times.
Photos:First photo, a poster of the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria,second photo,Rufai Oseni,on the left,Habib Jaafar in the middle and Tade Ipadeola on the right,Third photo,a poster presenting the junkmanofafrica exhibition.
A sparkling encounter with a writer
A courtyard exhibition revolving around the JunkmanofAfrica added that touch of an art gallery visit to the festival agenda,with a pompous line-up of the works of Dil Humphrey Onuzulike reputed for aesthetic feats.In the section on Why I read What I read chaired by Rufai Oseni(the TV Journalist) and Barrister Tade Ipadeola(the winner of the NLNG literary award in 2013) the guests were thrilled. To hear, Habib Jaafar,the author of African Odyssey of a Lebanese emigrant declared that the need to put Nigeria in a better perspective,the need to express gratitude to his father,who arrived in the walled-city in 1952,the need to recount his Kano childhood,his experiences in Nigeria and relations with fellow Nigerians, as some of the reasons that encouraged him to write this book.
Festival |Festival part two |Festivals part three | Readers
