Fumbo: Tales of African riddles from the northwest

Amani Creatives CIC will be delivering an exciting project over 18 months to explore and gather naming traditions and heritage from the Congolese and African diaspora community in and around Manchester. 

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a £77,457 grant for the project, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.

The ambition of the project is to uncover and record naming stories from the African diaspora community, create portraits that explain this heritage as an exhibition, presented physically and digitally, to share the heritage further afield as well as archive the information for future generations to access. 

The project aims to engage people around Manchester from the African diaspora, connect with our international partner DRC Museum to support in translations and explaining the heritage, and add to the Manchester Archives and RACE Archives to extend their representation of ethnically diverse heritage that makes up the population around Manchester. 

The project will be spread over 18 months, to:

– Recruit volunteers to interview people in the community and collect their sayings and narratives

– Train volunteers in oral history recording, supported by Ahmed Iqbal Centre’s oral history experts

– Create documentation of the project including photographs, portraits, videos and audio recordings

– Share the heritage through a mixed digital and physical photo exhibition at Manchester City Library, a printed and animated booklet, with a celebratory launch event

– Archive the documentation with Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre archives at Manchester City Library

– Involve local African diaspora groups around Manchester

– Involve the community of African artists in our region already connected to Amani Creatives.

#NationalLotteryHeritageFund

MANCHESTER TO KINSHASA AND BEYOND

I was delighted when Emmanuela Yogolelo asked me once again to work with Amani Creatives on their latest project funded by Arts Council England.

It was a tremendously exciting and ambitious project, which was not only aimed at increasing the resilience of Amani Creatives, but was also raising awareness of the exciting African music and arts which are emerging from Diaspora Artists who have settled in Manchester, not only in the UK as a whole, but also in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The funding allowed Amani to develop existing and new relationships which culminated in two showcases of music and culture, one at the Southbank Centre in London ON 25 Jue 2023, in conjunction with Counterpoint Arts, as part of the Centre’s Refugee Week celebrations, and another at Trinity Church in Salford. The Southbank showcase featured seven Manchester-based musicians representing the Amani Collective, including Tshepe Tshepela, Emmanuela Yogolelo, Papa Sam Alafia, Hervé Vika and Ephraim Kilonga. This was followed by a 45-minute African dance workshop led by Imani Jendai. The workshop engaged people of all ages and cultural backgrounds in African dance.

I was invited to compere at the second showcase in Salford on 21 July 2023. This comprised music performances led two of Manchester’s most regarded African musicians: the multi-instrumentalist, Tagné Tebu from Douala in the Cameroon, and Tshepe Tshepela, a talented pianist/keyboard player from DR Congo.

There was a huge buzz at the Salford event, which attracted a large audience. Just knowing that the showcases would also be seen in Kinshasa was exciting in itself. The performances were accomplished, and there was even a surprise performance from Tshepe Tshepela’s daughter, Benedicte, who is emerging as a highly talented vocalist!

The Salford showcase was originally intended to be livestreamed over to the National Museum of the Congo in Kinshasa, but on the day, due to an electricity cut in Kinshasa, it was videoed instead. The video was then sent over to Kinshasa to be included in an exhibition at the museum – the result of collaboration between 25 local Congolese residents and volunteers, together with their own groups and organisations.

It was particularly fortuitous that both a UNESCO training event and the Francophonie Games 2023, were both taking place at the museum at the same time that the exhibition was being held. This meant that literally thousands of additional visitors were exposed to Amani Creatives’ work, including staff from the Congolese Ministry of Culture. As a result, Emmanuela Yogolelo, who was in Kinshasa to coincide with the exhibition, was invited to speak about Amani’s work to an Advisor to the Ministry – an unparalleled opportunity for the organisation’s work to reach the highest levels of authority.

The Arts Council funding also included policy development and training as well as covering the cost of a new PA system which came into its own the night of the Salford showcase. This, together with previously funded live streaming equipment, offers Amani added flexibility for their performances, as well as being available to other organisations for hire at a reasonable cost.
The beauty of this project is that all the showcase material is now available for use at other events and venues worldwide, thus even further increasing Amani Creatives reach and reputation. The future is bright for Amani Creatives CIC and I’m so honoured to be part of their journey!

African-Infused Jazz in The North West

Enjoy an unmissable early evening of jazz with Amani Creatives. The group has played at venues and festivals, including London’s Southbank Centre, RNCM, Band On The Wall, Manchester Jazz Festival, WOMEX, Africa Oyé, and Manchester International Festival.

 

It’s a rare opportunity to hear African-infused jazz in the North West of England.

 

The gig features Tebu Quintet: Tebu (piano/handpan), Helena Summer Field (sax), Eros Spataro (bass), Ephraim Fade (drums) and Hugh Peters (guitar) and the AfrikaJazz Trio: Tshepe Tshepela (piano), Blanchard Kabasele (bass) and Ian Kenga (drums).  

 

The groups will play new music inspired by Africa composed by Tshepe Tshepela, an internationally renowned Congolese jazz pianist and keyboard player, and Tebu, an acclaimed Cameroonian multi-instrumentalist.

 

Enjoy the Congolese styles of Rumba and Soukous, Bikusi from Cameroon, Intore from Rwanda/Burundi, Taarab from Zanzibar, and the Palm Wine sounds of Sierra Leone.

 

The eclectic mix of African sounds and Afro Fusion showcases the rich diversity of music created by African diaspora musicians based in the UK and Europe.

 

The gig follows Amani collective members appearing in acclaimed performances at London’s Southbank Centre and MIF 2023’s Festival Square.

 

Amani Creatives gig will be filmed for broadcast at the National Museum of DR Congo in Kinshasa on Saturday 29 July (2-4pm GMT), and worldwide audiences via YouTube. The broadcast connects British-based African musicians, lovers of jazz and African music in the UK, music fans in Africa and the African diaspora.

 

Friday 21 July 2023

Doors open 5.30pm, on stage 6pm, ends 8pm

 

Sacred Trinity Church,

Chapel Street Salford M3 7WQ

 

Book your FREE ticket here on Eventbrite

https://rb.gy/l9vvs

Wolè

A collaborative project between Amani, MIRO and Voices Beyond. The three organisations have been working for the last few months, writing original music with fusion of Gospel, Neo-Soul, Roma, African rhythms and jazz styles. Wole means in Yoruba, Come in.

Tshepe Tshepela , Herve Vika and Young Amani ( Job Kayembe, Ephraim Kilonga, Bénie Tshepela) will be performing at the first set

Migration Matters Festival, Sheffield June 2021

Artists: Emmanuela Yogolelo, Tshepe Tshepela, Job Kayembe, Ephraim Kilonga

Amani Takeover/HOME

Amani Takeover/HOME Ground Stages + Manchester City Council, June 2021

Year: Café Con Leche; Peters Trio; Tosin and Beyond Voices Collective Choir; Young Amani, Heritage Survival, Papa Sam, DJ Majiva.

Young Amani Music Showcase

– Sunday 13th June 2021-06-11, HOME Ground Bruntwood Stage at HOME 1 Tony Wilson Way, Manchester

Artists: Sam Ganda, Dior Sakuba, Jonathan, Jethro

Young Amani Stage hosting + Spoken word by Blue Saint

Young Amani – Recording

Young Amani at Journeys Live program on Home’s Homeground Stage.

The Orchestra of Samples project – recordings, Saturday 12th June, HOME, 1 Tony Wilson Way, Manchester

Artists: Young Amani (Job Kayembe, Ephraim Kilonga, Gemima Sax )

Amani Heritage Project, 2020

As a part of Amani Heritage Project 2020, 4 artists from local African communities were commissioned to create and showcase new performances for the launch of Amani Digital Showcases Online, through a brand new live streaming equipment (thanks to Culture Recovery Fund Round One).

Artists: Tshepe Tshepela, Papa Sam, Yusra Warsama , Christian Asare.

Some new equipment for live streaming, training and CIC registration were parts of the projects too.