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By Pamela Toyin Akinjobi
Lovers of African
music can now get the best mix of highlife, Juju,
Fuji, Soukous, Makosa, Afrobeat and many more on
‘Sounds Africa’ on Jazz FM 89.8. Between midnight
and 2 am on Sundays (or Monday morning) Afro music
lovers can now enjoy music from all over Africa
with DJ Femi. The urban Jazz radio station, which
has been in operation for 8 years and located in
the heart of the City in Dublin, has always and
still caters for the lovers of soul, blues and
jazz music. With Ireland gradually becoming a
multicultural society, the station felt the need
to promote alternative music and thus ‘Sounds
Africa’ began.
According to the man behind the new change - DJ
Femi – stations did truly cater for ethnic music.
He felt the need to make people feel at home by
reaching out to their hearts. Since his teenage
years, record collections have been DJ Femi’s
hobby so when he ended up working as a radio
broadcaster many years ago, his burning flame for
music grew. Today he not only gives food to the
spirit on radio, he also caters for birthday
parties and shows. For more information email:
jazzfm@hotmail.com or call the studio hotline
01-8783019 or DJ Femi on 0879109166
Cross
Country
Storytelling Festival
at Cape Clear
By Dipika
Kohli
Ireland's southernmost inhabited island, Cape
Clear, will play host to two international
storytelling festivals this year. In addition to
the annual programme in September 2003, which will
welcome storytellers such as Carol Russell of
Jamaica and Michael Harvey from Wales, a "Spring
Fever Mini Festival" will take place on Saturday,
April 12 and Sunday, April 13.
Just eight miles off the west Cork coast,
"Cape's wild romantic scenery, its sparkling
harbours, its cliffs and bogs, all contribute to
the island's unspoilt charm," says a
representative from the Cape Clear Island
Co-operative. It is in this easygoing natural
setting that the tone will be set for performers
to tell their stories, which originate from near
and far.
Christine Sawyer, festival director, says,
"Good storytellers relate to an audience, which
brings about deep, healthy friendships and
international perspectives." Christine moved to
the island from Dublin, and has been based here
for 27 years, keeping herself occupied with
farming, quilting, patch working, and raising a
family. The festival was founded by another
islander, Chuck Kruger, who discovered that the
art of storytelling could help people find voice
for their feelings, and learn from one another.
Having kept visitors coming to Cape Clear Island
since 1994, while also welcoming storytellers from
Trinidad, Wales, India and further afield, today
the event is formally sponsored by local
businesses as well as the Arts Council.
So who can be expected to turn up to tell
stories in April? Eddie Lenihan, from County
Clare, "believes it is part of his duty to pass on
to another generation the wisdom of Ireland's
forefathers." He has collected folklore for over
twenty years, while also telling tales of ghosts
and fairies. Sheila Quigley, an imaginative
primary school teacher from Derry, will also be at
the festival, along with Kate Corkery, who has
lived and worked in Europe and Africa, giving
performances featuring riddles and rhymes.
For more information, contact Christine Sawyer,
Festival Director, Cape Clear Island, Skibbereen,
County Cork. 028.39116.
stories@indigo.ie
Cross
Country
A fire-side welcome for
new arrivals in Cork
Cois Tine Cork is about integrating
communities, cultures and faiths. Translating from
Irish as "by the fire side," Cois Tine is a
fledgling organisation that seeks to respond
particularly to the pastoral, spiritual and social
needs of asylum seekers and refugees. It works in
collaboration with other organisations working
with immigrants.
With an administrative office at Holy Trinity, Fr.
Mathew Quay, it is currently planning a number of
fundraising events. A book sale was already held
in early March. For more information call 021
4278702 or email E-mail:
coistinecork@eircom.net
Cross
Country
Assets to society
As part of it's on going efforts at
"Integrating Ireland", Comhlamh held a seminar on
March 28th entitled "Refugees and asylum seekers -
assets to society." Speakers included Niall
Crowley (from the Equality Authority), Oliver
Donohue (ICTU) and Sara Parson from the Women
Education and Research Resource Centre at UCD.
Cross
Country
German-Irish artistic
links
In early March the recently appointed Director
of the Goethe Institut Inter Nationes, Dublin -
Dr. Matthias Müller Wieferig - launched its 2003
cultural programme. The event also marked the
inaugural exhibition of the Return Gallery. The
Institut reflects the contemporary cultural
developments taking place in Germany today, and
encourages collaberation between the arts in
Ireland and Germany. For more information visit
www.goethe.de/dublin.
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