THE 2021 Kunle Adewale Day has been marked virtually just like last year’s edition that went digital because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, John Cranley declared every August 2nd the Kunle Adewale Day in 2019 in honour of the award-winning Nigerian international artist and 2015 alumnus of the President Barack Obama Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.
While the COVID-19 pandemic prevented a physical event last year, a webinar themed ‘Artists as Drivers of Social Change’ happened. Director, Center for Arts in Medicine, University of Florida, Jill Sonke, delivered the keynote.
The 2021 edition featured participants from Nigeria, United States, Egypt, Ireland, United Kingdom and Cyprus joining a webinar themed ‘The Arts for Cultural Diplomacy’. It explored using the arts to build bridges for good governance, social development, economic empowerment, and good health. Deputy Public Affairs Officer, U.S Consulate Lagos, Jennifer Foltz and CEO, Ooni of Ife Global Outreach, Dr Ayobami Ogundare, representing the monarch, also participated.
The Chief Executive Officer/National Director, Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria, Dr Annette Akinsete, lauded Adewale’s strides in her opening speech. She cited his significant contributions and commitment to Arts in Medicine, which has benefitted thousands of people in Nigeria, the United States, and worldwide.
Keynote speaker, and founder of Virginia-based Change International, Dr Yewande Austin, reiterated the importance of collective solutions to social problems. “A problem in our society shouldn’t be seen as someone else’s but as something that we can solve together”, she said, adding that music is also helpful. ‘Music breaks all boundaries, speaks to our emotions, help us feel and connect”.
Panellists, including Dr Manale Elewah, Founder Art2Care Egypt and board member, Arts in Medicine Fellowship; Annie Ruth, Founder of Eyes of the Artist Foundation, Cincinnati; and Bakare Mubarak, the tallest model in sub-Saharan Africa and African culture ambassador, looked at building bridges through arts.
They explored the intersection of arts in politics, good governance, cross-cultural exchange and community building. Their discussion highlighted artists’ roles in the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and the EndSARS protest in Nigeria last October.
“Art is the most non-threatening way to communicate with others. Sometimes you can get some of the most controversial topics and most sensitive topics addressed through a song, painting and a poem, and that is the way we begin to build those bridges, by beginning to build those relationships, finding the things that we have in common and branching from there,” noted Annie Ruth
Bakare, on his part, discussed leveraging his modelling career for cross-cultural relationship building among Africans, Africans in the diaspora and diplomatic missions in Nigeria.
Dr Elewah disclosed how her collaboration with Adewale, leader of the largest Arts in Health network, enables professionals and students in Egypt to use arts for well-being through their participation in the global Arts in Medicine Fellowship programme.
Commenting, Adewale said, “We can use art as a voice for the voiceless, hope for the hopeless. We can use arts to build relationships for good governance and sustainable development for global good across cultures.”
The Kunle Adewale Day 2021 also spotlighted international exchange programs and global opportunities for the participants. The speakers included: Edem Ossai, Abraham Ologundudu, Eyitayo Ogunmola, Dominic Campbell and Funmi Akindejoye.
The Kunle Adewale Day ended with the Virtual Art Workshop facilitated by Brandon Hawkins, co-founder, Soul-Palette, Ohio. Franca Ebomah, Esther Ehindero, Onyinye Ubah and Temi Popoola hosted activities of the event with Sinmidele Ayodeji and Churemi as guest musicians.
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