DANCING MEMORIES: An Exhibition on the Underexplored Legacies of the Biafra War (1967-1970)

Following our successful Narrative Art Contest Narrative Art Contest, we invite you to an exhibition on the under-explored legacies of the Nigeria-Biafra war.

The exhibition is themed "Dancing Memories," and it aims to portray the dynamic nature of the memories of war as they are neither static nor unidirectional but has a pattern to it, as during a dance.

As some dances are vibrant and fervent in rhythm, others are gentle and lethargic, and this can be observed in the Memories of the Nigeria-Biafra War.

This exhibition is a display of the results of our narrative art contest (paintings, poetry, and short story excerpts) alongside other channels through which the memory of the Biafra War has been kept alive, including the 'Ojile Dance' from Enugu-Ezike, Nsukka, Enugu State.

Join us on Tuesday, 28th May, 2024, 12 pm prompt, to witness our history in art.

DAY 2 LBHP ỌZỌEMENA NARRATIVE ART CONTEST

On the second day of the LBHP narrative art contest, we engaged seniors citizens, including war veterans and survivors, in a tour of the Ozoemena exhibition and an intergenerational dialogue on the works that emerged from Day 1 of the contest.

This led to conversations about the war, their individual experiences, and how it has shaped them.

Through these interactions, we were able to explore the intergenerational knowledge/memory transfer of the Nigeria-Biafra war.

DAY 1 LBHP ỌZỌEMENA NARRATIVE ART CONTEST

Weeks ago, we hosted a narrative art contest, in collaboration with the Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project, to explore the consciousness of young people on the Nigeria-Biafra War.

On day 1, participants gathered to express themselves via drawing/painting, poetry & short stories.

I wrote this piece where I, for the first time, shared some preliminary findings from my Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project in southeastern Nigeria.

I wrote this piece where I, for the first time, shared some preliminary findings from my Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project in southeastern Nigeria.

Read here: https://www.heriland.eu/2024/02/26/elementor-6406/

View on X (formerly Twitter)

I wrote this piece where I, for the first time, shared some preliminary findings from my Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project in southeastern Nigeria.

Thanks to my collaborators @cfmemories and to @OurWH50 and @EU_HERILAND for the platform. https://t.co/OE9MD3mN8K

— Stanley J. Ònyêmèchàlụ̀ (@sjonyems) February 28, 2024

📚We would like to share with you a blog post written by Stanley Jachike Onyemechalu. Stanley is a Gates Cambridge scholar and PhD candidate at King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Read more:https://t.co/oat8oqBkx7#CulturalHeritage #heriland

— HERILAND (@EU_HERILAND) February 28, 2024

ỌZỌEMENA NARRATIVE ART CONTEST

The Centre For Memories, in collaboration with the Legacies of Biafra Heritage Project, is pleased to announce that registration has re-opened for the Ọzọemena Narrative Art Contest.

We seek young people between the ages of 16 and 35 to engage in an artistic representation of their knowledge/memory of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967 - 1970).

The contest has three categories including short story writing, poetry and drawing/painting and contestants can express their knowledge/memory of the war via ANY or ALL of these means.

There will be cash prizes for winners (1st Place - N50,000; 2nd place - N30,000; 3rd Place - N20,000, and other consolation gifts). Also, selected contestants will participate in an interactive session with War Veterans and stand a chance to have their works included in a later exhibition at the Centre For Memories gallery.

Kindly click http://bit.ly/3NemCul to register for the contest. Deadline for registration is 11:59PM on Wednesday, 13 March 2024.

The event is scheduled to hold as follows:

Date: Friday 15 March 2024

Time: 12:00 PM WAT

Venue: 2 Awgu Street, off Umuoji Street, Independence Layout, Enugu

NB: All who have registered will receive a confirmation email from the project team.

For inquiries, contact 07031587185 or email lbheritageproject@gmail.com

Please share this with your contacts.

#CentreForMemories

European Conference on African Studies (#ECAS9)

At the just-concluded European Conference on African Studies (#ECAS9) in Cologne, I discussed family memory and heritagisation in post-conflict communities, from my ongoing PhD research on heritage and the legacies of the Biafra war.

Photos:

Ozoemena LBHP Questionnaire

This 3-minute questionnaire was designed by Stanley Onyemechalu from the University of Cambridge, UK in collaboration with the Centre for Memories, Enugu as part of his doctoral research titled: Heritage & the legacies of violent conflict: The ‘Biafra war’ (1967-1970) and the people of Igboland, Nigeria. These questions aim to explore the level of intergenerational knowledge/memory transfer of the Nigeria-Biafra War among young people (Ages 16 - 35) in Igboland, Nigeria. This is completely anonymous and strictly for academic purposes. 

CLICK HERE