I have so much I want to talk about today because it’s been a while since I updated so I am going to just run through.....I will probably try to make this as short and sweet as possible because it seems that my serene Sunday is being corrupted by the ‘pleasant’ sound of Radio and Weasel ‘singing’ their hearts out at the hotel behind my flat. And while I have no problem with these two lovely gentlemen it can be a very loud and intrusive distraction. Especially when I am trying to recap on a very inspirational sound I heard over the weekend....The Verses and Pros of one Mrs Ife Piankhi and her band....But onwards and upwards we can muffle out the pretend Jamaican accents with earphones which reduce them to a mumble and move forward! (I don’t mean to sound offensive I am the first to sing along to ‘Bread and Butter’ but I am not drunk enough and it has been such a pleasant Sunday afternoon)
SO....As I write, I replay the audio clips I took on Friday night. Trying to figure out how I can manifest what I feel into words on a page.... My friend Ife singing ‘Redemption Song’ and taking me through my ‘Black History’ using music and poetry. Prolific....is the word that springs to mind and I strongly suggest you click the links and have a listen to this Empress. Her words infuse world issues and personal triumphs to fill the soul and question the mind. She really is the first of her kind in Kampala, I mean it seems to be the start of a different type of music, not quite a song and not quite a poem and yet the more you hear the pieces the more you find yourself singing along to the chorus and listening to the verses. Accompanying her is her collective of artists and Instrumentalists. On the drums Kaya, a soft spoken and heartfelt percussionist who seems to meet every emotion with the heartbeat it deserves. And on the acoustics’ there is Frankie Ruin, a Doors obsesee who brings an element of darkness and soul to the mix, with his guitar playing the underbelly of the words being spoken....This is truly a good mix of all musical genre’s brought together by the poetic workings of Ife. You should really try and get at the clips while you read this post because bar my muffled Jamaican boys it really is putting me in a very serene mood!
So on to the next!
There is a talented new designer called Kasoozi. Kasoozi is a young man who is affiliated with the Bavubuka Foundation (who by now you must know I have mentioned a million times!) He is a unique designer, who has until recently only seen himself as a semester, and young man with the gift of manifesting other people’s ideas into perfectly stitched designs. Kasoozi is capable of looking through the pages of Vogue and perfectly recreating the images he sees only he adds his own unique African touch to it which is completely brilliant and awe inspiring. And now it seems that he allowed the pages of Vogue to come alive, reform and reshape his ideas from simple mimics to inspiration which is forming his own unique and individual line of clothes. And it is refreshing; Kasoozi takes on the female form with great ease, using his dramatic flair to accentuate elements of the female form in an elegant and equally striking way. I hope you enjoy taking a look of some of his first pieces which I had the pleasure of shooting. The model in the images is a one Miss Jessica Mumford who is always a beauty to work with.
And Finally!
I want to talk about something I did a couple of weeks ago. So around two weeks ago a friend of mine by the name of Naomi invited me out to Jinja with her, the idea being to see if I could push my T-shirts and see if the event I host, Poetry In Session (the next one being on 24.01.2011 J), would find itself a listening audience in the area. Now whilst I don’t think that there is a huge poetry community in Jinja I did find a place to put some of my shirts (NRE) and I also met a very special little girl. I would just like to quickly thank her parents for letting me ramble on about her, they by the way own a really cool place where you can do horse ridding and stuff! Anyway, Kaya, a little girl who still believes in Treasure. Yes Treasure, I helped her find it in the stones we were moving about to help flatten the ground for a horse path (I assume it was for a horse path but quite frankly I wasn’t paying much attention after I was told we had treasure!). So we find treasure and we start to clean it, using anything we can, expensive hand soap, sponges and her dad’s toothbrush to reveal a somewhat uninteresting white stone. By Kaya is enthralled, telling me about the importance of this treasure, till eventually I start to see myself, part of the game, so keen to scrub all the dirt off of this treasure in the hopes of making this little princess happy. My imagination along with hers begins to open itself to all these possibilities and I find myself looking forward to the day when Imogen will be old enough to play these games with....So what is the importance of all of this....Well I will openly admit that for a second....It was Treasure....and it was Perfect! It felt nice to shed my usual thoughts and concerns about money, bills, work, family, friends etc and just indulge in the simplicity of having found treasure....which made me start to think about the treasures I already have in my life.....The little things I overlook and forget that I have.....The tiny insignificant seeds that start big Ideas....
I don’t make New Year Resolutions; I think that it is pointless to break promises to yourself, set unobtainable goals, or convince myself that last year was not exactly what I made it BUT IN FACT some accident that happened only so I can realize it this year and make everything better. No I do not make New Year Resolutions....but I do believe in Treasure....and this year I hope to open my eyes and my mind a little bit wider....that I might see more of it in everything I do!
Wow was that a bit cheesy? Maybe it’s due to the fact that they have switched to some serious power ballads/ love songs at the Diplomat....I seriously need more high tech earphones......
