Olaudah Equiano was a remarkable person in British history. He was snatched from his home, country and culture in West Africa at the age of eleven and not only did he survive captivity, deprivation, cruelty and betrayal but became an outstanding and respected figure in 18th-century London. When he published his memoirs in 1789.
Among his sponsors, they included the Prince of Wales and John Wesley, founder of Methodism, and many other aristocrats and nobles. It got reprinted nine times in five years.
So why don’t we all know the name of Olaudah Equiano and his book, the Interesting Narrative? One reason may be that he didn’t use that name most of his life but Gustava Vassa, given to him by a British sea captain after the Swedish King.
We have decided to use his original African name, Olaudah Equiano. But it’s mainly because his book suffered an eclipse after his death in 1796 and the abolition in 1807.vThe slave trade became yesterday’s news, even though slavery itself continued in the colonies for another 26 years.
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This Black History Month in the United Kingdom, Hugh Closs and TAYO Fatunla have teamed up to retell Equiano’s narrative story through Hugh’s study, and TAYO’s illustrations and visuals depicting the era of Olaudah in the 18th century.
OUR ROOTS illustrations are the reason why they have worked on this project. The British Museum, the BBC, the National Maritime Museum all in the UK have seen OUR ROOTS as a format to initiate their own concepts.
The aim of this project is to retell Olaudah’s story to the world like it has never been done before. And also let the old and the young know about this remarkable man and his story. So, OUR ROOTS creator, TAYO steps in with visuals to illustrate the story. Hugh and TAYO are presenting the Olaudah Equiano‘s story at a couple of London libraries and also to a school group to mark Black History Month.
Hugh Closs trained in journalism in the 1960s in various newspapers in London. He later joined BBC World Service as assistant editor of the international magazine London Calling, which began a 26-year career with the BBC in various jobs. Hugh worked for a while as a producer for the Radio 4 current affairs program, Today, before returning to Bush House to run publicity for the World Service in Europe and the former Soviet Union. After leaving the BBC, he worked in social research in this country.
A Cartoon Exhibition collaborates with FELAbration
It promises to be an interesting time of creativity, humour and original reflection as Ebun Aleshinloye a veteran Nigerian cartoonist with the online Nigerian newspaper publication, Premium Times holds an exhibition of Editorial Cartoons at Freedom Park, 1 Hospital Road, Off Broad Street, Lagos Island, Lagos from October 9 to 16, 2022. The exhibition is being held in collaboration with Felabration 2022 (the annual festival celebrating Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti), and the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN). Opening reception – Sunday, October 9 between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Subsequent days exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Original drawings, signed, limited edition art prints available for sale.
Black History Matters
Educational and Edu-taining OUR ROOTS Volume two book is a must-have and available to order and it features illustrated images documenting Black heroes past present and future in full colour – For enquiries and orders, contact [email protected] or [email protected]
TAYO Fatunla is an award-winning Nigerian Comic Artist, Editorial Cartoonist, Writer and Illustrator is an artist of African diaspora. He is a graduate of the prestigious Kubert School, in New Jersey, US. and recipient of the 2018 ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustrated OUR ROOTS creation and series – Famous people in Black History – He participated at UNESCO’s Cartooning in Africa forum held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Cartooning Global Forum in Paris, France and has held a virtual OUR ROOTS cartoon workshop for SMITHSONIAN- National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C. His image of Fela Kuti is featured in the Burna Boy’s mega-Afrobeat hit song “Ye”. –– [email protected]
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