Bubblegum Club

Tag: Nikky Norton Shafau

  • Nikky Norton Shafau // ColabNowNow Storyteller

    “My vision of the future is lead by a feeling”

    For Nikky Norton Shafau storytelling is about taking ownership of the past and the personal, as a way to create joy in the future.

    She does not identify as an Afrofuturist but finds that certain artists, aesthetics and ideas attached to Afrofutursim resonate with her. She is part of the collective Afrofutures_UK where she has, “delivered creative workshops, blogged and an aggregated some of the event as a whole. We created a tradition where each event ends with a plenary poem that sums up all of the discoveries made, which I create and share.”

    Nikky expressed that she sees all people as storytellers. For her, telling stories in nature in front of a group of people feels like the truest way to express herself. The point at which she starts to create something verbally begins with an image, so her relationship with writing has become more aural and visual.

    Taking this as a point of departure for how she sees the power of language, she mentioned that she would like to transform herself into a storybook. This started as an artistic experiment in 2015 when she wrote down the statement, ‘My name is Nikky I’m a little bit strange I want to become a Storybook’. Over the past two years this statement has come to mean more than she originally thought. “It is collaborative in its evolution, and it’s personal. It has become a statement about job titles, fitting in and personal transformation. At its heart I suppose I’m exploring ownership and the imagination.”

    The meaning of this statement has allowed the world to become her canvas. From discovering a ‘secret garden’ where she tells stories, to social media and blogging becoming spaces where she can present her journey visually as well as archive the stories of people in her network.

    Nikky has continued to create digital footprints through her involvement in mini experiments in digital spaces. “I created a simple online portal for a theatre experience I created called ‘The Adventures Of Sky The Reluctant Hero’…There were four ‘rabbit holes’ that people could ‘fall down’ to become more immersed in the character’s world before they came to the theatre experience. This included creative challenges, QR coded, a Pinterest board, a blog and a character Facebook page. Some people were seduced into the experience with letters that I planted in different locations  – park benches, bus seats, cafes. In the end those who interacted the most were invited to a VIP night time storytelling walk.” This combination of online and offline interaction made the character feel real to those who watched the production.

    Reflecting on being part of ColabNowNow, Nikky expressed that she is, “excited about starting in the unknown, the bloc party and having conversations that may breed collaboration in the future.”

    The final outcomes of the residents’ individual and collective ideas that have been fermenting throughout the residency will be presented at the Fak’ugesi Bloc Party on the 16th of September.

     

  • ColabNowNow // An exploration of collaboration and art making

    British Council Connect ZA has put together an experimental programme titled ColabNowNow as a way to bring together artists and storytellers from various disciplines to explore collaborative processes and art making. Participants were selected from South, East and West Africa as well as the UK to be part of the programme as a way to emphasize learning, networking and making. The participants will be guided by the curator of the programme, Kenyan digital artist and writer Jepchumba.

    The culmination of their work of the 10 day programme will be showcased as part of the Fak’ugesi Bloc Party on the 16th of September.

    The 15 participants have been broken down into 5 storytellers and 10 artists. Along with being encouraged to work with the artists, the storytellers will document and engage in the collaborative activities of the artists, telling the story to audiences in their respective countries. These include writers, photographers, videographers, and vloggers.

    The 10 artists all work in some way within the digital realm as visual artists, architects, programmers, sound artists, performers and animators.

    Jepchumba explains that the project “unleashes the best skilled, dangerous minds from Africa to re-imagine future forms of African storytelling by creating an interactive and immersive experience. 10 artists and 5 storytellers from West, East, Southern Africa and UK with multi-disciplinary talents will explore the creation of narratives in a post-screen, post digital world where non-linear is replaced by multi-linear, multi-modal, multi-layered and multi-access; content is scalable both fixed and mobile, across surfaces, across environments, across technologies for Africa!”

    The artists selection for ColabNowNow include from East Africa: Intersectional feminist and photographer Darlyne Komukama, Visual Artist John Magati and DJ, art organizer and writer Kampire Bahana. The UK artists include: Illustrator Olivia Twist, Cult Storyteller Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo and Storyteller Nikky Norton Shafau. The West African artists are: Visual Artist Papi, Visual Artist, designer and cultural activist Mukhtara Yusuf and Art Director Prince Kojo-Hilton. The Southern African selection includes: Illustrator Hugo Mendes, writer Lindokuhle Nkosi, Digital Artist Janus Fouche, Director and playwright Eliot Moleba, multidisciplinary artist Candida Merwe and lifelong art student Nyasha Madamombe.