91Ƶ

Skip to content

B.C. Culture Days perfomance highlights similarities between African, Syilx cultures

91ƵThe Bird Who Forgot How To Sing91Ƶ is part of B.C. Culture Days
22722521_web1_RotaryCentrefortheArts
91ƵThe Bird Who Forgot To Sing91Ƶ will be shown at the Rotary Centre of the Arts and streamed live on Facebook at the same time. (Contributed)

A Kelowna-based performance will be kicking off B.C. Culture Days in the Okanagan.

91ƵThe Bird Who Forgot How To Sing91Ƶ is a multidisciplinary performance by various artists and tells the story of an African story on Syilx territory, according to Rotary Centre of the Arts program coordinator Trophy Ewila.

91ƵReally, it91Ƶs a story about finding one91Ƶs self and the importance of story in our existence,91Ƶ he said.

91ƵThe night will include poetry, music, and dance and they91Ƶre all interwoven into one story.91Ƶ

Performers and artists come from Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Guadeloupe, and Canada. Ewila said the performers will be telling a story so BIPOC voices can be put at the forefront and heard.

91ƵIn most cases, the stories of people of colour have always been limited to just traditional dance. And there91Ƶs an importance to the African story because you91Ƶre hearing the story of, if I may put it this way, those who cracked a smile in hell91Ƶ

91ƵBut these are people who have seen a lot and yet are still living, still loving and of course crying. They have a flood of human experience and for people to really understand the complexity of their humanity, it will be through storytelling,91Ƶ he said.

The night91Ƶs performance will also give African people themselves a chance to tell their own stories, as they haven91Ƶt always been given the chance to tell it and sing their own song, Ewila said.

Ewila added by combining various disciplines will show the many facets of people from Africa and the Caribbean, and the similarities they have with the Syilx people.

91ƵAs much as this is an African story, this is also the story of Karukera, now known as Guadeloupe. We91Ƶre interweaving the journey of the African in the Caribbean, the Indigenous population there, and then the African on Syilx land.91Ƶ

The performance will be held at the Mary Irwin Theatre at the Rotary Centre for the Arts but will be limited to an in-person audience of 50. The night will be streamed live on .

For more information on 91ƵThe Bird Who Forgot How To Sing91Ƶ, to register for tickets and for the live stream link, visit the.

READ: Okanagan film industry booming despite COVID-19


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
Follow me on Twitter


Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
Read more



(or

91Ƶ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }