Black History Month in the UK 2017

by oshunschild Categories: ReviewsTags: · · · · · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

Every October the UK celebrates Black History Month.  Although I have always asked  ” what about the other 11 months?”, it is a good opportunity to highlight history and also contemporary artists and events going on in the UK. JON DANIEL AFRO-SUPER HERO: First of all. It was really sad to learn that Graphic Designer/ Artist Jon Daniel, the man behind the Afro-Super Hero concept, lost his battle for life at the beginning of this month. His striking images and use of art in a visually stunning and educative way led to exhibitions at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood…

London’s Lost Rivers

by oshunschild Categories: ConnectionsTags: · · · · · · · · · · 2 Comments

New Video Clip! London is a City that is never far from a river. There is a lot to explore. Thanks to Elio Peña and Rebecca Radmore, husband and wife film and photography team, I learned about the River Wandle as I made some research for the London Lucumi Choir’s debut Video clip. The track we made the Video for is a cover version of the Ibeyi’s amazing Song “River”.  Whilst I wanted to make an arrangement suitable for the Choir also exploring toques dedicated to Oshun, I wanted a backdrop of a beautiful London based river and I found…

Orishas: 1,2 or 3 Dimensional?!

by oshunschild Categories: My ten pence worth!Tags: · · · · Leave a comment

One thing that bugs me about the continuous and unstoppable commercialisation and appropriation at times, is the tendency of the Orisha to be narrowed down to one, or two dimensional characters. The visualisation of Orisha has always been a fascination to me. For Example, how artists depict Orisha in their paintings; the stories and the four sentences you usually get when you google a particular  Orisha, as if this can describe all the complexities of the energy of each Orisha in four simple quotes. I also notice how on the net, there is a tendency to copy and paste from…

Honouring Your Ancestors

by oshunschild Categories: ConnectionsTags: · · 3 Comments

As I have mentioned before, the first step really in following this spiritual path and most Ancient Spiritual Paths is not to find out your Ocha, is nothing to do with the Orisha, but it has everything to do with your Ancestors. I spent a month in Cuba recently, as I attended my daughter’s Ocha Ceremony. It made me realise more and more that this path is not for everyone.  My daughter has a lineage of Orisha practitioners within her blood line, on both sides of her family, she has visited Cuba since very young  yet she was brought up…

London Lucumi Choir

by oshunschild Categories: UncategorizedTags: · · · · · 1 Comment

I have been a bit quiet of late since I have been updating a new blog/ website for the Choir that I run and direct. The London Lucumi Choir’s new website/blog has up to date information about our history, performances, membership and also a blog looking at the challenges of running such an unusual choir. Follow us:   http://londonlucumichoir.wordpress.com/   Photo Credit: Angela Dennis

OYA: RISE OF THE ORISHA

by oshunschild Categories: UncategorizedTags: · · · · · · 2 Comments

“ I am annoyed as other people are at the misrepresentation of African Traditional Religions. I think it speaks to the world rebranding what we stand for and who we are as a people” …. “ It is my goal to…. provide something different that is informed by the actual people” (who practice the religion). “The journey of the film has been crazy” Nosa explains. “Some people involved in the film dropped out because they were worried about being stigmatised. These people are Nigerians themselves” ….. “I am trying to connect with people so please get in contact. The short is coming out in May but the feature film will be layered and deep and I welcome all of your input”