The David Livingstone Birthplace Museum will invite artists from across the Scottish African diaspora for a special weekend of storytelling.
The Blantyre-based museum will host ‘Our Stories Between the Myths and Memories’ event over the weekend of October 22 and 23.
The event, which takes part during Black History Month, has been programmed by Scottish-Zimbabwean artist and researcher Natasha Thembiso Ruwona and will bring creative practitioners together through fiction, history, poetry, dance, music and workshop.
Saturday’s programme of events will begin with a discussion looking at storytelling across different cultures and communities led by Nigerian-Scottish writer, editor and creative producer Tomiwa Folorunso.
The museum will then host a workshop run by Glasgow-based filmmaker and comic book writer Etienne Kubwabo , the mastermind behind ‘ Beats of War’ , the celebrated comic featuring Scotland's first Black superhero.
An African and Caribbean music party will then take place.
On Sunday the subject of decolonisation will be explored through several workshops and discussions.
There will also be live music at the museum from the Congolese Gig Group , a band of musicians playing Afro-Congo pop, reggae, seben/rumba and Afrobeat.
The weekend event will end with ‘ An Exercise in Exorcism’ , a piece by multi-disciplinary artist Ashanti Harris. It will utilise dance, performance and installation to reimagine historical narratives from a Caribbean diasporic perspective.
Scottish-Zimbabwean artist and researcher, Natasha Thembiso Ruwona, programmed the event and said: "I’m really excited to be able to bring together so many brilliant creative practitioners from the Scottish African diaspora to one space and to celebrate their contributions to the creative sector.
“This project speaks to our past, present, and potential futures that examine Black Scottish history, culture, and identity."
David Livingstone Birthplace will soon announce further events which will take place during the weekend. The museum will also be open for tours throughout the two-day event.
Grant Mackenzie, director at David Livingstone Birthplace, said: “This event builds on from a major refurbishment of the historic site, where our brand new museum has recontextualised Livingstone’s story and how it connects with Scotland’s colonial history, slavery and contemporary issues such as racism."
Tickets to ‘Our Stories Between the Myths and Memories’ are free and can be booked for Saturday's event here or for Sunday here.
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