Oriire 2022 Roundup
Hello!
As we're approaching the end of 2022, we want to take the opportunity to thank you for your support this year. We hope you enjoy this holiday season with your loved ones.
Here are a few highlights from our 2022 and a peek into what you can expect next year.
Let's start by discussing art & music. One of my favourite discoveries this year is Fatoumata Diawara. Her sound is so distinctive and every song is like a little treat for my ears. She combines electric guitar with a distinctly Malian sound and a soulful voice.
Have a listen to her live performance of Nterini which is my favourite song of hers.
Fatoumata is a Malian singer and songwriter who sings in the Wassoulou style. She looks absolutely gorgeous in this video and her hair is the highlight for me because it looks like an art piece.
Speaking of hair as art, Mojolaoluwa Akin-Adeboye wrote a great piece about hairdressing and hairstyles in Yorubaland which explores the history, nature, dynamics and significance of hair in Yoruba culture.
It's an enlightening read!
If you're looking for other historical perspectives on African culture, you can take a look at the history articles on our site. I recommend this one by Imisioluwa Ogunsunlade titled ‘Kumbwada: Where Women Rule’.
I found it very fascinating. Is the curse history or myth? You can comment to let me know what you think. I personally believe African myth and history are often too deeply entwined to distinguish them. That always makes for the best stories.
If you have a story to tell, we're currently accepting submissions and we would love to feature you.
Now let's go back to feeding your ears. I hope by now you know we have a podcast where we discuss African history, myth and food. Episodes are released every 2 weeks and I have 2 particular recommendations for you.
The first is boarding school tales where we discuss tales every kid who's ever been to boarding school in Nigeria knows. Did you hear these tales in your boarding school too? Please let me know where you're from and which ones you've heard or.... experienced.
You can actually message us via instagram or contact us through the website. We would love for you to come on the podcast if you have any story to tell (or you just want to chat) as long as it relates to African history, myth or food.
My second episode recommendation is about Anansi: The trickster god. Our wonderful guest does some excellent storytelling here. Feed your ears.
You can also read about other myths on our site here and if you're considering possible recipes for the holidays, we have great content on food as well.
Now let's talk about movies, you've probably seen the Yoruba epic, Anikulapo (on Netflix) by now. If you haven't please run, don't walk and go see it right now. It's for your own good. Sola Sobowale, Bimbo Ademoye and the protagonist Kunle Remi turn in amazing performances and the plot is absolutely amazing. Don't worry, no spoilers.
Anyway, we made a video about the movie to review the historical accuracy and Kunle Afolayan (The movie director) liked it on instagram!!
After writing all this, I realise we've done a lot more than I thought. I really hope you enjoy all these tidbits we have for you!
Now i'll give you a little peek into the pot so you can see what we're cooking for 2023.
We're going to be publishing a short story collection! We're collaborating with 10 authors to bring you a compilation of 10 spooky African stories. So get ready! We're sure you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
We're starting a Facebook group. We know some of our community members want to be able to engage more and have more interactive discussions. So look out for that.
We'll be sending you these newsletters every month next year at the end of the month so you won't miss out out on our (amazing) content and recommendations!
It's a wrap!
We hope your 2023 is everything you want it to be!
Happy New Year in advance!
With 💛,
Sesi from Oriire