By Japhet Davidson
Just from the city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei China, COVID-19 came like a plague and ever since it appeared, the world has not known peace as the pandemic has continued to ravage the entire world, forcing many governments/organisations to lock down.
Ordinarily, the arts and culture events are regarded as the endangered specie as people do not likely identify with them except on extreme cases, so the coming of COVID-19 which has forced many organisations to put off their events had also forced organisers of many events lined up within the period to put them off .
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Abba Kyari speaks from isolation centre
Some of the high profile events which got the hot baptism of COVID-19 include, the 2020 iREPRESENT International Documentary Film Festival (IREP), Point of View 6 of the Ben Enwonwu Foundation, the annual Ebi Festival, two events associated with, and directly involving physical participation by Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, The World Poetry Day event themed ‘Voices in the cause of Earth’, organised by PROVIDUSBank and presentation of Soyinka’s ‘Beyond Aesthetics’ by his publishers, Book Craft, and the closure of the Lagos culture home, Freedom Park.
According to statements from the various organisatiosns, the action was necessitated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Lagos State Government directive banning all gatherings above 50 to curtail the spread of the disease, especially, the need to avoid social engagements of any type.
World Poetry Day/Beyond Aesthetics
The World Poetry Day event themed ‘Voices in the cause of Earth’, organised by PROVIDUSBank and presentation of Soyinka’s ‘Beyond Aesthetics’ by his publishers, Book Craft, have both been postponed indefinitely.
A statement announcing the postponement from the Bank read: “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Lagos State Government directive banning all gatherings above 50 persons, we are compelled to postpone our earlier advertised World Poetry Day event with the theme: ‘Voices in the cause of Earth’
Also announcing the postponement of ‘Beyond Aesthetics’, the Chief Executive of Bookcraft Publishers, Bankole Olayebi, wrote: “You have by now, of course, received our invitation to the exclusive presentation of Professor Wole Soyinka’s latest book, ‘Beyond Aesthetics’ which was scheduled for Thursday, 26th of March.
iREP Film Festival
Another event was the opening of the iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, scheduled to take place on Thursday, which was postponed indefinitely. The postponement put paid to the screening of Supo Shasore’s Journey to An African Colony: The Making of Nigeria, which was earlier scheduled to welcome guests to the venue, at Kongi Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park on Broad Street, Lagos Island.
The Executive director, Femi Odugbemi, in a statement, said the organisers of the festival took a “hard” decision to postpone the 2020 edition “indefinitely”
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Ecobank commits about N100M to national radio campaign ‘StaySafeNigeria’
He said,” Over the past weeks, the world has been facing an unprecedented challenge. As a responsible organisation that takes safety seriously, we want to do all we can to help keep our country and our participants safe and healthy.
Freedom Park closed
Also affected was the popular arts centre and hangout on Lagos Island, Freedom Park, which shut its doors to all organised gatherings.
According to a release by the management, the move was to align with the Lagos State directive.
“Dear customer/Freedom Park family. To us at Freedom Park Lagos, nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of all our guests. More important now, in the light of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We hereby announce that in accordance with the Lagos State mandate on practicing social distancing, Freedom Park will be closed to all organised gatherings”.
Point of View 6
Another high profile event postponed as the effect of COVID 19 pandemic popularly known as Coronavirus continues to bite harder was the Point of View 6.
The event earlier slated for March 25, 2020, was postponed indefinitely as the virus continues to spread across the country.
In a statement from The Ben Enwonwu Foundation, organizer of the event, the move to postpone POV 6 was taken in light of the social distancing recommendations by the Lagos State Government as a public health precaution to reduce the spread of the virus.
“We regret to inform you that the 6th edition of Point of View (POV 6, 25 March, 4 pm) has been postponed indefinitely, in line with social distancing recommendations by the Lagos State Government as a public health precaution to reduce the spread of Corona Virus (COVID-19). We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Ebi Festival
Also affected was the annual Ebi Festival, one of the notable cultural festivals of the community scheduled to commence on Sunday. The cancellation was announced by the Paramount Ruler of Epeland, Oba Kamorudeen Ishola Animashaun.
According to Oba Animashaun, the decision became imperative owing to the state government’s decision to ban social gatherings in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state.
He said: “In view of the measures put in place by the Lagos State government to curtail the spread of the disease, especially, the need to avoid social engagements of any type, the Oba-in-Council thought it necessary to cancel the festival and support the government in its efforts to save people’s lives.”
The post COVID-19: Freedom Park closed, two Soyinka events, others postponed appeared first on Vanguard News.
https://ift.tt/2UPjPfO by Lawal Sherifat via Vanguard News Albert Einstein Fools of Fortune
Comments
Post a Comment