Sada Malumfashi is the curator of Hausa International Books and Arts Festival (HIBAF) which is coming up in Kaduna between October 21 and 23, 2021. He tells AWAAL GATA why it was curated and what should be expected.
How did you conceive HIBAF?
The idea for HIBAF was to provide a space for the discourse and conversations around Hausa language and literature in the global literary space. This includes the interaction of Hausa with other languages across sub-Saharan Africa especially Swahili.
What do you project the discourse to engender?
HIBAF will delve into new and indigenous arts which will be both educative, as well as entertaining. We hope to combine the tools of arts and literature through new digital collaborations and conversations to seek fresh perspectives about the role and meaning of culture in and beyond languages.
Which writers and literary administrators are you bringing to the event to engender it?
As a literary festival, we do not have any criteria, but mainly working with the theme of the festival. We will be expecting guests from the UK, Germany and spread across the states of Nigeria to discuss. We selected writers, poets, artists, musicians and dramatists to explore the spaces in between; spaces of origin of people and language; spaces of being and becoming; spaces of our stories; the multiplicity of spaces of our humanity; how we embrace the layers of spaces within our identities in literature and creativity. We believe our guests In the spaces of HIBAF, will explore the origins of Hausa literary spaces; converse and discuss notions of gender, identity, culture, and politics.
The scope of the festival is large; how are you being funded?
The festival is organised by Open Arts, a literary and arts collective operating since 2018 in Kaduna. The organisation is a non-profit that continues to work based on the solidarity and support of Open Arts friends from individuals to organisations and state parastatals. We are delighted with the outpour of supports we have received for this festival and looking forward to more.
