A celebration for Dr Roi Kwabena
Ikon is proud to announce a special event on Thursday 20 March to celebrate the life of Dr Roi Kwabena who sadly passed away in January.
Charismatic and well respected, Kwabena was a prolific poet, musician, historian and publisher who performed and conducted workshops in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.
In what was to become his last public project, Kwabena was a major part of Ikon’s exhibition by Ukrainian artist Yuri Leiderman in July – September last year.
The exhibition, Birmingham Pattern, dealt with legacies of history and their manifestation in contemporary society, themes very close to Kwabena’s heart. Using music as a metaphor, Kwabena joined musicians drawn from different cultural backgrounds, yet who all live in and around Birmingham, to create a series of live ‘folk’ performances that together showed the multicultural face of the city.
This celebratory event at Ikon once again brings together the musicians who collaborated with Kwabena, including African drummers, an English folk violinist and an Albanian clarinetist. Playing independently and improvising together, the music is open to influence, welcoming difference. Between the performances there will be a series of memorial readings, including Roi’s poems, read by his friends. All are welcome to join the event to listen to and move amongst the musicians. The event will begin at Ikon at 6.30pm.
Ikon is located in Brindleyplace, central Birmingham, and is only 15 minutes walk from Birmingham New Street Station. For more information on Ikon and how to get to the gallery visit http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk
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