Spoken Word, Literary Activities and Workshops
Spoken word performances, storytelling and interactive workshops with renowned African and Irish hosts were just some of the literary activities that were on offer at ‘Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens’. Events taking place over the day included:
Bang the Drum and African Mask-Making with Irish Aid
All day long at 45-minute intervals, Irish Aid Tent
Irish Aid presented 'Bang the Drum', African drumming workshops, for all ages, taking place every 45 minutes throughout the day. Visitors dropped in to the Irish Aid tent and learned how to play an African 'Djembé' drum. African masks for colouring-in were also available, and all aspiring drummers had the opportunity to win an Africa Day t-shirt.
African Art & Crafts Workshops
Every 30 minutes from 12.30pm onwards, Arts Marquee
Visitors to the 'African Art & Crafts' space in the Arts Marquee enjoyed fun art-based activities throughout the day. They made bookmarks adorned with Egyptian hieroglyphics and entered the drawing competition ('I went on safari and what did I see?...') to be in with a chance to win some fabulous Africa Day t-shirts.
Spotlight on African Development
Public Conversation between Bryan Mukandi and Patsy Toland
12.30-1.30pm, Speakers' Corner, Arts Marquee
In this interactive workshop, social commentator and journalist Bryan Mukandi discussed Ireland's role in African development with Patsy Toland, Development Education Officer with Self Help Africa. Audience members were also invited to share their views, as Bryan and Patsy looked at topics such as building a culture of self-reliance in Africa; Ireland's historical relationship with African development, and the present-day work of Irish Aid.
Bryan Mukandi
Bryan Mukandi practised as a doctor in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe before moving to Ireland, where he began writing occasional columns for The Irish Times’ opinion and analysis sections. Areas of special interest include development, politics, social justice, African affairs and – more broadly – current affairs.
Bryan also writes a daily blog for The Irish Times’ website, ‘Outside In’, in which he looks at current affairs in Ireland and the world at large from the perspective of an African immigrant in Europe. He also blogs for the South African newspaper, the Mail & Guardian, on their ‘Thought Leader’ platform.
According to Bryan, his ultimate goal is to broaden ongoing discussions on the way the world currently operates, especially with respect to social relations within and between nations and regions, the distribution of wealth, and power. Further information on Bryan is available at: www.bryanmukandi.com.
Patsy Toland
Patsy Toland is a Development Education Officer with Self Help Africa, an international development agency that has been working for 25 years tackling poverty and improving lives in rural Africa.
Self Help Africa's primary focus is assisting families and communities to grow enough food to feed themselves and to earn a sustainable living. The organisation works in Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Togo, Uganda and Zambia.
Africa – Opportunities for Sustainable Development: Workshop with Professor Frank Convery
1.30-2.30pm, Speakers' Corner, Arts Marquee
Professor Frank Convery is Chairperson of Comhar, Ireland’s Sustainable Development Council, which was established by government in 1999 to advance the national agenda for sustainable development. He is also Heritage Trust Professor of Environmental Policy at UCD.
He has written extensively on resource and environmental economics issues, with particular reference to agriculture, forestry, energy, minerals, land-use, urbanisation, environment and sustainability in developing countries. He is the author of 'Applying Environmental Economics in Africa', and has spent time in Ghana, Uganda and Madagascar.
He was educated at University College Dublin and the State University of New York, and has degrees in forestry and resource economics. Prior to taking up his post at UCD, he was Assistant and then Associate Professor of Natural Resource Economics at Duke University, USA, and Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Ireland.
In this interactive workshop, he discussed how African countries have the opportunity to become world leaders in sustainable development.
Dance & Drumming Workshop with the Bini Community of Ireland
2-2.30pm, Performance Zone, Arts Marquee
The Bini Community of Ireland - who also hosted a space in the African Bazaar - staged a dance, singing and drumming workshop in the Performance Zone in the Arts Marquee from 2-2.30pm.
An Exploration of African Music: Workshop with Gerry Godley and Niwel Tsumbu 
2.30-3.30pm, Speakers' Corner, Arts Marquee
Gerry Godley, a musical dilettante indulges his love of world music by hosting Lyric FM’s weekly ‘Reels to Ragas’ programme. As Director of the resource organisation Improvised Music Company, established in 1991, he also presides over and programmes a diverse and busy schedule of musical activities, which includes the ESB Dublin Jazz Festival, the critically acclaimed World Music Series ESB Routes in Rhythm, as well as regional touring, IMC Records and The Pendulum Jazz Club.
He is a well regarded saxophonist, the main outlet for which is his labour of love, The Night in Havana Orchestra, a 20-piece outfit that brings leading Irish and Latin musicians together to play Afro-Cuban big-band music.
In this interactive workshop, Gerry explored various types of African music with Congolese musician Niwel Tsumbu, who was also performing on the Main Stage at 'Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens' later in the day.
African Story-Telling with the Hugh Lane Gallery 
2.30-3.30pm (4-7 year-olds) and 3.30-4.30pm (8+), Kids' Zone, Arts Marquee
In June 2009, Dublin City Gallery - The Hugh Lane - is publishing a book of African short stories for children called 'Horses and Tortoises'. To celebrate the publication and mark Africa Day, some of the women from AkiDwA, the African Women’s Network - who were involved in compiling the book - told fables and children's stories during 'Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens'. They hosted two interactive workshops with storytelling and the opportunity to create African-inspired origami animals. The first workshop was targeted at 4-7 year-olds, while the second workshop was for older children (8+).
Further details of the Hugh Lane Gallery's Africa Day activities are available here.
A Question of Sport: Irish and African Attitudes Compared
3.30-4.30pm, Speakers' Corner, Arts Marquee
Africa Day MC Florence Mutesisira hosted an interactive workshop with Zimbabwean-born Irish journalist and blogger Itayi Viriri, who sooke about his passion for all kinds of sports and compared Irish and African attitudes to sports.
Formerly a cricket correspondent in Zimbabwe, Itayi is a keen Liverpool FC and Munster supporter and an avid sports fan, who follows cricket, soccer, rugby, basketball, F1, American football and a whole host of other obscure disciplines.
He has worked in the print and electronic media, both in Zimbabwe and Ireland, including as a reporter with the Limerick Leader and with Zimbabwe’s leading independent weekly, The Standard. He was a presenter on RTE TV’s multicultural series, ‘Mono’, and has appeared on ‘Prime Time’ and various news and current affairs programmes to discuss topics ranging from diversity and immigration to Zimbabwe.
Currently working for a leading immigration NGO, he has previously worked for the City of Dublin VEC and in policy development and media for a national refugee NGO.
Itayi studied Mass Communication, Journalism and Public Relations; has an M.Phil in Ethnic and Racial Studies from Trinity College Dublin, and has just finished studying for an M.Sc in Cyberpsychology.
To read Itayi's blog, click here.
Travels Through Africa: Workshop with Travel Writer Manchán Magan
4.30-5.30pm, Speakers' Corner, Arts Marquee
Manchán Magan is a writer, traveller and television-maker. He has made over 30 travel documentaries focusing on issues of world culture and globalisation. He writes a travel column for The Irish Times and his show, 'The Big Adventure', on RTÉ Radio One explores madcap adventure. He has written travel books in Irish - 'Baba-ji agus TnaG' (Coiscéim 2006) and 'Manchán ar Seachrán' (Coiscéim 1998) - and a novel, 'Bí i nGrá' (Coiscéim, 2008). His English travel books include ‘Angels & Rabies: a Journey Through the Americas’ (Brandon, 2006); ‘Manchán’s Travels: A Journey Through India’ (Brandon, 2007), and ‘Truck Fever: A Journey Through Africa’ (Brandon, 2008). He has written for the Guardian, the LA Times, the Washington Post and, until recently, contributed a travel coloumn to RTÉ’s 'Drivetime' radio programme.
Manchán recently spent time working in Uganda and Ethiopia, with the support of the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund. He hosted an interactive workshop at 'Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens', reading from some of his writings on Africa, and discussing options for those wishing to explore and travel in various African countries.