On October 21, join us as we welcome Tonye Aganaba as our second guest performer in a four-part virtual series of events centred on joy and resilience, fun, and activism that bears witness to what it means to be Black in BC.
Tonye Aganaba is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, and arts facilitator residing on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Musqueam & Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Their new album ‘Something Comfortable’ is an intentional and devotional endeavour inspired by their battle with Multiple Sclerosis. The album serves as the score to ‘AfroScience’ an immersive performance and workshop series fusing live music, dance, visual art/digital media and storytelling to stimulate conversation and action around identity, public health, and expression.
Tonye’s shows, workshops, and dialogues are connected and intimate experiences, and evoke a kind of vulnerability that we all hunger for.
Black Artistic Expressions in B.C. is a community-university collaboration developed in partnership between local Black artists, IBPOC Connections: Staff and Faculty, and the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at the University of British Columbia. Join us at the heart of each month for a celebration of Black lives, Black culture and activism, and Black musical and poetic expression.
UBC is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.
Ndidi Cascade, who is of Nigerian-Italian-Irish-Canadian heritage, is a Vancouver born and based hip hop vocalist. She is also a songwriter, recording artist, educator and program facilitator. Ndidi has showcased her music across North America and internationally– from classrooms to stadiums, and her music has been featured on Much Music and MTV Canada. She has shared the stage with talents such as Wu-Tang Clan, Femi Kuti, Digable Planets, The Mad Professor, De La Soul, K-OS and K'naan.
Ndidi Cascade also facilitates and manages programs that use hip hop, spoken word and dance as a medium for healthy self-expression. She is the founder of the “Word, Sound & Power” and “Elementalz” education programs, which are designed to raise awareness of the origins of the hip hop movement. Ndidi is also a World Music Education independent school teacher, and she currently tours with her group Metaphor, showcasing interactive hip hop shows in elementary and high schools around British Columbia.