Jerry Dammers (Image used courtesy of http://www.londoninternationalskafestival.co.uk/)
Afrofuturism festival, Writing on The Wall, adds The Specials’ Jerry Dammers to the roster, Getintothis’ Shaun Ponsonby reports.
The Specials’ Jerry Dammers is headlining a special event for the month-long Writing on the Wall Festival, celebrating afrofuturism.
Inspired by the work of afrofuturist artists, writers and musicians the AfroFutures Party has been devised by Writing On the Wall, Next Stop New York and Afrofutures_UK and is taking place on Saturday, May 21 at District in the Baltic Triangle.
The event will be a day of conversation, art and creativity, navigating through stories of the past to create visions of the future. The event explores afrofuturists such as science fiction writer Octavia Butler, funky figurehead and Dr. Funkenstein himself George Clinton right up to the current generation’s leading afrofuturist Janelle Monae. The event will look at “how we can find new ways to express the voices of the marginalised, exploring race and gender as alternative technologies for creating new ways of co-existing.”
Jerry Dammers will close the event out with a very special DJ set, DJ’ing from his extensive repertoire of ska-punk-dub fusion through to the wilder edges of jazz, avant-garde and Sun Ra-inspired afrofuture tunes.
As well as establishing 2 Tone Records, helping to develop the ska revival, Dammers also became an anti-apartheid campaigner, helping to create Artists Against Apartheid in the US and writing the song Free Nelson Mandela in 1984.
Established in 2000, Writing on the Wall is the longest standing literature festival in Liverpool and is an important part of the cultural landscape. This year’s event is their 17th and celebrates writing in all its forms including literature, creative writing, journalism and non-fiction, poetry, songwriting, and storytelling.
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