Local Knowledge: Unleashed in Art

It all started in Nigeria...I was born in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. I lived in Nigeria for twenty-seven years beforeI moved to Canada for my master's program that turned into a PhD program. I am a theatrepractitioner-researcher, an actor cum director/ facilitator. I am also a theatre manager who startedhis own theatre company in Nigeria, Theatre Emissary International. I am a communityorganizer who is interested in using the power of the arts to engender education, developmentand social transformation. I left my parents' house very early in life - at age sixteen - because Ihave always loved adventure. The journey of self-discovery took me to study in Jos, the northcentralpart of Nigeria where I spent six years. During those years, I experienced displacement ofall sorts due to the Jos crises that lasted over eight years and still counting. We encounteredphysical, emotional and psychological displacements at different point in time during the crisis.As an artist and a theatre practitioner, I have developed, managed and led projectsthrough my theatre organization. The community projects, engagements and research I have beeninvolved in locally, nationally and internationally have been collaborative. I ensured thatcommunities were invested in the issues, from the planning to the execution phase. I facilitatedcollaborations, partnered with communities, agencies and other stakeholders. Participation wasimportant and through diverse cultural art forms - dance, drama, script, art-making, et cetera. Idesigned my research, collected people's stories (data) and developed them into stageperformances or any other art forms as the case may be.