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A new cultural festival, Carnival of Stories, will showcase Nigeria’s cultural heritage through architecture, history, art, food, spirituality and traditional practices when it is held in Abuja from December 1 to 5.
Organised by JT Agency and themed “This Is Nigeria: Chapter By Chapter,” the festival is designed to expose Nigerians, particularly younger people, to cultural practices and traditions from communities beyond their immediate environments.
The organisers said the festival would also examine the relevance of traditional cultural practices to contemporary Nigerian society and create a shared space for different forms of cultural expression. A major feature of the festival will be a hand-built clay city designed around traditional building methods from different parts of Nigeria.
Chief Executive Officer of JT Agency, Executive Producer and Lead Curator of the festival, Bayo Omoboriowo, said the project was conceived to explore alternative ways of presenting Nigerian stories.
“We have never been interested in simply telling Nigerian stories in the conventional way. We keep asking: what else can this story become? How else can it be told?” he said.
According to him, the clay city will make aspects of Nigeria’s history and culture physical, allowing visitors to encounter them through the built environment.
The use of clay will also draw attention to traditional construction methods and their possible relevance to contemporary society, particularly amid growing environmental concerns around construction.
The festival will begin at the Zaure, a traditional space associated with hospitality and welcome, before taking visitors through a series of cultural environments, including the Grove of Ancestors, Durbar Court and Court of Masks. The experience will end at the Impluvium, a space designed for reflection and stillness.
Co-Lead Curator of the festival and Founder of the International Institute for Creative Development (IICD), Nduwhite Ndubuisi Ahanonu, said the festival was based on the idea that cultural knowledge is passed from one generation to another.
“Every Nigerian carries a story they did not write alone, handed down at a doorway, sung over a drum, told under the moonlight,” Ahanonu said.
He said the festival would bring such inherited narratives into a shared environment and encourage Nigerians to reconnect with their cultural heritage. The cultural experiences will include showcases led by custodians and practitioners associated with the traditions represented in the clay city.
Creative Director and Project Lead of the festival, Adeorike Aderibigbe, said Nigeria’s cultural diversity was reflected in its craftsmanship, visual arts and other forms of cultural expression.
“We are not one story told one way; we are hundreds of expressions of the same spirit,” she said.
The festival will consequently present different cultural expressions through architecture, history, art and traditional practices, while addressing the limited opportunities available to Nigerians to experience cultures outside their immediate communities.
