Remember Saro-Wiwa At Liverpool Museums

A Living Memorial to Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa will visit the International Slavery Museum. The memorial, a Nigerian steel bus, is supported by an exciting programme of live African music, performance poetry and workshops organised by the Remember Saro-Wiwa project and its Liverpool partners.

You are invited to send a reporter and a photographer to the Merseyside Maritime Museum on Wednesday 23 April at 12.00 hours. The Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Steve Rotherham, Phil Redmond, Deputy Chair of the Liverpool Culture Company, David A. Bailey MBE from Remember Saro-Wiwa and the Hope Collective will be there to mark the arrival of the Living Memorial.

Created by artist Sokari Douglas-Camp CBE, (who will be giving a talk at the International Slavery Museum on Thursday 24th April) the spectacular Living Memorial - a 12ft high and 18ft long Nigerian steel Bus, is carved with a direct quotation from Ken Saro-Wiwa. The quotation ‘I ACCUSE THE OIL COMPANIES OF PRACTISING GENOCIDE AGAINST THE OGONI’ is accompanied by the names of Saro-Wiwa and his eight colleagues who were executed on 10 November 1995 following their campaign to stop the environmental devastation of the Ogoni area of the Niger Delta in Nigeria by multinational oil companies, particularly Shell and Chevron.

The Memorial, commissioned by arts organisation PLATFORM, has toured across England for the last year, raising awareness about the continuing environmental and human rights crisis in the oil producing Niger Delta region of Nigeria, inspiring activism and sparking debate.

The visit to Liverpool will raise questions about the relationship between Nigeria and UK cities such as Liverpool, which profited significantly from Nigeria’s natural resources. Liverpool’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and the importation of palm oil from the Niger Delta lubricated the city’s economic growth over several centuries, underwriting its status as Britain’s ‘second capital’. There are many parallels today; Liverpool and other UK cities benefit from the extraction of crude oil from the Niger Delta, whilst local populations in the Delta still bear the brunt of oil spills, 24 hour gas flaring and severe poverty.Remember Saro-Wiwa uses art and cultural activism to connect people in the UK to their ecological footprint on communities in the Niger Delta. The project puts pressure on corporations such as Shell to take responsibility for their role in the devastation of the region.

David A. Bailey MBE, project curator said, “Remember Saro-Wiwa succeeds in bringing together a melting pot of people, from those interested in African music and issues, to students, artists and environmental activists. The project gains magnetism from the support of talented ‘Afropean’ musicians such as Rwandan-born DJ Eric Soul and the outstanding singer Nneka, originally from Warri in the Niger Delta, both of whom will perform at events in Liverpool.”

The three-day events programme in Liverpool includes workshops at the International Slavery Museum, a night of music and poetry at the Tate Liverpool and a music and activism event at the University of Liverpool. -- www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk