Student and playwright Amoussa Koriko organizing festival to celebrate art and culture of homeland

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-22-2015

Abstract

Student and playwright Amoussa Koriko organizing festival to celebrate art and culture of homeland

UND Ph.D. student and playwright Amoussa Koriko organizing festival to celebrate art and culture of homeland

Who: Amoussa Koriko, Ph.D. student, University of North Dakota College of Education & Human Development , Department of Educational Foundations & Research, organizer; hosted by African Arts Arena

What: “Africa in Our Own Words and Colors” ? African Arts Festival

When: 6:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 30

Where: Empire Arts Center, downtown Grand Forks

Details:

Amoussa Koriko, a Grand Forks-based playwright and Ph.D. student in the UND Department of Educational Foundations & Research and winner of one of this year’s UND Civic Engagement Awards, wanted to showcase the vibrant African arts community that has grown in Grand Forks over the last few years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work regarding the growing population of Africans, for example, doing drumming and dancing at a local development home,” said Koriko, who has written and performed in several plays. “So I wanted to develop a program that would show the community and raise awareness about the African arts experience ? so, through the African Arts Arena and with the generous help of the Empire Arts Center, we’re having our first African Arts Festival.”

Koriko presented an audiovisual recording that featured him reading his play, Night Shadow, a piece about the connection a pair makes amid war and violence in Africa, at the 2011 UND Writers Conference. He has performed numerous other presentations around the region.

“I’ve been doing a lot of work regarding the awareness of the growing population of Africans in the Greater Grand Forks area, for example, doing drumming and dancing at a local development home,” said Koriko, who has written and performed in several plays. “So I wanted to develop a program or an event that would bring the community together and show the diversity in our community and raise awareness about the African’s experience in Grand Forks through arts and festivals ? That is what African Arts Arena has been created to do and with the help of the Empire Arts Center, we’re having our first African Arts Festival.”

This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the North Valley Arts Council. Several other community organizations and private foundations provided support, as well.

Juan Miguel Pedraza University & Public Affairs writer

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