Naomi Idowu | 4th December, 2024 | Lagos
At the just concluded TheatreMania Africa Summit 2024, it is of great importance to note that as part of the highlight of activities during the Opening Ceremony of the event was a tour of the Shodex Gardens Museum where the Chairman/CEO, Shodex Gardens Ltd., Mr. Olusola Adekoya explained the importance and the essence of the museum in the first place.
Mr. Adekoya said ” we are lovers of the arts and this gallery is part of our own little contributions to the creative space, hence, it is open for artists and all other forms of creatives to maximize and make use of. We are glad that we are doing this tour of the museum as part of the TheatreMania Africa Summit 2024 and we believe this will be the beginning of a creative and artistic mutually beneficial relationship between us and the TheatreMania Africa project” he submitted.
In the word of the CEO/Co-Founder of TheatreMania Africa, Alayande Stephen T., who spoke about the essence and importance of the special presentation that was carried out at the museum ” We are delighted to bring to your attention that we were also impressed with several artistic collections when we visited this museum some months ago but what we realized that were missing are the true iconic figures of Theatre/Stage Productions as it were, hence, we decided to make this presentation as our own little contributions to the museum.
We shall be donating three picture frames with an artistic expression of the iconic figures in Theatre Industry in Africa. They are individuals that have contributed and still contributing immensely to the Theatre/Arts/Creative Industry in Africa. The three iconic figures are the : (i) Late Chief Hubert Ogunde – (Nigeria)- (The Doyen of Theatre In Nigeria and West Africa) – Actor/Playwright, Musician and Theatre Manager, (ii) Uncle Ebo Whyte (Ghana)- Playwright/Author/ Theatre Practitioner, he is the Artistic Director of Roverman Productions and last but not the least is the globally celebrated (ii) Prof. Wole Soyinka – (Nigeria) CFR, Nobel Laureate- Playwright/ Author/Poet and Dramatist per excellence.
To do the honours of the Picture frames presentation were Dr. Akin Lewis (Veteran Nollywood Actor) who presented the frame of Prof. Wole Soyinka to Mr. Olusola Adekoya (Shodex Gardens Owner), Norbert Young (Veteran Nollywood Actor) presented that of Chief Hubert Ogunde while Otunba Olu Adenodi (Barr.), Managing Partner, Olu Adenodi & Partners presented that of Uncle Ebo Whyte to the museum.
This initiative was not only lauded by the attendees who took pictures and videos of the proceedings, it was said to be a good exposee for the museum in itself and it will be the beginning of collection of many theatrical pieces as part of its collection. The presentation came as a big surprise to the Shodex Gardens CEO who didn’t see that coming. The elated Mr. Adekoya in his thank you speech said ” Well, from now on, I am now fully a TheatreManiac and I know that Shodex Gardens has been supporting this project before but from now, we declare our full support for the TheatreMania Africa Festival project going forward especially as we start the preparation for the 2025 edition. We are grateful for this gesture and this well thought idea for adding to our collections at our museum today. God bless you all” he submitted.
It would be recalled that Shodex Gardens was one of the Event Partners that supported TheatreMania Africa Summit 2024 alongside others like Nkan Media, QUIDBOT, Platos Health, The Street University Project and TheatreMania Africa Festival. The other Media Partners are WAP TV, R2TV/R2FM, HIP TV, SHOWBIZ AFRIKA, GOLDYMYNE TV, YAW NAIJA, BRAND TIMES, SPLASH9JA, THE NOLLYWOOD REPORTERS, AIMS MEDIA, PAPARRAZI PRESS, THEATREDOME, GREY LOTUS, THM360, FILMKRAFT ACADEMY, CHICO CREATIVES, ACADA MAGAZINE, GOGE AFRICA, MNET24 Studio, EAGLES HOUSE MEDIA, PLUSPLACE MEDIA, FRESHWAVE CONCEPTS ETC.
TheatreMania Africa Summit (TAS) 2024 is put together by TheatreMania Africa Concepts.
