The drums are silent

Olayinka Oyegbile

This darkness too will pass away; we shall meet again and talk about darkness and dawn- Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

WITH the lockdown in Lagos entering its fifth week, I was at home the other day watching television, a pastime I hardly find time to indulge in except when I want to listen to the news. As I sat in front of the television a news item caught my attention and I dropped all I was doing to listen and watch the details. It was about how the lockdown has impacted the arts community.

The story was detailed and very informative. The report opened with the montage of an empty theatre hall. The reporter in focusing on the empty hall came from behind to paint a picture of a deserted theatre with drums without drummers or dancers. It was graphic and realistic. It told the story of what the coronavirus pandemic has inflicted on the art world; how our world is been redefined by this pandemic without borders. All over the world artistic centres, venues, cinemas and galleries have been shut down. What is art without the crowd? How can art be without the audience, what is the point of making a multi-million naira film when the theatre to shoot them and display your work are under lock and key? The art galleries are useless without patrons. The museums are useless without the crowd that visits them on a daily basis!

The effect of the lockdown owing to the pandemic are yet to be felt now, it is going to tell a lot on the artistic community in the months ahead. Although there is no denying that it could also help because it would no doubt provide materials and resources from which great plays, novels, films and other art creations might spring, because great art emanates from adversities. As immortal Shakespeare wrote “Great are the uses of adversity”, great things are going to come out of this adversity.

However, before this comes to fruition how does the sector survive, especially in our own kind of economy when even in the best of times, the sector is neglected and always gasping for air of survival on very scarce ventilator?

It is amid this pandemic that the world on April 23 marked the World Book Day. But with the raging pandemic the day came without ceremonies because it is only the living and sound mind that reads. The uplifting statement of the Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Mr. John Asein, to mark the day should serve as balm on a bruised world, saying the day was been celebrated against the “gloomy backdrop” of the coronavirus, he sought for healing for them “and pray for strength in time of weakness; hope in the midst of despair.”  He continued “As virtually every country is compelled to impose restrictions on travels and mobility, as physical isolation and social distancing become the norm and humanity is traumatised by this pestilence, we can find solace in books. Through the books we read, we are able to share in the experiences of others and find renewed faith in the power of knowledge. Books afford us safe passage to other lands and cultures; they provide us the much needed company and comfort in times of distress; they broaden our minds with understanding and fire our power to imagine and create. Just as the present pandemic has exposed our common vulnerability as humanity, books document our successes, our resilience and our capacity to overcome and conquer from across generations.”

Now that the drums of festivals are silent all over the world, the time has come for governments across the country to rethink the place of material culture in our list of priorities. It bears repeating that culture is the soul of man.

In line with the theme of this year’s World Book Day – Read. Grow Wings and Travel”! This pandemic shall not last forever because the drums would soon sound again and the singers would burst into joyful songs while the dancers take over the stage on their nimble feet to entertain the world.