Tribe Sankofa, a doing arts collective of multi-gifted, vivid and eclectic performers, will celebrate their 10th anniversary this year. The team options to execute a series of gatherings reflective of their main values, although celebrating the milestone and having to pay tribute to their allies and supporters, who, by the a long time, have inspired and facilitated the collective’s progress.
Tribe Sankofa was established in 2012 by its inventive director, Fabian M Thomas, who describes their area of interest as “ … borrowed and initial spoken term/poetry, soulful music-styling uniquely blended with other visual and carrying out arts”.
The collective, because its inception, has sought to introduce a new dynamic to Jamaica’s theatre arts landscape and the world at big. They have shared their interpretations of works by critically acclaimed poets and writers these as Lorna Goodison, Derrick Walcott, Olive Senior, Mervyn Morris, Oku Onuora, Claude McKay, Toni Morrison, Sunni Patterson, Rudy Francisco and Paul Laurence Dunbar. The team has also offered unflinching examinations of problems these as police killings/brutality, gender-centered violence, racism, blackness and self-discovery.
Thomas and his tribe have shared their exclusive type and repertoire in numerous areas, which include the Lignum Vitae Awards, Gungo Stroll Different Music and Arts Pageant, Arts in the Park, and the investiture of the Poet Laureate of Jamaica. The collective proved their determination to their mission in 2017 when they carried out at Carifesta 2017, despite possessing funding problems and not being a section of Jamaica’s formal contingent. Their resilience has more been proven through their fast adaptation to the improvements introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The collective overcame the road blocks posed, pivoted and presented its very first virtual period through Zoom in August 2020.
The calendar year-long celebration to mark their 10th anniversary will include the start of their initially chapbook of authentic writings, a 10th anniversary GoFundMe initiative, earth premieres of two mini documentaries, and an assortment of performances, tributes and recollections.