The hybrid festival, which begins with a free Online Gathering on International Women’s Day (March 8), will bring together emergent and established Black talent and expertise from across the arts, cultural and creative sectors and platform performers, artists, writers, academics and community leaders.
The free gathering on March 8, The OG, will include workshops on yoga, mindfulness, somatic movement and sound healing, and be intersected with mini-interviews, poetry and reflections from 9.30am until 1.30pm.
Melan8 culminates on Saturday, March 29 with an eclectic arts and culture programme comprising of a festival (11am-7pm) and after-party (7.30pm-12am), taking up space and sharing culture at St Mary’s Guildhall in the heart of Coventry city centre, complete with karaoke, “Paint N Party”, and prizes to be won.
Professional development workshops in creative writing, theatre direction and publishing also feature as part of the March 29 programme, with film, comedy, DJs, painting and an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony all in the spotlight at one of the city’s most historically significant venues.
An audio tour of St Mary’s Guildhall, which chronicles anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass’s visit to the venue, will also be available.
The festival is the creation of multi-award-winning Coventry arts production house, Weusi Ltd and is led by its Artistic Director, Nyasha Daley.
Its name is derived from ‘melanated’, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as ‘highly pigmented; containing melanin in high concentrations used in reference to Black and Black heritage communities’.
Weusi has been working with the community engagement team at St Mary’s Guildhall for several months to create a programme that positively profiles Black talent, while inviting people of all heritages through the door to discuss, enjoy, explore and engage with the arts through a Black diasporic lens.
Nyasha said: “Melan8 is both a cultural celebration and an inclusive space for black artists to have the freedom of the stage, for everyone to enjoy.
“As a production house, Weusi is focused on creating work that positively platforms and profiles Black professionals, invoking the positive impacts and opportunities that intersectional and equitable collaborations can make.
“Melan8 is an opportunity for us all to enjoy the incredible creative output that exists within the Black diaspora within the beautiful confines of St. Mary’s.
“It’s also a chance for us all to learn more about creative practice, diasporic community and intersectional culture, helping us all develop better connections and stronger dialogues. All of this responds to the theme of this year’s festival, which is Common/Unity.”
Melan8’s theme of Common/Unity encourages an exploration of what it means and takes to build communities, the burden of cultural and community leadership, the lessons we can learn from our ancestors and the innovations we can learn from young people, as well as the practicalities of maintaining a sense of community during modern times.
Contributors include Professor Kehinde Andrews, the first Black Studies professor in the UK; poet and playwright, and former Birmingham Poet Laureate, Casey Bailey; creative director of the Belgrade Theatre Corey Campbell; MP for Coventry North West Taiwo Owatemi; CEO of Europe's largest Black owned Arts and Business Centre Keith Shayaam; chief executive officer and artistic director of Warwick Arts Centre Doreen Foster; Culture Central partnerships & development manager Charlene Carter-James; CEO and artistic director of Eloquent Dance Romanah Buchanan.
They are joined by multi-disciplinary artist, and designer of the Queen’s Baton (Commonwealth Games), Laura Nyahuye; soprano opera and concert singer Abigail Kelly; Inini Founder and Doctor of Philosophy scholar Last Mafuba; chief executive of refugee charity Together Now Victor Iringere; award-winning creative producer, and founder of More Than A Moment, Elizabeth Zeddie Lawal; author and publisher Marcia M Spence; artist and writer Jamal Gerald; actress, director and writer Tonia Daley-Campbell; Birmingham comedienne Annette Fagon; dancer, cultural leader and coach, Ithalia Johnson and multi-disciplinary artist Cherelle Sappleton.
The live events will be hosted by broadcaster and entrepreneur Merisha Stevenson, comedian Smash Hesson and singer and broadcaster Letitia George.
The Melan8 festival at St Mary’s Guildhall is part of the St Mary’s Guildhall Community Engagement Programme which is kindly supported by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players. Funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund sustains ongoing events, activities, and capital investment at St Mary’s Guildhall, enhancing access to the venue and the renowned Coventry Tapestry.
Melan8 follows two successful iterations in 2019 and 2020, called iDENT, which were funded through Coventry City of Culture, with the first event hosted at Warwick Arts Centre hosted the first event in 2019 before moving to an online format.
For more information visit www.weusi.org.uk/melan82025
MELAN8 2025 is a two-day online and in-person festival, celebrating Black artistry, heritage, culture and community, in the heart of Coventry, produced by award-winning, not-for-profit, Arts and Culture Production House, WeUsI. MELAN8 2025 is supported by the community engagement programme at St Mary’s Guildhall, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery Players, and using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
