Bob Marley's 70th birthday anniversary will be celebrated by a youth project in Ealing this weekend.
The event is being run in partnership with WAPPY (Writing, Acting and Publishing Project for Youngsters) and the Cultural Community Solutions Libraries on behalf of Ealing Council.
The exhibition to celebrate the life and works of Bob Marley will run from midday-5pm on Saturday (May 30) at the borough’s flagship Ealing Central Library.
Contributors to the event will include internationally celebrated Jazz saxophonist Lascelles James, aspiring young vocalist ‘Danita’, award-winning Nostalgia Steel pan player Acquaye Lionel Kweku McCalman (’ALKM’), inspirational dance and performance Acton-based group Youth Street Beats, Rock vocalist, Indra Red and spoken word artist ‘Akuba’.
The artists will all reinterpret and perform iconic Marley songs and spoken word, interspersed with drama, poetry, and musical tributes by members of WAPPY, including veteran member and award-winning writer, Oxford undergraduate, Georgiana Jackson-Callen, as well as the playing of Bob Marley musical classics.
In preparation for the tribute event, 24 young people came after school, from various parts of Ealing, to participate in two separate, age specific research workshops to create prize-winning poetry, artwork and drama which will be showcased and exhibited at the May event.
This work will then be sent on to Bob Marley’s surviving spouse, Rita Marley, who now lives in Ghana, West Africa.
WAPPY director Grace Quansah said: “So much enthusiasm was expressed by the youngsters who have taken part in the workshops. All were familiar with one or more of Marley’s songs, but until the workshops, they knew little about his mixed raced heritage, grass-roots struggle, and humanitarian and peace missions.
“They were also very excited to know that Rita Marley has passed on a personal message of appreciation to WAPPY through a representative of RMF in Ghana, Brenda Powell, for the work we are doing with Ealing Libraries to mark her late husband’s legacy.”
