African artist joins local kids to share art and culture at Shakori Hills Festival

By Sara Waters
Posted Thursday, April 19, 2007

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Silk Hope, NC – The music starts at 4:30 on the afternoon of Thursday, April 19th for the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance. Long before the amps and mics are loaded on the stage, however, and the craft and food booths are set up, one of the most interesting parts of this year’s festival will be under construction. And who will be doing this handiwork? Children from all over Chatham County, and their new friend Issa Nyaphaga.

Nyaphaga, who is a world-renowned artist, will be visiting Silk Hope for this weeklong project he will complete in conjunction with area school children. The project kicked off this past Saturday at the Shakori Hills festival site where children from Chatham County Together, a mentoring program for at-risk youth, and area home school families began building a miniature replica of a West African Village. Monday and Tuesday of this week, third and fourth grade students from Chatham Charter School in Siler City and Carolina Friends School in Durham will help complete the project.

In honor of Earth Day, the village, created out of recycled and re-used or “found” objects, will be open for all to enjoy as part of the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music & Dance, Thursday through Sunday April 19th - 22nd.

The village will include a small hut with a thatched roof as well as a village totem. Issa will lead the children through all the steps of artistic creation while teaching them of his West African heritage. During the festival, the artist will be leading playshops in tribal body painting, mask-making, and sand-painting open to everyone at the festival.

Issa Nyaphaga is a native of the Tikar Tribe in Cameroon, Africa, and currently resides in Paris, France. Before coming to Chatham County in March, Issa exhibited his work at openings in Washington, DC and New York City. This spring, his appearance at Shakori Hills has been funded by a grant from the Chatham County Arts Council, and he will donate all of the proceeds to the Nditam Village in Cameroon, Africa where the Tikar people live.

The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance has always been welcoming to families, as children are a very important part of the community. Throughout the weekend there will be many other events and activities aimed toward the younger crowd. Included are crafts, children’s theater, Earth ball and parachute games, storytelling, puppet making, children’s clogging, environmental education, and a very special Happiness Parade! Check the program for details and schedules. There is also a quiet, family camping area available on request at the gate. Children under the age of 12 get in for free, and special rates are available for teenagers and students.