Second Indigenous Art Festival ‘360 2025 celebrates Asaba as UNESCO Creative City
By Anote Ajeluorou
WITH the theme ‘Bringing Youths to the Table for the Next Decade,’ the Washington Uba-led Indigenous Art Festival ‘360, Asaba will stage its second edition in September 2025 at the African Indigenous Cultural Center, Delta State Film Village, Asaba. The spotlight at this year’s festival will be Asaba as UNESCO Creative City on account of its Nollywood film production dominance. Asaba is also the first epicentre of bloodbath during the 30-month bloody Nigeria Civil War in 1967 for unarmed civilians. The aim is to incorporate young people into mainstream culture discourse on the preservation of Africa’s indigenous practices and to serve as epicentre of memory.
The theme also encapsulates the celebration of Asaba as a ‘UNESCO Creative City Under Film Category’, a tribute that underscores Asaba as the city by the River Niger that is home to Nigeria’s blossoming film culture with young people at the centre of the cinema industry. The festival aims to “identify and nurture local creative talents, provide them with training opportunities and platforms to showcase their skills within the film industry, foster collaboration and technical exchange within the film industry, create opportunities for continuous growth and development of the creative sector, promote innovation and expansion of culture, spread historical awareness and provide cultural support, ensuring that the rich cultural heritage of Asaba continues to be celebrated and shared,” according to the festival director Mr. Uba.
According to UNESCO also, “Asaba exhibits a rich history of film production and holds the distinction of establishing the first Film Village nationwide, serving as the centre of ‘Nollywood’, one of Africa’s leading entertainment industries in terms of both production and economic value. Nollywood produces an impressive annual output of 1,000 to 1,500 movies, creating a transnational cinematic cultural influence that exports local stories and cultures on a national and globe scale. The Film Village is renowned for its International Film Conferences, International Artist Residency programmes, and identifying and supporting local talents by providing them with platforms for growth and opportunities to showcase their expertise within the film industry and beyond. The city is also home to many renowned film producers and actors, as well as unique craft, folk and literary industries.
“Accordingly, the population of film professionals and actors in Asaba is estimated at around 100,000. As a result of its diverse cultural and creative sector, the city of Asaba offers many opportunities for cross-sectorial exchanges with the Network of UNESCO Creative Cities. In addition to its cultural influence, the film industry has also brought about significant economic benefits to the city, generating employment opportunities and attracting international investments. The Film Village and other cultural assets across the city serve as a gateway to sustainable urban development. It is with this vision in mind that Asaba has joined the Network, with a commitment to boosting regional film production and sharing good practices with other members in the network.”
Indigenous Cultural Center, venue of Indigenous Art Festival ‘360, Asaba
A UNESCO Creative City is one placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of its development plan at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. There are 350 cities around the world which currently make up this network and working together towards a common objective.
It is precisely for these reasons that the Indigenous Cultural Center at the Delta State Film Village, Asaba, dedicates the second edition of the Indigenous Art Festival ‘360 in September 2025 to celebrate youths and ‘Asaba as Creative City Under the Film Category’ among fifty-four other new designated creative cities across the globe. The cities are to contribute to UNESCO’s global efforts in effectively supporting member states in the delivery of the 2030 Agenda through its member cities. These include notably the promotion and stimulation of culture and creativity-driven policies, strategies, plans and initiatives at the city level.
In this regard, the Indigenous Cultural Center offers unparalleled approach through visual and performing arts for Asaba city to draw on peer learning and collaborative initiatives, to fully capitalize on her cultural assets and use them as founding pieces for sustainable, inclusive and balanced development across economic, social, cultural and environmental dimensions.
The Uba-led Indigenous Art Festival ‘360, Asaba strongly aligns its festival vision with that of UN Tourism, UN-Habitat and UNESCO which recently came together at the World Urban Forum to host a side event under the theme ‘Urban Tourism: Policies and Governance for More Sustainable, Inclusive, Creative and Resilient Cities.’ The Film Village in Asaba is designed as cultural and tourism complex, with Uba’s Indigenous Cultural Center located within its space, as a connecting bridge between culture and tourism in its self-imposed mandate of preservation of indigenous African architecture and promotion of Africa’s ancient and modern art practices.
Given the interconnectedness of their mandates, the square module celebration explores different artistic expressions in relation to the theme, such as music, film, visual and performing arts through the four artistic following approaches:
Music (Resilience): Dance for the City: A dance performance by Blaze Africa Theatre House, Asaba. This is to salute the resilient spirit of Asaba after the civil war to the present day.
Film (Inclusivity): Film screening session at the Amphitheatre in recognition of the Creative City’s designated category.
Visual Arts Exhibition (Creativity): 350 Cities on Canvas. The Indigenous Cultural Center, in collaboration with the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of Denise Osadebay University (DOU), Asaba, will paint the 350 UNESCO creative cities on canvas to celebrate the organization.
Performing Arts (Sustainability): A drama presentation by Blaze Africa Theatre House, centred on telling cultural narratives in a rational manner without prejudice or unfair representation of any sector of society.
According to Uba, “The Indigenous Cultural Center as a culture-powered public space designed to showcase ‘Creativity, Inclusivity, Sustainability and Resilience’ explores diverse ways to support the UN 2030 agenda with platforms for artists to express their creativity and raise awareness about societal issues in the following areas: promoting and harnessing the unique value of cultural heritage and creativity for sustainable tourism in an urban context, identifying key challenges facing urban tourism in relation to sustainability in its three pillar and stimulating discussion and exchange of know-how between communities and strategic stakeholders on sustainable urban tourism development, inspiring innovative approaches and strategies through art and culture.
“Others are to advocate for stronger linkages between tourism, culture, and art, create a space that allows for the identification of cross-cutting synergies and partnerships within and among artists across key stakeholders at all levels, encourage public-private-community collaboration to help deliver solutions to urban tourism challenges and influence local community agendas by leveraging the collective voice of local artists and cultural advocates on sustainable tourism.”
Uba also harped on corporate and governmental partnerships with and sponsorship of his Indigenous Cultural Center to deliver the promised vision of his community-based Indigenous Art Festival ‘360, scheduled for September 2025. It is designed to explore the nexus between culture and tourism and how to harness them in the celebration of young people and Asaba, Delta State, as Creative City in Film in 2023, the second Nigerian city to be so designated by UNESCO after Bida, Niger State in 2022.
Festival Director Mr. Washington Uba
