Our stories are seldom told from authentic points of view from the ones ought to tell them, and when they are told, we try to cover up a lot of it to look presentable, the moment we do that we give in to the pretense of fulfilling a predisposed stereotype. Most times what we fail to realize is that by doing that, the gems that lie in our stories are misplaced hence making them less interesting to want to concurrently consume. hFACTOR is taking leaps to curtail this misplacement of values.
More branches met up with the Streetlights collective through hFACTOR, and we found glimpses of their stories really interesting and encapsulating, and we’re excited to experience and accentuate further this subculture budding within our people, same as us that share to a degree, similar struggles, tribulations, and joys.
We got a first hand account of the Street Lights collective from hFACTOR, detailing the ethos that drives them, where they are now, and what they hope to achieve one jam session at a time.
Street Lights is a collective formed under the Untangling Lights initiative, established by hFACTOR, as part of our community engagement/capacity building program. The project focuses on creating opportunities for connections and exchanges. By creating and building relationships between and within different communities we hope to encourage a multi-way dialogue that nurtures new ideas resulting in the creation of new contemporary works.
Our freestyle jam sessions serve as a safe space for people from different backgrounds to create positive relationships and common understanding. We want to promote new, positive narratives of an inclusive society and enable active involvement in the process of contribution through musical dialogue [open mic freestyle sessions]. The idea is to cultivate and maintain a social network that nurtures human connection, mutual understanding, and eventually mutual trust.
All our jam sessions aim to highlight 1000BEAT and STREETLIGHT quarters to strengthen communication within and outside the vicinity through artist action and interventions. Their individual stories, as well as their collective journey, is very much part of the event as their performances are, as each jam session tells a story of how 10 musicians joined forces, with the common belief that they can achieve more together as a collective, that they can shine brighter as a team.
Their story is almost reminiscent of a microscopic Nigeria, each originating from various parts of Nigeria, equally Nigerian as they are musicians, however completely original, reflecting different colors of the same light. Joined and held together by the steadfast ambits of love and under the guidance of a selfless and conscientious leader, Jamal aka 1000beat, who works tirelessly in the studio, producing and recording projects for each member of the collective.
Nigeria is one of the most diverse populations in the world [due to the colonial amalgamation over a century ago], a population which now continues to face the complex challenge of maintaining and strengthening social cohesion among such a diverse nation. hFACTOR and STREETLIGHTS will explore key issues relating to national identity when living in a multicultural space and how identity is a key driver of social exclusion. These jam sessions aim to promote and celebrate diversity, tolerance, empowerment, inclusion, participation and community-minded action, particularly in a society, where the overwhelming response, particularly among young people, is that the current national identity is too narrow, limiting and no longer represents them.
The next jam session on the 18th of August at 26 Moloney Street from 7pm, will a be ‘a story of becoming, becoming the light that is within, witnessing the journey of these young artist harnessing and embodying the brilliant light that they truly are, and their ability to do so in the face of so many challenges.
[…] and other notable faces. Scenes were taken from the beach at Tarkwa bay, Wafflesncream store , hFactor, Jazzhole and other parts of Lagos, Nigeria, with infused imagery from Santi’s Freaky and […]