The Nigerian Creative Arts Exchange (NCAE) will be showcasing the very best of Nigerian arts and culture in fascinating appearances in the city of Paris, France. The Embassy of Nigeria will host the business community In France and friends of Nigeria to an exhibition of some of the Nigeria’s finest art, music, film, cuisine, fashion and traditional games.

The exhibition taking place at Le Pavillion Dauphine, Paris, Saint Clair on Saturday May 19, 2018 is a platform for promoting cultural exchange and diplomacy and aims to enhance social and economic collaboration between Nigerian and the world, by developing channels for commerce between Nigeria and France. Featuring, will be some Nigerian creative industry giants that include Bisi Silva, (world acclaimed visual arts curator); Ituen Bassey, Orange Culture, Andrea Iyamah and Lanre Da Silva all brand names in Nigerian fashion. Others are Chef Tiyan and Chef Fregz, celebrated Nigerian Chefs (Cuisine); Kemi Lala Akindoju from Nigeria film industry (Nollywood) and Adekunle Gold, (Songwriter, singer) while Oxygen Koncepts – dance, drama and poetry group and Nike Art Gallery will also feature.

It is a wonderful way to showcase Nigeria and its talent to the French especially after the debacle between Chimamanda Adichie and the French journalist earlier in the year. The journalist had asked the celebrated writer, Chimamanda Adichie, if there were any bookshops in Nigeria during an interview in France. The scenario played out at a global ideas event hosted by the French government called “La Nuit Des Idees” (A Night of Ideas) where Adichie, was the star guest.

The Americanah author’s response was, “I think it reflects very poorly on French people that you have to ask me that question. I think surely… I mean it’s 2018 “.

For film, Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju will be showcasing 2 stellar Nigerian short films – ‘XOXO Leo’ and ‘Braids On A Bald Head’.

XOXO Leo was written, produced and directed by Priye Diri for the Access Bank funded, Accelerate Filmmaker Project, initiative. The film employs absolutely no dialogue and majorly features one character for its 11 minutes run-time. For a film that employs no dialogue, XOXO Leo does a good job of keeping the audience enthralled. The lead character, whose performance was, notably, very compelling, transitions through a range of emotions believably as the plot progresses. She goes from merely bothered to seriously troubled, unfazed to intimidated, and from resolve to resignation.

Braids on a Bald Head is a short film, released in 2010, by Nigerian director Ishaya Bako.  The film shows the day in the life of a poor, married hairdresser, Hauwa Bello, “who through a brief homosexual encounter is able to muster up courage and stand up to her inattentive husband and ask for better.”  The film is entirely in Hausa (one of Africa’s most spoken languages and lingua franca across the Sahel).

These two films push the boundaries on several non-typical pertinent issues especially in the African context and it will be a good way to highlight the depth of creativity present in Nigeria and across the African continent.