Adebáyọ̀ Fálétí: The Passing of a Cultural Icon

Through the open door of the room next to the editing suite at the offices of Mainframe Productions, near Oshodi, Lagos, a figure dressed in colorful agbada is visible, hunched over papers and books. Back turned to the door, he scribbles away, oblivious to all movement around him. But it is not difficult to know who it is. The cap tipped to the right and the brief side glance cast in reaction to approaching motion are enough to give him away, even if, as in such situations, a few moments lapse before recognition registers. The sight is riveting, forbidding and disorienting all at once. In more than an hour of chattering about the problems of Nigeria, I have been unaware of the presence in the same building of one of the iconic figures of the arts in Nigeria, probably at work making things even more complicated. It is late in the evening. We greet him and quickly withdraw, careful not to disturb him further. Walking out the building with cultural critic Toyin Akinosho at the end of a visit with the filmmaker Tunde Kelani, I also find it quite chastening.

Requiem – Alàgbà, Dr., Prince, Mosọbalájé Ajíbádé Àkàndé Adébáyọ̀ Fálétí, OON, DLitt., FNAL, JP, a.k.a ‘Pa Fálétí’ to Some; ‘Bàbá Fálétí’ to all and Sundry.

What is in a name? It is a testament to everything relational, from the ceremonial to the conventional to the familial! The progression from ‘Knowing of a person’ (mímọ ẹnì kan); ‘knowing something about that person’ (mímọ nǹkan nípa ẹni náà, mímọ ẹni náà); to ‘knowing that person well, personally’ (mímọ ènìyàn náà dáadáa) describes the various levels and depths of measuring knowledge of and/or familiarity with that person. It determines and builds the foundation of relationships. Thus, the trajectory of relationships run the gamut from having heard once of or about the person’s name mo ti gbọ or ́ úkọ yẹn rí (I have heard of that name before); to knowing a smattering bit of information associated with that name, bẹ́ẹ̀ ni, mo mọ ǹkan díẹ̀ nípa orúkọ yẹn (yes, I know a little about that name/person); to having a good knowledge of the person through study of his/her published works, mo ti ka àwọn ìwé wọn; mo mọ iṣẹ́ wọn dáadáa (I have read his/her works; I am quite familiar with them); to intimate, first-hand knowledge of and familiarity with the person, works and all, the Mo mọ wọ ̀ n dáadáa ́ (I know him/her very well, personally), indeed, at the formal and familial levels of relationships. 2 Pamela J. Olubunmi Smith Thanks to the immense, providential endowment trumpeted on the airwaves, and flashed on screen, and showcased on makeshift stages from hamlet, to village, to town squares and city halls, and planted in almost every household so the gen-X and gen-Y Yorùbá can, in varying degrees, claim knowledge of and familiarity with Bàbá Fálétí, the man, the artist, the actor, the prodigious poet, indeed, the half-sung, consummate bard, the cultural icon, beloved son of Yorùbáland. With even greater gratitude to the dear friend who, as the story goes, having read, at Fálétí’s request, a lengthy poem Fálétí had penned in English, advised his B.A. honors-in-English friend to start writing in Yorùbá. Thankfully, Fálétí heeded his friend’s daring, but honest friendly advice, switching his language choice to Yorùbá, and thus making us all heirs to a lasting legacy undoubtedly steeped in and shaped by quintessential Yorùbá traditions.

Willows in the farming landscape: a forgotten eco-cultural icon

Recent studies have revealed a largely forgotten rural landscape in which Salix (willow) species were a characteristic, iconic, and utilitarian feature. In former wetlands, now largely removed by massive drainage schemes since the 1600s various willow species were distinctive features of the landscape and of major value to agricultural communities that inhabited those places. From lowlands to uplands across the British countryside willows dominated much wetter and more extensive landscapes. Remnant upland willow woods (now present as ‘shadow woods’) exist as isolated remnants in small wet habitats in an often desiccated landscape fragmented and drained. In the lowlands, especially former fenland areas, willows were present in extensive wet (carr) woodlands and in cultivated beds of withies or osier holts, and as coppices and pollards on boundaries and in field edges across the countryside. The economic driver of withy beds survived in the main English fenlands until the mid-twentieth century. Today these once extensive and important landscapes are mostly forgotten and derelict; and furthermore, the eco-cultural resource of the willows is currently under threat with unrecorded veteran trees being actively removed by farmers. This paper introduces the significance of the willow landscapes, the history of the eco-cultural resource, and the implications of neglect for future conservation.

Potential of Saman Dance in Tourism Development in Gayo Lues Regency, Aceh Province

The Saman dance or better known as the thousand-hand dance is one of the cultural heritages of the Indonesian nation which has been passed down from generation to generation as the pride of the Gayo people. This Saman Gayo dance has been recognized and confirmed by the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an intangible world cultural heritage on November 24, 2011 in Bali. Saman Dance is one of the tourism attractions in Gayo Lues Regency. The Government of Gayo Lues Regency incorporates Saman Dance into the school curriculum, forms a guided Saman group and becomes a facilitator for increasing the development of cultural arts so that it develops into a cultural icon and can be used as a source of local revenue. Community involvement makes Saman Dance a cultural icon is that people love this art and it has become a hereditary tradition that should not be left behind or lost altogether. This art can be witnessed in the context of performances as entertainment at the time of celebration of national holidays, religious and grand guest banquets. The data were interviewed, and the research method used was descriptive with qualitative analysis. The results showed that Saman Dance and tourism development contributed to regional development in Gayo Lues Regency. The way to make it happen is to become a tourism facilitator who creates a conducive climate, build an airport or other infrastructure to make it easier for tourists to travel and promote existing tourism potential through a tagline. The efforts of the Gayo Lues Regency Government and the community to support the implementation of the Saman Dance conservation policy as a tourism potential are to directly involve competent people in the preparation of the program so that the results are of high quality. Keywords: Saman Dance Potential, Development, Society.

Shaping of Cities’ Identities with Cultural Uniqueness: Handcraft Shops and Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Hanoi Old Quarter in Vietnam

A city usually has its own identity and cultural uniqueness with the markers of identity perhaps varying among museums, monuments, temples, theatre buildings, handcraft and traditional shops/markets and night bazaars and historical heritage sites, to mention a few. It is very common for cities in mainland Southeast Asia, like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phnom Penh, Luang Prabang and Hanoi to have handcraft markets/shops as well as night bazaars selling various handcrafts attributed to one ethnic group or another. Those handcraft shops/markets and night bazaars are often at least partly related to the promotion of tourism. However, they do not only exist for the sake of tourism, since the promotion of cultural uniqueness as the identity of a city is related to the feeling of pride and the very soul of the city. This paper will discuss the existing handcraft markets/shops and night bazaar in Chiang Mai (Thailand) as important elements of the city’ s icons and the Hanoi Old Quarter, a historical heritage area in Hanoi, where handcraft shops, night market, cafés and many more venues are integral to the identity of Hanoi. The fieldwork was conducted in Chiang Mai in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2016 for a few days and in Hanoi in 2006, 2017, 2018 for a few days, especially using qualitative research. The discussion is divided into three parts: the First, giving a brief review of the identity of a city; the Second, touching on the issue of how the handcraft shops and the Night Bazaar in Chiang Mai are seen as the city icons; and Finally, the shaping of the Hanoi Old Quarter as Hanoi’s cultural icon/identity.

No Cultural Icon, Just a Man: Representing Shakespeare in Kenneth Branagh’s Biopic "All Is True" (2018)

While mainly addressing the masses and the simpler tastes of his time, Shakespeare’s plays have long been considered emblematic for high culture, which calls into question whether their author should still be regarded as representative for the elites or whether his life and personality should be demystified and brought back to the people. An attempt in this respect, showcased by this paper, seems to be Kenneth Branagh’s biopic All Is True (2018), which portrays Shakespeare as an ordinary man rather than as an illustrious playwright, allowing the public to see the human being behind his almost god-like façade. The film, however, reasserts the Renaissance dramatist’s position as the greatest poet and playwright by interrogating some of the most persistent theories on his biography and authorship.

Brigitte Bardot: The Making, Recycling, and Afterlife of an Icon

This chapter highlights the dynamics of the modern media icon by analyzing how Brigitte Bardot was a star made by the image (photography and film) and by reconstructing how her celebrity survived through the image. It discusses the emergence, evolution and impact of Bardot as a cultural icon and her continued relevance long after she stopped making films in 1973. In doing so, the chapter demonstrates how Bardot can be perceived as an icon in several senses – literally as the model of photographers, filmmakers and painters, culturally as creator and bearer of fashion and lifestyle that were widely imitated, and symbolically as the articulation of a sexualized rebellion against the conservative, patriarchal France of the time.