Two time Grammy winning Nigerian percussion wizard Lekan Babalola brings his acclaimed LEKAN BABALOLA’s OGUN | OSUN project to London. Lekan Babalola is well known for his innovative musical style, using his native Yoruba tongue infused with traditional music, Afrobeat and funky dance overtones. In addition to being a talented musician, Lekan has also undertaken education work as part of his artistic programme and has on-going relationships both in the UK, USA, Europe, Caribbean and Africa as a percussionist, art curator tutor, band leader / composer and producer.
This is a contemporary reimagining of a Yoruba ancestral shrine, re-interpreted as an interactive art installation. OGUN | OSUN invites audiences to explore and enter a futuristic freestanding pyramid, decorated with Yoruba sacred art and symbols rendered by contemporary sculptors and fine artists. The project celebrates both OGUN – the Yoruba icon of iron – and composer / activist John Coltrane. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor installation, OGUN | OSUN will tour Liverpool, London and Birmingham 2019. OGUN | OSUN acts as a focal point for live performances of a specially commissioned afrobeat / jazz funk “soundtrack” by Lekan Babalola’s Sacred Funk Squad.
“Music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being.” John Coltrane