Why I mix art with activism, politics – Dike Chukwumerije

Weekend Magazine: At what point did you decide to expand your poetry and spoken-word sets into the massive performance-based operation you have now? Dike Chukwumerije: I think it evolved. I started the sort of standard performance poetry shows in 2013 and I did about four or five of them, but I just wanted to do […]

Weekend Magazine: At what point did you decide to expand your poetry and spoken-word sets into the massive performance-based operation you have now?

Dike Chukwumerije: I think it evolved. I started the sort of standard performance poetry shows in 2013 and I did about four or five of them, but I just wanted to do more. I experimented by composing little pieces, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes long, to see how people responded. When I saw that it was well-received, I just kept expanding it. After the one I did, on Valentine’s Day last year, I decided that the next thing I was going to do wasn’t going to be the standard one-person performance, but a full-blown thing. So, I would say the decision point was February 2015.

WM: Straight-up readings appear to be easier, so why did you choose to express your art in such a broad canvas as you have now?

Chukwumerije: It’s more fulfilling for me as an artist because I have a lot of skills that aren’t able to express themselves simply through writing. I have always had dramatic ability and other things that couldn’t be fed through writing. I just found that it was really more fulfilling to find a way to bring it all together, so I’m writing and performing and dancing and talking. I enjoy it more. 

WM: How many books of poetry do you have published, so far?

Chukwumerije: I have three books of poetry: ‘The Revolution Has No Tribe’, ‘Ahamefula’, and ‘On My Way To Azure Shores’. But the reception wasn’t great. As typically, the average poet would tell you, it’s hard enough to sell books and then much harder to sell poetry books if you aren’t really famous. So, for my first collection, ‘The Revolution Has No Tribe’, I went a whole year without selling a copy. It was that bad.

WM: What do you think is responsible for that kind of dynamic in Nigeria, like when you have a show at the Hilton it sells out with people lining up outside, but books not selling?

Chukwumerije: I think people have memories of doing poetry in school and they were not very nice memories, where they had to read things that were very difficult to understand.  So people like it theoretically, but it’s not widely read. I think there’s a problem from the beginning just with the stereotype of poetry. Poetry is competing with other forms of entertainment. So if I want to relax and need something to read, it’s unlikely that I’ll read anything that will give me a headache. One would probably go for a novel or something that’s easier to comprehend.

With younger people, you aren’t just competing with written material but with social media, music and movies. Thirdly, it’s the fact that when you are reading, it’s sort of a one-track channel. However, when you are in a show, so many more of your senses are being spoken to and so there’s a more rounded experience. 

But one thing I have seen is that after people see the show, then they begin to buy the written material. So it doesn’t displace the written material, but people need a reason to invest time to read what you wrote. If you are already an established writer, the person feels that this would be worth my time. 

WM: Your work on ‘Made In Nigeria’ touches on history, politics, and even activism. Is this deliberate, or do they somehow organically come together?

Chukwumerije: It’s deliberate. I’m a very conscious writer. I have agendas, I have messages that I want to get out and I use art as a vehicle. I started with wanting to write about a particular thing as opposed to wandering into it. I typically do a lot of research. I’m not just an artist. 

So yes, it is very deliberate. I wanted to do something on Nigeria, something that would evoke nostalgia and make people feel, not just proud, but emotional. Nigeria is often treated as a case study, which intellectually, is what is wrong. Sometimes it’s good to realise that, but it is home. This is where my personality was formed. If I’m a funny guy, it’s because of Nigeria. The show goes through the decades, so I have to think of that and the major issues I want to touch. Obviously, there are many potentially explosive subjects. So it was something I was very careful about, so that anybody listening to it would not be unnecessarily provoked. You are not dodging the issues, but at the same time you don’t want to unnecessarily provoke people. You want them to at least hear you out.  

WM: What would you say, in a nutshell, is your political leaning?

Chukwumerije: I am a ‘meritocrat’. I believe in meritocracy. That means that I don’t believe in federal character, rotational presidency, quota systems, or tribalism. Whoever can do the job best, wherever they come from, whatever they believe, I don’t care as long as they can do it well.

WM: When prepping for a performance, what’s the process like, exactly?

Chukwumerije: It’s hard to break down the process, particularly when it’s very intuitive in terms of creating the material in the first place. It takes months just sitting at my desk and writing and envisioning, because you write the individual pieces and think about how you would bring them alive on stage. And then you think about how you will connect them so there’s a consistent narrative. You then think about the people who will help you do this. Number of dancers you will need, actors, costumes, props, positioning of lighting. I am a sort of obsessive person. I just sat at my desk and thought everything through, literally. When I had all that, I began to call people up. 

The first time it happened, I couldn’t really tell everybody everything. I simply told them their part. When we began to rehearse, things began to make sense to people. It was hard for the technical people. Most people would just come and set up lights and go to sleep but I let them know they need to be there because the lights need to go off or change at certain moments. It took lots of rehearsals. The first day we did it there were so many mistakes. But the more we did it the more we got into the flow of what needs to be done. 

Even now when I think back I recall how I just sat at my desk and thought things through. My family had travelled so I was home alone and I just kept writing every day because I had the script in my head. At a point I felt ‘I need a poem about the 60s, I want to make it a love story’. 

I remember when I wanted to write about what happened in 1966 and I didn’t know how to because people have very strong mental blocks about this issue. I didn’t want it to be political or preachy. I just wanted people to see the humanity of the story that people were killed who had nothing to do with it. That was how I decided to write a love story so people’s hearts go out to those victims when the tragedy happens. 

WM: Yours shows are always sold out. Have you considered DVDs and other formats to get it across so it’s not just the lucky few who get tickets that get to enjoy it?

Chukwumerije: I have. We are working on it. Because of the huge amount of energy it took to create it, and it’s sort of easy to take it for granted once it’s done, I have been focused on getting some traction on the live performances. But we have plans to record everything at a point.

WM: Your life can’t be all about art. How do you unwind? 

Chukwumerije: I have a family. I’m married with three kids, so they are part of the unwinding process. I also do a lot of exercise. I grew up in a very sporty family so it’s part of me. It helps me unwind and write. Apart from that, I love to watch TV and listen to music a lot.

WM: Have any of your kids taken to the arts, poetry in particular?

Chukwumerije: They have a natural exposure to it. I expose them to it. They are still quite young. The eldest is seven. I teach them some poems and they get to see me perform and create the pieces. They come for all the shows I do in Abuja and have their favourite poems. Sometimes I recite poems in their school. I just feel that exposure to things like this, whether or not you become an artist, is good. I’m happy that they are exposed to it, whatever their abilities are. 

WM: Have you ever thought of directing a movie?

Chukwumerije: Honestly, no. Maybe I should, but I just have so much in my own head that I am trying to get out. 

WM: From studying Law in university to performance poetry, it’s a bit of a stretch. How did that happen?

Chukwumerije: Probably the question should be how did I ever pick Law? I was an artist very early in life. I used to draw, I love to sing. My elder brother was a poet, I used to copy his poems. In fact, I was supposed to study Medicine. When that didn’t work, my father filled out my JAMB form and put Law in there. He felt the kind of society we live in one needs to have something that is practical. His words were, “At least go and get the degree, if you want to do something else, fine,” which was exactly what I did and afterwards did what I wanted to do.

WM: When is your next showing of ‘Made In Nigeria’, and what should fans expect?

Chukwumerije: On the first and second of October. It’s a show we have been doing for the last one year. We have been on tour with it, so we did the maiden edition here in Abuja in October 2016 for three days. Because of the interest we decided to tour with it, from Lagos to Benin, Enugu, and Ife. We want to end the tour where it began, so for those who haven’t had the opportunity, this presents a good one. I also know there are also many people who have seen before, but want to again.