Join us at Les Étoiles de l’Acadie, Sydney for a series of short films and a music workshop led by Mark Parselelo and Dr. Afua Cooper as part of TransAtlantic Pilgrimage 2024, an exciting festival celebrating African Heritage Month.
Mark Parselelo is Research Assistant working with Cape Breton University’s Centre for Sound Communities. Currently an Ethnomusicology PhD Candidate at Memorial University, Mark has a Master’s degree in Dance Studies/Ethnomusicology. He began his music studies at the age of fifteen, studying music theory and performing traditional Kenyan music and dances at the Kenyan Music Festivals. His current research interests are Maasai music, Dinka people, Kenyan contemporary music, and music education, focusing on the refugees and immigrant musicians working in the Nairobi popular music scenes. Mark plays electric bass and keyboards in zouk, rhumba, jazz and Afropop genres.
Dr. Afua Cooper is a celebrated poet, spoken word icon, author, scholar and historian. Her many books range across such genres as poetry, history, fiction and children’s literature. She served as the Poet Laureate of Halifax Regional Municipality for the 2018-2020 term. She is a founder of the Canadian Dub Poetry Movement and a recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Portia White Prize (Nova Scotia’s most distinguished artistic award), the J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry prize, the Bob Marley Award and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Prize.
This event is free and open to public. Light refreshments will be served.