Writer, critic and editor, Molara Wood has disclosed the idea behind her forthcoming podcast, ‘Art for the People’, saying it is to further elevate the arts in Nigeria.
Speaking in an interview, the writer who is diversifying into electronic journalism with the podcast set to debut soon, said she couldn’t just walk away from art.
She said: “It’s just to continue to live in the beautiful presence of the arts. To continue to contribute to lively and enriching discourse concerning the place and the role of arts and culture in our society. To give it the kind of attention that it deserves; to give it the seriousness that it deserves and to show how the arts are intertwined with our everyday lives. To make it relatable in a country where the arts are nearly always brushed aside or paid lip service to. So, this is just a continuation of what I’ve always done but using a different platform.”
The podcast, she added, “will showcase, usually, one artist at a time or maybe a project involving a collaboration between several artists or performers. Writers would be featured: filmmakers, theatre practitioners, visual artists, art patrons, the whole works. It is for everybody. And it is also about that idea of community. Of people who are talking among themselves to elevate art and society, and then taking that conversation to the larger community so that we can also have people come to a better place of enlightenment about the importance of art, culture, heritage. And also for people to come to their positions.
“We’re going through a challenging time with the COVID-19; the arts have come very strongly into play in helping people cope through unprecedented hardship, in livening the atmosphere and also powering the discourse about where is the world going to? Why are politicians the way they are? What can we do about it? What is the relationship of man to society, to the environment, to the future, to the past? Why are we where we are? The arts speak to life, and I hope that with the podcast, we can contribute in some small way to that ongoing conversation around art and society.”
On the choice of a podcast as her preferred medium, the Ijesha lady said she went for it because it is not restricted like print.
“Once upon a time, our newspapers, especially some that we could name were very vibrant. But it doesn’t seem to me that vibrancy is still there any longer. It doesn’t seem to me that space is there any longer, that the requisite respect for that kind of contribution, I don’t think it’s there anymore. So, if you’re a writer who loves the art, who lives the art, who loves to write about the art and to bring more people into the life of the art.: when it’s your goal to bring more people into the life that the art can spring, what do you do? You have to find other ways of giving expression to that side of yourself.
“So, it’s that. It’s also the fact that the podcast platform has exploded in the last few years; I’ve been interested in podcasts for about three years, and I’ve had a mind for at least two years now to start a podcast. There are thousands of podcasts; I listen to several podcasts, and they have their place. Of course, we know that they are very appealing to millennials, but it’s not just millennials. I’m not a millennial, but I listen to podcasts, especially in this time of Corona-induced isolation, lockdown and all of that, podcasts have been a particular comfort to me. It’s a relatively new platform offered by technology for us to continue to express ourselves; for us to continue to reach out to others and to facilitate conversation. And so, we have to embrace it. It’s the way the world is going. We have to embrace it. It appeals to me greatly because it’s beyond borders.”
She dismissed fears that the podcast won’t be available to people, explaining that: “We have started the ‘Art for the People’ podcast with the wonderful, staunch support of Radio Now 101.9FM and our arrangement with them is that they can also air the episodes live on air. So, it would be available on various sites where people get podcasts.
“This collaboration with Radio Now 101.9FM is an excellent way of reinforcing that link between a podcast and a radio show and demystifying what might seem the strangeness of a podcast for some people. If some people can’t immediately figure out it’s a podcast, where do I see it? At the elementary level, it’s a radio show, and it would be available on the radio also.”
On her expectations for the podcast that would be twice monthly, the author of ‘Indigo’, a collection of short stories said: “I’m hoping, first to keep the listener satisfied. To keep the listener interested and engaged. I’m hoping that people in the art community would see this as a platform, as a show about them. It’s about them; it’s for them. I’m hoping that we can have that kind of embrace. And that we can continue to have quality guests, interesting guests who have things to say; who have things they are doing. I’m also hoping that we have sponsors come on board; more support because this is something that’s being done mostly as a labour of love now.”