(1 x 35′) Arts Council of Great Britian / Birmingham Film Workshop
1982
Directed by: Yugesh Walia
Produced by: Roger Shannon
Photography: Donald Guy
Editors: Yugesh Walia & Donald Guy
Music: Oneness / Kokuma
Executive Producer: Rodney Wilson
The Handsworth Cultural Centre in Birmingham was essentially a community based arts project initiated and funded by the Probation Service. It was set up in 1978 to cater for young black offenders. Within a few years the Centre moved on from being an after-care facility to an oasis of cultural activity for Handsworth’s black community.
African Oasis focuses on ‘Kokuma’, the centre-based dance and drumming group, the music recording studio, and the building of an African village to the rear of the Centre – an affirmation of cultural roots for Handsworth’s community. In the words of Bob Ramdhanie, the project leader, “art becomes not a commodity, which is elevated out of reach of the community, but an everyday expression in which the community are active participants.”
