African heritage show, marketplace hit Shriver

This past Saturday, the Johns Hopkins African Student Association sponsored a marketplace, where they sold traditional items from local vendors, and a show called “Beat of the Nile.” The event was open to both the Hopkins and local Baltimore communities. It was easily accessible to the public, as the show was free. Furthermore, the market supported local vendors and allowed them to interact with potential customers, promoting sustainable artisanal products as opposed to products produced in mass.

The marketplace, which was set up an hour before the show started, displayed a mix of diverse products and services offered both by Hopkins organizations as well as outside vendors. Visitors could taste traditional snacks, have their photos professionally taken by Hopkins photography and speak to the different vendors. I was fortunate enough to speak with the founder and chief designer of Femme Progressive, a clothing company that combines traditional patterns and textures from different areas of the African continent with progressive feminist ideals.

The mission behind Femme Progressive is to empower women through fashion that promotes innovation as well as confidence. The company strives to create fashion that is appropriate for everyone, including custom made dresses, so that women can feel comfortable with themselves while they innovate and think progressively. It was really interesting to speak to the designer of this clothing line, as she explained to me how she combined art with the notion of female empowerment.

By combining her passion for art with a cause that is important to her, she is able to create change. This really ties into the notion of embracing the beauty in diversity, as well as empowering diverse groups, including women and racial minorities.

By promoting artisanal products like those made by Femme Progressive, the market also supported the ideals behind the product. Community members spoke to students and shared their sentiment that a greater partnership between Hopkins and the Baltimore community would be beneficial for all parties involved.

The art promoted by the marketplace helped foster this greater sense of fraternity. The show drew a diverse population. While the marketplace was as advertised, the show was not.

Prior to attending the show, I anticipated a combination of performers from diverse backgrounds. However, the show’s performances were strung together by an overarching, somewhat juvenile story. Although the performances by the dancers were very engaging, well-executed and paired with appropriately chosen music, the decision to voice-over the actors with a previously recorded script did reduce the show’s overall effectiveness.

Furthermore, the plotline of the larger story, which staged a racial conflict, seemed heavily stereotyped. Despite the cultural accuracy of the dancing throughout the performance, pairing it with a subpar plotline was to its detriment. The performance left me far from optimistic about the chances for greater racial unity.

I felt that this performance undid the overall positivity promoted by the marketplace. However, by including a lot of dances and songs throughout the plot, a great cultural experience was fostered. Furthermore, the event was largely attended in the Shriver auditorium and, thus, makes the showcase as an overall success.

Despite my complaints regarding the plot, I thought as a reviewer that this event did have many strong aspects, especially the enthusiasm and talent of the dancers. As Hopkins continues to integrate itself into the community surrounding it, events like “Beat of the Nile” will become more important and foster support from communities living in and around the University.

Although I think greater care must be taken when portraying different races, overall I would deem this a success. Stereotyping must be avoided, especially when the target audience ranges so much in age. However, as an art performance, it was very well-executed, and I would strongly recommend other events in the same vein.