Ife Piankhi

Ife Piankhi is a Uganda-born poet, singer,^[1] creative facilitator and educator.^[2] She has collaborated with artists such as Keko, Nneka, Mamoud Guinea, Geoff Wilkinson, Michael Franti, Jonzi D, Wynton Marsalis, Floetry, among others. She has toured internationally for the past 30 years visiting Canada, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zanzibar, Zambia, Romania, Italy, Holland, and USA. While living in London she was a regular on Colourful Radio, founded by Henry Bonsu. She has been featured in the documentaries 500 years later by Owen Shahadah^[3] and Nubian Spirit by Louis Buckley^[4] which highlight her knowledge of Nile Valley Civilisations. Ife started her career at 18 teaching African pre-history in a supplementary school called Aimhotep School of Knowledge. Since then she has continued to work as a teacher and facilitator. She co-ordinated innovative projects such as Identity and Difference in Sutton and Linking Communities in Merton. Another creative project was Ancestral Gathering, managed with Aamasade Shepnekhi,^[5] which saw her working with communities to create sacred space in the natural environment. She is regularly seen at poetry and music events in Kampala, Uganda.^[6] For five years she sat on the board of Laba Street Art Festival,^[7] and has assisted in the development of initiatives such as Teen Slam Poetry Challenge,^[8] Poetry in Session^[9] and the Babashai Poetry Award.^[10]

She was one of the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's London Leaders for Sustainability,^[11] where she was exploring environmentalism and creativity with the African Caribbean community in London. She attended Findhorn the Foundation EcoVillages programme,^[12] exploring sustainable communities and was a participant in the British Council UK Interaction Leadership Programme^[13] for community leaders. With the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD)^[14] she worked with petty trader women in Sierra Leone.^[15] She is an active African feminist who enjoys exploring Self-Care and Wellbeing with women and girls.

In 2017 she was an artist-in-residence at 32 Degrees East the Ugandan Arts Trust.^[16] Her poetry installation entitled To Be or Not 2B? exploring Migration, Identity and Mourning, with a specific focus on the Maafa or Great Disaster -The forced migration and enslavement of Africans.^[17] However, this personal ancestry also relates to many of the challenges faced by Africans in the 21st century who are forced to migrate due to conflict, economics or as in her case repatriating to Africa as a means of reconnecting with her African origins and Pan African ideology.

In 2018 Piankhi is a participant in the Great African Caravan, an Art Project exploring peace, migration and a borderless world travelling from Cape Town to Egypt.^[18]