'Pidgin is the one thing that unites us' - Artist speaks on pidgin opera concert

With over 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria and their respective indigenous languages, pidgin is the one language that unites us all.

This was the sentiment behind the pidgin opera concert put together by musician/expressive arts/music therapist, The Venus Bushfires.

In an exclusive chat with Pulse TV, the music artiste revealed that her idea of a pidgin opera was very well received by the public, with a line up of sponsors ready to back the next edition which will hold outside Lagos.

Speaking on the motive behind the project, the singer said:

"Music is my life and I spend the vast majority of my days doing music so I always try to think of what will inspire me as an artist and not just what people want. Coming back to Nigeria, I realised that while we're one country, we're very diverse people with different communities and cultures but we all speak pidgin"

She went on to point out that inspite of this, people look down on pidgin, regarding it as the language of the uneducated, when infact pidgin is "the language of the whole".

This is what eventually led to the birth of the pidgin opera.

Helen Parker-Jayne, the person behind The Venus Bushfires is a Nigerian born singer-songwriter, composer and performance artist who explores the ethereal sounds of the hang, the power of the talking drum and the quirks of children’s toys cross-fertilising multiple visual and musical styles. 

She has created music for Christian Dior, Sony PlayStation, Disney, Oxfam and has played percussion for Sir Paul McCartney.