A Serving of Small Chops !

The evening of Tuesday 5th January 2010 is the date and Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria is the setting for the Launch evening of C.R.E.A.T.I.V's biggest venture yet; Small Chops.

Yes small chops will be served ! and on the menu will be;Plantain Chips, Pepper Soup, Chin Chin & Killishi and Boli & Groundnut.
The Menu will be an ecclectic collection of poems and short stories based on the theme of traditions which will question and challenge the idea of traditional behaviour whilst also celebrating it.

The Creative minds of Victoria Island, Lagos and all surrounding areas will be out in force on the first Tuesday of the new year to witness a fun filled evening which will include readings, auctions and previews and possible guest appearances.

Small Chops : An Anthology to give the full title, is a book of quality which includes published and acclaimed writers such as Dr Niyi Osundare, Inua Ellams & Chiedu Ifeozo.

A book of such quality deserves a quality launch and C.R.E.A.T.I.V will be delivering just that.
On the evening of 5th January 2010 at Rehab 288 Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos there will be an explosion of creativity !

All Proceeds from the sales of small chops will be given to to SOS Children's Villages, Nigeria. http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/

REsult!!

Hooray!

CREATIV's first event was a great sucess raising £460 for the cause!

A Special CREATIV thanks to the designers;

Ade, Aathavan, Ama, Glenbora, Odri, Rubi, Subi and Zaina

Thanks to The sponsors;

Uni Qlo and Taman Gang

And thanks to all the hard working people behind the scenes who pulled together to make the afternoon an anjoyable one for all; we recieved some great comments and feedback on the event and the works exhibited.

what we'RE all about

CLICK for larger images...

FASHION FORWARD – RE

Once upon a time there were a group of friend who came together and decided to start a venture unlike any other. Their idea was to Creatively Re-Energise Africa Through Intuitive Ventures. Through different artistic mediums they would highlight the beauty that is Africa rather than emphasize the difficulties facing the continent. NO MORE NEGATIVE AFRICA ONLY CREATIV AFRICA! Together they moved to become the charity- C.R.E.A.T.I.V.

Alas, C.R.E.A.T.I.V. faced its first huge hurdle. To become C.R.E.A.T.I.V. they charity needed £1000 in their account. £1000 for Donald Trump . . . nothing, £1000 for Bill Gates . .. peanuts but a £1000 for C.R.E.A.T.I.V and its members seemed like £1,000,000 but that’s what they needed in order to establish their charity. Seemingly huge, they felt shaken by their plight. Some considered selling their souls, some considered selling their play stations whilst others consider selling their nothing, either way it would not be enough to save C.R.E.A.T.I.V. Dejected and alone they pondered. It seemed at their first hurdle C.R.E.A.T.I.V. would crash and burn into obscurity.

C.R.E.A.T.I.V. spoke to many along the way but only one would spark something in them. The words ‘BE RESOURCEFUL, BE RESOURCEFUL’ hit them like a slap in the face and then Ping! The bulb went off and so did another and as C.R.E.A.T.I.V. got creative; more lights began to shine and brought forth FASHION FORWARD- RE-CREATIV. This would be it. A charity fashion show with a twist- RE! It proves to be a fashion show unlike any other with five categories, ten designers, recycled clothing, trash fashion, live music, penny collection and hundreds of C.R.E.A.T.I.V. minds.

RE! proves be the way to bring C.R.E.A.T.I.V. off the ground! Attend our FASHION FORWARD RE-C.R.E.A.T.I.V. it will be sure to be RE! memorable! It will be held on 18th July 2009 from 2pm-4pm at Taman Gang , 141, Park Lane. Tickets:£10 on the door, £8 before.

Contact us at c.r.e.a.t.i.v.afr@gmail.com for further information or to get tickets!!

Charity or Social enterprise???

£1000 for Donald Trump . . .nothing, £1000 for Bill Gates . . . peanuts, £1000 for me might as well be a million. Similar to me £1000 for C.R.E.A.T.I.V. and its members seemed like £1,000,000 when we found out that’s what we needed in the bank to be able to establish our self as a charity, oh and let’s not forget the paper work.

So, pertaining to our last meeting we were left deciding that we would be a company that generated profits and gave about 85% of our profits to our chosen charity. Does anybody else want to puke? Well I did, not because it was a bad idea but because of the word ‘profits’, it just sounded so wrong. To the point that our Co-D was like ‘cant we just put 100% of our profits into our venture’ but everyone knows a business has to be sustainable in the long term so it wasn’t going to happen. At that moment it felt like becoming a ‘social enterprise’ was our best bet particularly because of bureaucracy and legalities. So I left our meeting feeling somewhere in the pits of my soul sad and dejected and feeling like I was slowly being sucked into the capitalist regime I so hated when I wanted to be 100% philanthropic. I probably sound like some loser desperate to show myself worthy and needing to do something good. Well maybe I am but the intention was to give back and have fun while doing it and a business just didn’t sound as fun.

Anyway, the next step was seeing someone in the Harrow in Business Centre about how to move forward with our new ‘business’. Ewwww! Sorry! So I saw Mr. A and told him our plan to become a business. We talked and talked and talked some more and finally he said ‘when you turn everything on its head what is the aim of C.R.E.A.T.I.V.?’ to which I replied ‘to give back, to help, to show a positive Africa through the Arts, it’s not about money for us’ to which he replied ‘be resourceful then £1000 is nothing!’ And as he said those words they hit me like a slap in the face ‘BE RESOURCEFUL! BE RESOURCEFUL!’ So here I am being resourceful thinking how C.R.E.A.T.I.V can get creative and make £1000 by September. I’m still not sure how we’ll do it but what I do know is that with the help of our friends, family and all those C.R.E.A.T.I.V. minds out there, we’ll make something out of nothing, something random and unexpected, and after all we are C.R.E.A.T.I.V.

;-)

Which Charity...?

Which charity do you think CREATIV should support in Nigeria? Below are some ideas; let us know what you think!

SOS Children's Villages - Nigeria is the world largest orphan charity, working in 123 countries.

Stepping Stones - Nigeria works in partnership with local organisations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to build sustainable futures for some of the region's many disadvantaged children.

HOPE Worldwide - Nigeria; From HOPE for Sports to the ARK program, and such annual events as the Great HOPE Walk, since 1996, HOPE Worldwide Nigeria, working in partnership with the Nigerian government, the private sector and other host country decision makers and preofessionals, has designed and developed programs that addressed health and social needs of the communities she serves. It's core competencies include HIV/AIDS prevention, economic empowerment, community capacity development, Orphaned and Vulnerable Children and Care and Support services for adults and children.

The International Foundation for Nigerian Children (IFNC) was founded in February 1998 by a group of Nigerians in the U.S. Canada, Europe and Africa. It is a charitable non-profit (and U.S. tax-exempt) organization that is solely dedicated to improving the welfare of children in Nigeria.

Inwelle Study and Resource Centre is a Nigerian non-profit Non Governmental Organization (NGO) whose mission it is to alleviate the suffering of the youth and other individuals in Africa who are seeking to acquire education and educational resources.

Aid for Africa helps sustain families and build communities by supporting health, education, development, arts, culture, conservation, and wildlife programs through a network of charities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

New Era Educational and Charitable Support Initiative (NEEDCSI) is a Nigeria-based non-governmental, non-religious, non-political, non-ethnic, non-profit and charitable educational support organization dedicated to supporting the educational goals and aspirations of the less privileged Nigerian children. New Era Educational and Charitable Support Initiative is regietered with the Nigerian Coperate Affairs Comission and is empowered to work throughout Nigeria in filfilling our vision and mandate.

Please comments on the above mentioned, or send us information on other possible charities with worthwhile causes at c.r.e.a.t.i.v.afr@gmail.com

C.R.E.A.T.I.V. Writing

Our first and long term fundraising project is THE BOOK!

The working title is TRADITIONS and so will be based on the same premise.

We plan to incorporate 24 Nigerian writers of which we hope at least 5 will be internationally acclaimed. The other 18 shall be writers of varied standing with 8 being chosen through a nationwide competition with the winner will be chosen by the public.

All pieces shall be donated to the cause and all proceeds after cost shall go to the designated charity. We plan to publish in September ready for a November/December 2009 launch in Nigeria, followed by a UK Launch in January 2010.


If you know of any Nigerian writers that would like to be part of this project....or if you are a budding writer LET US KNOW at c.r.e.a.t.i.v.afr@gmail.com!!!
The deadline for submission is 10th JULY 2009.

C.R.E.A.T.I.V. in....Nigeria!

Nigeria is a country of extremes. Great wealth and great poverty sit cheek by jowl, and tensions between different communities can boil over into civil strife. While a few parts of the country remain problematic, the vast majority is as warm and welcoming to visitors as anywhere in Africa. Nigeria has produced music and literature whose influence spreads far beyond the continent.

Challenging yet exuberant, this is Africa in the raw – there’s nowhere quite like it on the continent.

www.lonelyplanet.com/nigeria

We are.... C.R.E.A.T.I.V.

C.R.E.A.T.I.V is a new charitable venture which looks to help under privileged African children whilst promoting the beauty that is Africa via the arts.

Through a series of projects, we want to provide a platform for emerging artists and creatives with a passion for African cultures, to showcase their work, as well as hopefully bring some of the old legends to the masses!

Our motivation is that we aim is to be creativ; in other words...
Creatively Re-Energise Africa Through Intuitive Ventures.

The idea is that each project will creatively utilise a cultural aspects of one African country to generate revenue. From the profits made from a particular project, CREATIV will then donate a sizeable portion of it to a charity in that country.

By using different artistic mediums to raise awareness, C.R.E.A.T.I.V. reinforces the joy and beauty that Africa has to offer:

No More Negative Africa Only Creative Africa!

These are the names of the countries in the west African Region we aim to work with initially:
Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo

KO