LAGOS (AFP) – The family of
the late musical icon Fela Kuti on Monday inaugurated a museum dedicated to his
life at the site of his last house in Lagos as part of events celebrating what
would have been his 74th birthday.
The museum is not yet complete, but
his family wanted to use the date — October 15 was Kuti’s birthday — to raise
awareness of it. An annual range of events and concerts labeled “Felabration”
is being held over the coming days.
“The museum is not finished, but we
had to make the opening today,” Kuti’s musician son Femi said at the
inauguration amidst a party atmosphere, with a crowd of supporters gathering at
the house where the musician is also buried.
The launch “symbolises his birthday
and his struggle,” he said.
Kuti’s family has been seeking to
promote the afrobeat musician’s legacy more than 15 years after he died aged 58
from an HIV-related illness.
A recent Broadway musical about his
life that drew rave reviews has also raised his stature internationally.
Kuti’s outsized personality and
social activism made him a hero to many while he was still alive, and his
funeral in the giant economic capital of Lagos drew massive crowds into the
streets.
The saxophone player was a harsh
critic of Nigeria’s corrupt elite, lashing out in songs like “Coffin for Head
of State,” “International Thief Thief” and “Zombie,” but with irresistible
grooves that combined jazz, traditional music and other sounds.
His songs repeatedly landed him in
trouble with the authorities, including arrests and the burning, allegedly by
soldiers, of his compound, which he had christened the Kalakuta Republic and
declared independent.
His original Shrine club where he
regularly performed was shut after his death, but his family later opened the
New Afrika Shrine at another location. Femi Kuti and his half-brother Seun
regularly perform at the club.
Kuti was also known for marrying 27
women on the same day, most of them his dancers, and had a well-documented love
of marijuana.
One of his wives at Monday’s launch,
Olaide, was moved by being back at the house.
“This house — it’s a lot of
memories,” she said. “I spent almost 30 years with Fela. I love what Fela’s
children are doing.”
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