Kwagh-Hir : Something Magical

Kwagh-Hir, is the performative storytelling art form of the Tiv peoples in Nigeria. Directly translated Kwagh-Hir means “Something is about to Begin”, however, Tiv is a poetic and layered language so it is more commonly read as “Something Magical", which it truly is. The first few beats of the drum ring through the air and instantly we become an audience. Ready to be entertained and drawn into the tale woven by the larger than life characters coming onto this pedestrian beaten ground that has been transmuted by our collective attention into an arena. This is Kwagh-Hir.

Kwagh-hir is far from a stagnant art, it evolves and moves with the times, through the addition of new characters and stories geared to addressing critical issues as they evolve within *Tar-Tiv. It's reactionary, evocative and has been channeled as an effective tool for social change, for example through the addition of stories and characters pertaining to the Aids crisis. However, Kwagh-hir faces challenges with visibility compounded by lack of resources and migration of the younger population - who are the rightful heirs of these customs - towards urban centres as it is largely a rural practice.

There are over a hundred characters in the Kwagh-hir lexicon, each with their own story and moral lesson to convey, our goal is to document and record as many of these characters as is possible as means to preserve their stories as well as to introduce them to a new audience and generation of storytellers. Our goal, as an artist collective is to honor our roots and respectfully shine a light on intangible aspects of our culture that have been subsumed by non-indigenous mores in an ever evolving world that is leaving them behind.

The funding we will receive through the PHmuseum grant will enable the three of us to continue to liaise with Kwagh-hir troupes across the state, increase our production quality and finance a documentary that will focus on the foundations of the art form along with it’s future. We will do so by interviewing some of the practitioners who are in their winter years along with the musicians, performers and artisans they trained over their lifetimes.

*For clarity, "Tar-Tiv" is a term which refers to the collective concept of Tiv as a people or nation, not restricted to geological constraints