All Eyes on the MODHAFEST 2022, Billed for December

Yinka Olatunbosun

ARTS FESTIVAL

The Mother-Drum Healing Arts Festival, organised by Mother Drum Healing Arts Foundation Inc. and funded by the US National Endowment for the Arts, is set to take place on Zoom from December 2 to 4. The festival’s 2022 edition, dubbed MODHAFEST 2022 and based on the theme “Connecting the World through the Arts”, will feature the most exciting gathering of art enthusiasts, healthcare professionals, and the general populace of different cultural backgrounds for the enjoyment of the arts, as well as for the promotion of access for emerging talents and diverse voices in the arts, entertainment, and healthcare system over three days.

Lined up for the three-day event, which is held from 12 noon to 3 pm EST, are the Healing Arts; the Healing Heart Virtual Workshop (which will consist of sub-themes: Art Education and Revolution in Painting, Music and Sound Production, and Graphic and Website Designing) on the first day; the Mother Drum Healing Arts International Conference (MODHAC 2022) on the second day; and the $500-winner-takes-all Art in Healing Exhibition/Competition on the final day. 

“This virtual experience will allow our community to learn about cultural diversity and foster mutual respect for diverse beliefs and values of all individuals, celebrate creativity and promote various cultural heritage, promote unity, foster community interaction, and spread a message of hope and healing to individuals and families affected by Addiction and Mental Health Challenges, through multi-disciplinary artistic mediums,” according to a statement by the Mother Drum Healing Arts Foundation president Tosin Olakanye Ayanbirin, who had earlier announced the approval a grant of $10,000 to support the 2022 edition of the annual festival by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mother Drum Healing Arts Festival, the statement further revealed, is among 1,248 projects across the US totalling $28,840,000 that were selected to receive this first round of the fiscal year 2022 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects category. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support arts projects like this one from Mother Drum Healing Arts Foundation that helps to support the community’s creative economy,” the NEA Acting Chair Ann Eilers was quoted to have said. 

Mother Drum Healing Arts Foundation, a Florida-based nonprofit organisation, dedicated to inspiring hope, enhancing healing, and raising awareness regarding addiction and mental health challenges, is reputed to be among the arts organisations in the US that are using the arts as a source of strength, a path to well-being, and providing access and opportunity for people to connect and find joy through the arts.

Pivoting on the following platforms – namely, festivals, exhibitions, training, round-table discussions, research, pageantry, lectures, symposia, workshops and conferences, among others – the Foundation is set to accomplish its set goals. As a 501(C)(3) non-profit organisation, it is dedicated to utilising the therapeutic, innovative and recreational process of the arts to raise awareness and educate the general public about addiction and mental health challenges, as well as to enhance healing, offer and inspire hope to individuals struggling with or affected by these conditions (most especially women and the girl child), which will, in turn, reduce/eliminate the stigma associated with the conditions.