UK Keskidee tour helped fire up NZ indigenous ats 13 Apr 2011
Related articles
On 7 April 2011, the pioneering Keskidee Centre, Britain’s first arts and cultural centre for the black
community, received a green plaque from the London Borough of Islington to recognise its
contribution to the city’s culture and history. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world a group of
‘kiwis’ remember the watershed time in the late 1970s when traditional barriers were collapsed to
bring the centre’s group of performers, The Keskidee, to New Zealand.
This was a time of worldwide revolution as indigenous and displaced peoples reclaimed identities. For
one man, born in New Zealand of Irish stock, it became a personal mission to bring together the
predominantly Jamaican and African performers of The Keskidee with Maori groups from activists to
gang members.
Denis O’Reilly, a social worker based at the small settlement of Waiohiki on the East Coast of New
Zealand, travelled in 1977 to the UK by way of Jamaica with the help of a Commonwealth Secretariat
scholarship to study the assimilation of transplanted peoples.
In London he met The Keskidee and the impact it had on him firmed his resolve to do whatever it took
to tour Keskidee through New Zealand.
“The Keskidee project was right in the middle of a rising sense of black consciousness.” Denis
O’Reilly explains.
In New Zealand the pocket of people responsible for bringing the Keskidee across the world to share
their dance, poetry, song and theatre called themselves Keskidee Aroha (meaning love).
Denis O’Reilly: “I believe the Keskidee Aroha project provided a useful cultural dynamic at a crucial
time. It helped many people take their anger and frustration and turn it from violent and destructive
outrage into change fostering political theatre.”
The costs were high and it took personal drive, lots of help and financial assistance from groups such
as the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, as well as the personal support of New Zealand
Prime Minister Rob Muldoon, to make the tour happen. But this clash of cultures had a personal and
lasting influence on all concerned. The Keskidee tour of New Zealand lit a fire under indigenous
theatre and contemporary music and is celebrated by the likes of musician Tigilau Ness and his son
Che Fu. The tour was captured in film by the late Merita Mita and Martyn Sanderson.
This month the Keskidee is honoured for its contribution to the fabric of London but the impact of the
group, the place and the movement are felt as richly on the other side of the world
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more