HIBAF 2025: Celebrating Indigenous Knowledge and Culture in the Heart of Kaduna
The 5th Hausa International Book and Arts Festival (HIBAF) returns this year from June 26 to 28, with the theme “Knowledge Production(s).” The event is curated by The Open Arts, a collective dedicated to fostering creativity and critical conversations across northern Nigeria.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, this year’s theme will “serve as a lens to examine the intricate and layered epistemologies of the Hausa people, exploring how indigenous knowledge systems have been shaped over centuries—deeply rooted in oral traditions, communal wisdom, and spiritual practices.”
These traditional frameworks, the organisers noted, offer valuable insights into the Hausa worldview, encompassing philosophy, governance, ethics, and the relationship between people and the environment.
In this edition, HIBAF will interrogate the intersections between indigenous, Islamic, and colonial epistemologies, asking vital questions:
How do we situate knowledge production(s) about African literacies in an era of digitisation and archival materials?
How do we support the “ordinary” creation and sharing of knowledge and ideas?
Through a dynamic programme of conversations, performances, poetry recitations, translations, and art exhibitions, the festival aims to explore knowledge not just as a historical legacy, but as a living, breathing part of Hausa literary and artistic development.
#HIBAF25 invites participants to reflect on the vastness of African knowledge by bridging past and present—examining how indigenous wisdom continues to inspire cultural expression, intellectual growth, and global dialogue.
This year’s festival will adopt a hybrid format, blending virtual and physical events. The opening day (June 26) will be held entirely online, while the 27th and 28th will feature in-person sessions at Arewa House in Kaduna, Nigeria.
HIBAF 2025 promises a rich and thought-provoking experience for writers, artists, scholars, and cultural enthusiasts across the African continent and beyond.
