Wisdom Opara is the creater of slam poetry Bergen. His passion for performing arts is what keeps him motivated.
A wise man
He left Nigeria 13 years ago, and came to Oslo to study chemistry. He has always loved art, and felt that his free spirit needed something other then what school books could give him. He now works as a chef now and then, and is a wine enthusiast as well.
– I think I always have been drawn towards art, says mr. Opara.
His unique name is the one given to him at birth. He actually never liked the name, and his mum called him Michael growing up. Now Wisdom works as an artist name as well.
Art not fame
He does not have a specific goal with slam poetry.
– I am not after fame, I just want to make something real and make people feel something explains Wisdom.
He wants to create something that means something to someone. In todays shallow society people often discuss meaningless things, and going out is often about getting drunk and not about conversations.
– I wanted to create a platform where people can say just about anything. And people can come to listen, actually get something out of their time drinking. It is important that Slam is also something social, just poetry can get kind of boring in the long run.
The road ahead
– You cannot stay the same over a long period of time
He would therefor like to continue develop Slam Poetry. But it can be a difficult thing to do with limited resources.
– The only way to expand the brand is to get outside founding, which is not an easy thing to do says the smiling poet.
Next year will be a very different year for Slam Poetry. Wisdom does not wish to get into the details, but says it will bring a lot of new things to the table.
