Since its conception, the Open Door Series, Project WS, has been a platform for international cultural exchange. It was inspired by the essence and ideals of the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka. Over the years, Project WS has evolved to include: international essay competitions for senior secondary schools, advocacy lectures, tours, drama and cultural presentations.

Soyinka's birthday anniversary on July 13 was deliberately chosen as the presentation date of the annual event. "We make it clear that we are not organising a birthday celebration for Wole Soyinka; he never wanted it. However he has accepted whole heartedly that we adopt July 13 his birthday as the International Cultural Exchange Day," Alhaji Teju Kareem, Executive Producer of the Project said. The Project WS kicked off in 2010 as WS76 with the theme Preemptive and Seven and it featured a play Pre-emptive, written by a US-based writer Niyi Coker and staged by a US-based troupe. Pre-emptive is a wild drama of emotional turbulence, inter-racial fear and violence. The play addresses issues about black identity, race and the place of Africans in the fight against global terrorism.

Project WS77 themed I Love My Country in 2011 embraced the younger generation. It hosted 77 senior secondary school students from all over the country in an essay competition. On this leg of the Open Doors Series, the love for Soyinka's ideology attracted many artistes, comedians and dance troupes like: The Dance Guild of Nigeria (GOND), Equity of Theatre Arts Musicians, Tunde Alabi, Yemi Solade, Tony Offiong to mention a few, to the hall 2 of the National Theatre Onikan Lagos

Project WS78, like the previous ones was a success, it was themed, The Mind of a Patriot. It strived to instill patriotism in the hearts of the younger generation. Trusting that with patriotism the future leaders would take the country to greater heights. This year's Project WS79 themed Memoirs for Our Future will hold traditionally on July 13 -Wole Soyinka's 79th birthday anniversary - and it is intended to herald the 2014 edition which would mark his 80th birthday anniversary.

This year's event will be unique and it will unveil a few surprises. "Memoirs for our future apart from being the theme of this year's project is also the title of our new book; a compilation of the winning essays from WS76 to WS78 with other selected essays from the previous submissions," the Zmirage and Project WS Producer, Kareem said. "The Nobel Laureate, personally, will be writing the foreword to the book."

The book, Memoirs for our Future, will be presented to the public by Wole Soyinka on July 20, during a Project WS event. He will also flag off the Project WS80 essay competition to the Diaspora students at a summit during the same event. Children's cultural presentation and advocacy summit is also part of the laid down events to make Project WS79 a memorable one.

Sponsorship, according to the Executive Producer is a major challenge to the project since its inception. "In the midst of the challenges posed by sponsorship we have been blessed with a few but highly supportive partners," Kareem said. Thanking the sponsors of the previous editions, the organisers of Project WS is looking forward to receiving love and support from those they have reached out to for this year's event and the big one in 2014.