|
|
Kenya: Leave It to the Arts
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The East African (Nairobi)
OPINION
19 February 2008
Posted to the web 19 February 2008
John Kariuki
Nairobi
IN A CAMP FOR THE INTERNALLY displaced people in Kenya, counsellors gave drawing materials to a group of children who came up with images that seemed express pain and rejection.
According to one counsellor, many of the children could not find words to express their feelings and art became a very effective medium.
This should provide a lesson to the country to appreciate the role of the arts as a tool that can be used to pre-empt the ills that could trigger conflicts in the future.
Unfortunately, art and artistes are not highly regarded by the government and the public. This has sidelined and subdued the role of art as a medium for expression.
Yet examples from other countries show art is a viable tool to diagnose emerging social ills and nip them in the bud before they become national tragedies.
The inspiration that offers the raw material for music, paintings, films and drama calls for more tolerance from the government and public and therefore engender peace.
Artistic expression, therefore, becomes the thermometer of the national pulse and ventilation for frustrations felt by communities before they explode.
It should worry a government when a country's art is all quiet. This is because a dynamic society such as Kenya's does not function that way and the pent up anger and frustration could be waiting to explode.
It is not an accident that some governments have allowed graffiti and street art to flourish or that underground culture in music, theatre and films is allowed even when it may tread in sensitive and often dangerous ground.
In Kenya, many are shocked at what happened immediately the presidential poll results was released. But the truth is that there was no way to detect and defuse it.
BUT WITH A VIBRANT ART scene, the looming danger would have probably been expressed in graffiti, some offensive benga or mwomboko song, to suggest a surge of hate culture that could have be effectively detected and treated.
With everybody expressing hope that Kenya will never again experience what it went through this past month, a repeat can only be averted by a government that creates such avenues for free expression at all levels and especially the people level.
|
And nothing tells it better than the art of the people.
It totally agree. I well remember some of the most powerful art I have ever seen - before or since - scrawled in charcoal on the walls that approached the Likoni Ferry entrance, in the nineties after the Molo clashes. Depicting hideous scenes of brutality to man and animals. I tried to find out who did them, I never managed, I was a told there is a boy... I write a blog about Contemporary African art - some of the recent postings have been about the Kenyan situation and artists responses to it - have a look - http://africanworks.blogspot.com/... [Read Full Text]
I agree with this article. I am a volunteer working with a non-profit organization which helps children, many orphaned, in Kenya. Our focus is on education. We want to incorporate the arts in our programs, but have had trouble finding someone to teach the children native African art. Does anyone know of a good contact?
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The East African. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
