While lazying
about and flipping channels on TV after an uninspired painting session, I
stumbled upon an interesting conversation on CNBC with the above title and
tried to put it in a context in regard to my practice.
This made me
re-evaluate my journey as an artist - How I started, where I am, where am
headed, my expectations, frustrations and the far apart triumphs.
Brainstorming
with like-minded artists (over some
blended scotch), lots of conversations came up and the main issue was “the disconnect” between the Arts Schools,
Art Spaces & the practicing Artists and the suspicions between the cultural
organizations that makes it unable for them to run any art activity worth writing home about as a collective.
With the exception of Sarakasi Trust,
all visual art organizations and art spaces are run by indigenous Kenyans and most artists agree that this may be a step in the right direction.
This is fuelled by the notion that “Kenyans
cultural managers will have the interest of Kenya art at heart.”
However, this
does not seem to be the case as most organizations that were strong and very
supportive of arts have either shifted their dynamics or are just not adapting
to change (as fast as practicing artists
are) leaving us wondering what their relevance or role in the arts is.
Events that
graced the artistic calendar – The Kenya
Museum Society Arts Festival, The
East African Industries Art Competition, The Art Panorama, The HFCK Exhibition…
etc. stopped happening without any information forthcoming and we’re left in
the periphery as our neighbours hold annual Art Fairs, Biennales and art
competitions re-writing their art history while we dwell in petty politics
sometimes forgetting our relevance in the art world.
However, all
is not lost as we have seen the emergence of Manjano, an annual Nairobi art exhibition & competition which
has been running for 3 years (thanks to the GoDown Art Centre).
It is with
this in mind that we’ve been flirting with the idea of bringing together all
art practitioners and artists to one forum to talk, fight and have a laugh
while addressing challenges related to our
work and the possibilities of doing a collaborative projects together. The wish
list would include; Practicing artists, Art Teachers (KU & BBIFA), Cultural
Managers (Kuona, GoDown, African Colours, Banana Hill, Ngecha, Nuru Studios,
Milele, CCAEA etc), Gallerists (Watatu, One Off, Nairobi Gallery), Government - on condition it’s not the sitting Culture Minister. Pun intended.
This should
be an information platform where the participants try to define art in their terms, and tell the others their role
and what they do, to create an understanding of each other and how we can complement
each others practice.
The catch
however is, this should not be another summit
or seminar where guys sit, talk, earn
healthy allowances and forget what they talked about immediately they sign
above the dotted line, then off they go for shopping.
It should be
a good time to have Kenyans talk about Kenyan issues as opposed to having expatriates sit round a table and decide
what’s good for us and you never know, maybe at the end of it all, we may see a
prestigious annual arts competition… or a Nairobi International Art Fair… or
even a Kenyan Biennale.
Or maybe…
It’s just a lazy artist dreaming!
amazing! maggie and i were just talking about exactly this jana! great minds think alike? ;- )* let's make something happen? m for mutheu
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