Journal delves into artists’ plight in time of Covid-19

The ninth edition of the Jahazi Arts & Culture Journal was launched last Wednesday, February 24 at Alliance Francaise.

Published by Twaweza Communications, and entitled Arts & Culture in the time of COVID-19, the issue is chock full of lively discussions by some of Kenya’s leading artists and intellectuals.

They include everyone from George Kegoro, former executive director of Kenya Human Rights Commission, Dr. Wandia Njoya, Senior lecturer in French and Literature at Daystar University, and George Gachara, managing partner of the HEVA Fund to literary critic and columnist Austin Bukenya, filmmaker and executive director of DocuBox, Judy Kibinge, and Dr. Kiprop Lagat, Director of Department of Culture in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, just to name a few.

Addressing the issues of what is and will be the so-called ‘new normal’, this special issue of Jahazi is focused centrally on “the plights, roles, and metamorphoses of the Kenyan artist within the past year,” according to the issue’s editor, Caroline Mose.

Noting that the lockdowns, curfews, and bans on public gatherings, now seen as ‘super-spreader’ events, all of these constraints have dealt a “body-blow”, especially to performing artists, both locally and globally.

Yet the ‘new normal’ has also inspired innovation, based on artists’ resilience and imagination; imagination which Dr Njoya says is being badly stifled as arts education is ignored, undervalued, and disparaged both my civil servants and politicians who don’t understand the vital role that culture and the arts play in our everyday lives.

The range of arts and culture sectors explored in this issue of Jahazi is broad and rich with well-researched information.

For instance, Dr. Lagat’s concern is for the well-being, even the “cushioning” of local artists and creative industries generally from the adverse effects of the pandemic. He describes the Kenyatta government’s executive order for a Sh100 million “stimulus program” to establish a sports, arts, and social development Fund “to support artists, actors, and musicians” during these Covid times. Dr Lagat lays out in detail how these funds were meted out and the artistic efforts that were achieved. His essay is impressive, but undoubtedly must elicit wide-ranging debate.

Freedom of expression is another hot topic discussed in Jahazi 9 as it relates specifically to the censored film, Wanuri Kahiu’s Rafiki. DocuBox directors Judy Kibenge and Peter Mudamba take up the topic with particular reference to the constitutionality of Article 33 and unconstitutionality of Cap. 222 of 1962 which was used by the Kenya Film Classification Board to censor the Rafiki film.

The case is up for appeal currently, with Wanuri joined by the Creative Economy Working Group in a litigious fight the outcome of which will have a profound impact on the arts and culture industries whichever way it goes.

Jahazi 9 covers so many other culture and arts-related topics, one review cannot do justice to all the in-depth observations and insights on fields ranging from theatre and visual art to arts financing and even practical recommendations for the sustainability and resilience of Kenya’s creative sector.