The Maasai Market in Nairobi: It is a key artistic facet while it has got scanty attention from policy-makers.
There has been an upsurge of artistic activities in Kenya.
A weekend in Nairobi can be busy as different theatre groups put on shows; musicians perform at various pubs and the so-called cultural evenings, ostensibly celebrating the arts, cultures and culinary tastes of diverse Kenyan communities pull in crowds.
So, the art scene must be alive and hearty, I have heard many visitors, both Kenyans in the diaspora and non-Kenyans, say. Well, the outward signs are that things are ‘working’ and that those who claim that they could be better are just whiners; lovers of moaning and teeth gnashing. But the truth is different.
Limited funding Globally the art world must be experiencing a terrible contraction in funding as the global financial meltdown continues despite positive prognosis from financial experts.
The arts have always had a limited share of government funding in this country. Yet we claim that the arts and the related cultural industry are key to who we are as Kenyans. The ‘Maasai Market’, for instance, is a key artistic facet of Nairobi.
Just close it for a month and you can be sure to get complaints from tour companies all the way in New York, London, Zurich and wherever. Yet, how much government money has ever been spent in making the traders in this itinerant market comfortable?
What about the theatre community? When was the last time we had a coherent government policy that outlined support for and promotion of the theatre community? Actually, where is the national policy on culture?
A visit to the webpage of the Ministry of State for Culture and National Heritage produces no results about this long-awaited document. Yet this is a document that is significant for the growth of the art and culture industry.
One can only speculate that it is because of lack of a policy that the Kenya National Theatre is in such a sorry state; that is due to absence of any direction on the future of the arts in Kenya that the local theatre companies depend solely on individual generosity, donor funding or corporate support once in a while; that were it not for the sheer determination of some artists, theatre would be long dead here.
No wonder many Kenyans think that only ‘crazy’ chaps can become actors and actresses; yet these are the same fellows who will jam cinema halls or buy hundreds of pirated foreign movies — some of which are generously supported by their government funding.
The less said about the visual arts the better. Why? Because if the government does not even bother to consider that some of its own buildings are an artistic and cultural heritage, why would it bother about some wood carver or sculptor in Kisii or Meru?
There are too many historical government buildings that have just been left to die. Often the museums of Kenya come to the rescue. The seeming lack of concern for art by the government is at times just depressing. For instance, would it ever occur to some bureaucrat that street graffiti is an art form?
I have attended many exhibitions by several Kenyan artists, both old and young where a government official should have been but there was none. Unless officially invited, and mostly as the chief guest, it seems government functionaries are just not interested to show up at these exhibitions.
Cultural alienation What is the point I seek to make? I wish to say that unless the government takes a leading role in the funding and promotion of the arts — from film to painting, sculptor, theatre, dancing, architecture, writing among others— we shall continue to experience what we casually call cultural alienation or imperialism.
We cannot go on crying about the bastardisation of ‘our’ culture by the youth and other groups when, as a country, we do not have a clearly set out policy on what ‘our culture’ should look, smell, taste, sound or feel like.
It is high time we set up an Arts Council and an Arts Fund. The former will give direction to where we want to take our arts while the kitty will provide financial cushion to the art community when support from elsewhere is lacking.
Otherwise, our art shall remain in the grip of foreign donor organisations and governments, which will continue to determine how we dance, sing, write or carve and subsequently who we shall be.
Odhiambo teaches Literature at the University of Nairobi.
