The Art of Us

Our tribal diversity is not a divide but Kenya’s richest asset.

Contrary to what politicians often like to claim and run with, we should not view our different cultures as one being inherently better or superior to others. We should instead see it as an opportunity to acquire and exchange aspects from our different cultural strongholds.

I am ecstatic at the way our generation is intentional in discovering the different aspects of our various cultures. I commend how we are genuinely curious to know how our ancestors were. We might be labeled as a digital and dumb lot owing to our association with technological and digital content. Just because we are a digital generation, however, doesn’t mean we are completely dissociated from our cultures; our current art scene shows it.

Seeing various aspects of our history and culture come to life in modern and revolutionised forms is so thrilling and motivating. I will listen to music and I can hear the commonly known banga musicians who sang in the past. So inspiring! I see our current actors trying to find roots in those who came before them and the fashion industry, though mild, paying odes to various statement pieces in our past.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Some have even gone further to individualising these aspects from their various cultures into their art forms in manners that just blow my mind. I mean who doesn’t know mugithi, isukuti, ohangla, kilume and taarab? We can hear these music sounds presently whether in our local languages or even in our reimagined urban versions. We are a diverse country with over 40 tribes and if our artists could find grounding in our varying different tribes and cultures, it could put our nation on the world map as a country with a very colourful art scene.

The number of people swarming the digital scene currently is insane and honestly beautiful to watch. Like yes mom, I don’t have to be a neuro surgeon to make it. I can do that as a theatre actress or actor as well. It would be nice if they had a sense of direction though to avoid coming across at purposeless or vain and being rooted in their culture is a start for example. Need I mention that sheng’ is also one of our cultures. Interesting, right? And seeing its variations across different places and mutation over the past years and in the years to come is so compulsive.

Let’s be vibrant and zealous in our quest for our cultural art forms and let’s see them in different creative sectors. There are so many crafts as well to try and remake. There’s no right or wrong art form and that’s what makes this even more engrossing. Let any ethnic related conversations stem from this, a love for art forms. I really look forward to a time when our ethnic divides are based on healthy artistic cultural exchange forms and not something trivial like politics And I know we are headed there. I can’t wait!