WaPI aRTS N' grAFFitI concert-The Lowdown

This was an event like no other!

I was honoured to be among my kind.The sun peering its rays down blessing us with the art of light .

Mwafrika,formerly of Y-FM and Buddha Blaze did an excellent job as the MC's.
I was thrilled by the young underground cats and poetic acts that graced the event and particularly humbled by the 10 year old spitting queen, volcano! I need to see this girl and her crew on a grand stage somewhere!

Hiphop was vividly represented by seasoned mc's like juliani,doobiez,kenyanna and the emerging duo of lethal dynamic and point blank,ukoo flani mau mau,Odero,among others.i'm not a hip hop cat but dude... Msanii was also lauded in absentia.Hey devant vous! wherest are thou?

Veteran spoken word poet,Njeri , Kenyanpoet:did a piece on "mwanainchi",the theme of the day ,and at some point in her poem she marvelled ".sasa mimi mwana chini ama mwananchi/Mimi mwana chizi ama mwananchi?/Wewe mwana chache ama mwananchi.. .." in ironical reference to the belittled commoners; while at the same time praising their contribution and importance to the larger society.Big Up Njeri!

Another poet ,a Kenyan residing in canada, Ian Kamau, graced the stage and rendered the Youthful and picturesque poetic pieces "Rhythm" and "Joy" that got the skin out of me and the revellers alike.. literaly.Watch out for this cat too.

Open mic session was beehived with battling hip hop mc's but some how I managed to do my theme piece "Be the voice" much to my chagrin; well,since i let myself "down" by reciting the poem from a piece of paper.I plan to memorize all my poems next time.

Grafitti and visual artists were not to be left behind as they injected life to the melancholic ,whitely dazed British council (the venue) walls thru aerosolic interpretation of african nationalism and unity! I'll be looking for those grafiti photos to blog here. watch this space.

Finally, I need also mention the contribution of G.H.E.T.T.O naratist,Biko who informed us on the importance of arts and culture.He also informed us that ghetto simply meant "getting higher education to teach others" */lol*. Plus ,djibril ,The stand up comedian was very appealing to the participants and attendees with his wit and humour. Though he can do better with less profanity next time.

Worthy of note is the fact that the Kenyan Art Scene is growing and improving for the better so to all artists out there,keep the fire burning. In addition, the world social forum delegates in attendance were not ,at any one moment, let down by the show!

The next WaPI (words and pictures) arts expo and concert will be held on February 10th 2007.

WoRDs aND pICTurES!-(slam poetry)

The Slam poetry returns!

With more vigour and vitality.Indeed ,and ideally, the spoken spaces and poetic platforms has come to be and accustomed itself as a regular feature in Nairobi.

British council(now opposite Rahimtulla Towers,Upper Hill) opens its doors one saturday of every month to welcome budding poets,lyricists and creative artists for a day of art-buffet!


I'll be knocked off my feet if seasoned poets' like Imani,Muki Garang,Tony Mochama,the highly-pundit-rated , rising star Marion Viona,Otieno Amisi,Grandmaster Masese, and not forgetting the diamond -in-the-ruff Devant Vous a.k.a David Kuria(mi small bro) could all attend and take the roof from the house..and burn it!

Come all y'all and keep our artistic fire burning and get consumed!

-END-

VENUE: British Council, Upper Hill
DATE: 20th January
TIME: 9am - 3 pm
FEATURING: Verbal, Visual and Graffiti artists
CHARGES: Free

Kwani?-Kenya literature zone!

Kwani? is a journal founded by some of Kenya 's most exciting new writers, and published by Kwani Trust. The Kwani? web journal has been in existence for close to three years now. Kwani? has published 3 editions of the book to date.
Before Kwani? Kenyans had stopped buying and reading literary material outside of school texts. In three years, we have sold over 5000 copies of the journal, and have gotten a new generation of Kenyans reading. All together 30, 000 Kenyans have read Kwani? and we continue to grow. Kwani? is a serious publication – over 300 pages of new journalism and fiction of experimental writing, poetry, cartoons photographs, literary travel writing, creative non-fiction, yet we sell more copies than all Kenyan popular magazines, except Parents and Eve magazine. Much is said about a lack of a reading culture in Kenya; what we have found is that the literary intelligentsia, together with African publishers and founders of literary projects have lost touch with a new generation of Africans who are sick of being talked down to; who are seeking to understand the bewildering world around them – to be validated in print.
This year Kwani Trust will publish a quarterly magazine and several books including the memoirs of Joseph Muthee, who spent five years in Kenya 's British concentration camps the 1950s. This memoir, a valuable historical document of a little-known period of our history is bound to cause waves. We will publish it in its original Kiswahili and in and English translation. An oral version, filmed and distributed by cassette in Gikuyu, will also be produced.
Kwani Trust has received institutional funding from The Ford Foundation for these projects since 2003.

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art is life!

art is life.....

people,trees, words,actions,non verbal cues,pictures, signs, etc ..anything u can think of ..that exists.. anything dynamic or static in life that has a form, substance or with life or without...it is art n art is life ....lets use this as a means to express ourselves positively n for the betterment of our lives.

signed:art lover!!