africanah.org

Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Author: Craig Halliday

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#NOIMPOSTERSHERE: Political Jamming

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The artists are reclaiming the street, personalizing public space, critically reflecting on how it has been, and is continuously, appropriated by others and the agendas they push. In entering this realm, with their own work in the form of posters, these artists alter the urban fabric of the city through its material form and resulting dialogue. They create physical sites of resistance to the dominant hegemony and communicate to people who take up and occupy these everyday spaces – roadsides, bus stops, estates, street corners etc.

 

Craig Halliday on ‘Political Jamming’ by the group #NOIMPOSTERSHERE from Nairobi.

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Peacebuilding through art

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These examples highlight the possibilities that art, and the process of being engaged in artistic activities, can offer an awakening conscience and awareness of citizens in areas of peacebuilding and how they encompass civic reactions to violence and conflict through calling for reconciliation and coexistence.

Craig Halliday on peacebuilding through art

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Mwini Mutuku: Questions and Conversation

MutukuVisceral - Red Vinyl on Mirror works close up

Mutuku likes to explore new approaches in his art practice, particularly the integration of organic and man-made materials with new digital and technological processes – for the artist “any medium can be art.” Interrogating ‘what can be art’ and ‘what art can be’ is central to Mutuku’s outlook. He says “if we stay stagnant in what has already been accepted in art then we come to a point where art can die…you need to ask yourself, are you really commenting on the time that you are living in.”

Craig Halliday on Mwini Mutuku.
Visceral, Red Vinyl on Mirror, detail.

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What can art do?

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Successful artworks have the ability to instruct or persuade the populace, to give new meanings or perspectives on issues, to provide new knowledge or to build ones capacity in empathy for a certain cause. The use of art can provide a setting in which people can discuss issues, form connections, and potentially take action. Just how much people take away from this experience is difficult to tell.

Join the discussion with Craig Halliday.
Brian Omolo, Insurance Policy.

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Maasai Mbili Artists’ Collective

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The work of M2 is sited (or at least plays a part) in the culture of the city; it is produced as a response to the urban and as a result contributes to producing city life. In this case, the future of art may well be urban. However, if this is to be the case, I would argue that art’s role relies in its ability to not only depict everyday life but to also disturb it – to give it new meaning and purpose. The work of M2 achieves this.

Craig Halliday on the Maasai Mbili Artists’ Collective.

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