“It becomes dangerous when artists pretend to be socially engaged or are not taking the reality of a community into account and only focus on creating a good artwork. But the most important issue is continuity. If there is no continuation or involvement that contributes to certain goals, than it could cause a lot of damage.”
Where is home and why might people feel like they don’t belong in the very city they were born? Karuti will generate the feeling of being in today’s Nairobi, where so many doors are closed to the ordinary citizen. She will use physical doors, some open, some closed, and others that open to a wall, to simulate the feeling of being both incarcerated and exiled by one’s own city.
“I want to create awareness about the fact that there is also a black perspective of history. That’s why I fight against stereotypes in order for black people to regain dignity. To understand yourself is to understand your history. It is very important to know where you come from and what happened to your ancestors. ”
As Fitsum incessantly contemplates the human form and condition, his artwork continues to transcend pre-existing conceptions about African art and it seems his personal capacity to sympathize with the human predicament continues to grow.
Given his unease with institutional rhetoric, and charming disinterest in ‘integrating into the circuits of contemporary art’; Dokolo intentionally operates from the edge. From where he wishes to be ‘uncomfortable’ and somewhat ill-at-ease with what is intended for the collection every time it is broken up for exhibition. In order, as he describes it, everything is challenged; the artworks, the collection, and their collective interests. Because for Dokolo “if it’s not painful, if it doesn’t hurt then we are not doing something right.”