Art & Art Education in eastern africa a working Bibliography version 4
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art & Art Education in eastERN Africa_ A working Bibliography version 5.4 June 2014 >> Edition for Conditions 2, Dakar. Elsbeth Joyce Court MA Lecturer in World Art_Africa at SOAS: School of Oriental and African Studies; Associate, Centre of African Studies: CAS, University of London (since 1991); formerly research Associate, Bureau of Educational Research and Institute African Studies, University of Nairobi (1978-86), resident in east Africa for 17 years working in art, education and textiles.
This ongoing bibliography with notes supports art seminars of the Centre of African Studies since March 2011 and my presentations: Kenya’s Art Worlds and Effective Art Education for the African Stones Talk Seminar, Kisii. Kenya, 1-3 August 2011; Akamba Mavisa: Carving a local art world in East Africa & beyond for the symposium ‘Commemorating the Past, Creating the Future, Kenya’s Heritage Crossroads’ at the British Library, London (below, www open.ac.uk); ACASA 16th Triennial Conference, Panel 9.2 – EJC convenor - Uhuru@50; the emergence of contemporary visual arts in Kenya since Independence, Brooklyn, N.Y., 19-22 March 2014: presenters: L Kiprop, Nairobi National Museum; P-N Bounakoff, Sorbonne; K Labi University of Ghana, Legon; discussant J Mboya, Godown Arts Centre, Nairobi (publication in process);
Abstract: Alternative kinds of [effective] art education in Kenya. Historically, the provision of effective art education in Kenya is the inverse of those nations in Africa that have national art academies or university schools with specialized education in art. Rather, the dominant providers of artistic education are numerous, diverse formats such as art centres, private art schools, workshops, apprenticeship (assuming an inclusive definition for the kinds of visual/plastic art that are produced in Kenya). A limited yet significant alternative is external tertiary training, e.g. at Makerere University, Kampala or overseas [e.g. none of five Kenyan artists in the 2014 Dak’art have Nairobi degrees]. Other, non-art critical factors are the nation’s high level of basic education, its economic growth and relative stability [until recently]. In these circumstances, the formation of practicing, creative artists is a varied and complex process. This presentation begins by sketching the extent of colonial and neocolonial underdevelopment of art and art education in Kenya. This sets the stage for a mapping of the range of alternatives, focusing on three different but effective kinds of artistic education. These are: ethnic-based modern sculpture movements (Kamba, Gusii), Community Peace Museums (heritage, curatorial initiative) and urban art centers with international connections (Kuona and Godown, both with connections to the Triangle Arts Trust aka Triangle Network). The educational trajectories of two successful artists who practice in Kenya: Peterson Kamwathi and Gerard Motondi HSC will be reviewed to demonstrate the dynamics of their formation. Analyses apply criteria to assess art education and creativity by Harvard’s Project Zero – coincidentally utilized by the Godown Arts Centre (Gardner: 1993, 2005; Hetland et al: 2008). The presentation draws on my paper Kasi ya Paa (metaphor for making improvements) and the Uhuru@50 panel, above. This is a working list. New books and other texts will be added occasionally. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome via e-mail: ec6@ soas.ac.uk. KENYA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA Abdullah, Z Winter, 2011: Objects of Desire Shopping for Identity and the Meaning of Africa at the Harlem Market. African Arts. 44(4). Several photos of Akamba kind of wood sculpture were not specified, American perspective. A Comme Afrique/A for Africa. 2012: Exhibition catalogue. France: Grandvaux/EPA. To commemorate and assess fifty years of independent Africa, A for Africa was an extensive, collaborative project to develop a lexicon for the continent in the 21st century and culminated in an exhibition shown in Nairobi National Museum, Kenya (2010) and the National Museum of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou (2011); it was initiated by L’Ecole du Patrimoine Africain:EPA/School of African Heritage, Porto Novo, Benin. Agthe, J 1990: Wegzeichen Signs Art from East Africa 1974-89. Frankfurt: Museum für Völkerkunde. Inputs from Etale Sukuro and Francis Msangi. ________ 1999: Tagwerke. All in a Day’s Work_Images of Work in Africa. Galerie 37, exhibition catalogue. Frankfurt: Welkulturen. Texts in German and English for a thematic exhibition based on the Human Right “to work”, encompassing “all activities that require a certain degree of excellence and regularity.” Eastern African artists include P Irungu, J Katirakawe, D Kimani, F Msangi, N Mudzingwa, C Muhandi, L Mwaniki, D Ngwenya, P Nyamuzeresa, S Ociti, O Olale, E Onyango, J Oswaggo, H Owiti, H Watindi (and a stunning Clothes Line by E Anatsui). Agthe, J & Court, E 2001: Jak Katarikawe_Dreaming in Pictures, Uganda. Exhibition catalogue [Frankfurt, Kampala, Nairobi]. Frankfurt: Museum der Weltkulturen. Showcases the artist’s early work with his narratives; biographic detail; cites regional artists workshops organized by Sam Ntiro in the mid-1960’s; discussions in Dialogue. African Arts 2002-04. Akala, W J 2007: ‘Africa [Kenya]’ (pp 35-36) in response to MA Stankiewicz ‘ Capitalizing Art Education: mapping international histories’. In L Bresler, ed. International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. Springer. Describes Kenya as “an area of marginal analysis with forms of art: stone tools, rock art, which predate western culture” to the range of current practices such as “technical drawing”. Amutabi, M 2007: Intellectuals and the Democratisation Process in Kenya. In G Murunga & S Nasong’o, eds Kenya The Struggle for Democracy. Dakar: CODESRIA. Discusses kinds of intellectuals and their change over time: traditional/ academic, bourgeois, organic/activist, general, the latter can include creative artists. Anyango, C 2010: Heart of Darkness. London: Metro Media/Self Made Hero. A ‘dark’ graphic novel adapted from the original by Joseph Conrad and illustrated by Anyango (b. Nairobi). Her multi-media MA addressed the fishery industry in Kisumu (Royal College of Art, London); currently she is tutor at the RCA. ‘ArchiAfrika’. 2005: Proceedings – Conference - Modern Architecture on East Africa around Independence (with Architects Association of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, 27 -29 July 2005). Utrecht, the Netherlands: ArchiAfrika. Collection of speeches and papers given at a remarkable regional conference with thematic and geographical speeches and papers, including Central Africa, Eritrea, Kenya, RSA, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and more. Keynote and ‘Reflection’ by Nnamdi Elleh. Arero, H & Kingdon, Zachary, eds 2005: East African Contours Reviewing Creativity and Visual Culture. London: Horniman Museum. Research-based papers include sculpture in East Africa, the ethics of holding Kenyan objects in a Stockholm museum, two on kanga, Boran age sets, Luo headresses, Joy Adamson’s portrait paintings (on view in the NNM). Arnold, M ed. 2008: Art in Eastern Africa. Dar-es-Salaam: Mkuki ya Nyota. Articles range from ‘Antiquities in the Sudan’(HH Idris) to ‘Wangechi Mutu…’ (B Wainaina) and include F Topan and A Sheriff on Swahili art and aesthetics, S Somjee on projects involving material culture, Kyeyune on Makerere pioneers (Maloba, Njau, Ntiro), Nagawa on women artists in Uganda and more ; weak introduction. Ashley, C & Reid, A 2008: A reconsideration of the figures from Luzira. Azania. An excellent example of how further research modifies the story: pushing back date, making regional connections and likely ritual use; the object is displayed in SAG. Bloom, S 2009: Trading Places The Merchants of Nairobi. London: Thames & Hudson Photographic studies of 14 merchants and their decorated premises in Nairobi city and peri-urban areas. Branch, D 2012: Kenya Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2012. Yale U.P. Clear and detailled political history. Burnet, R 2002: Kuona Trust. In J Picton, R Loder & E Court, eds. Action and Vision: Painting and Sculpture in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda from 1980. exhibition catalogue. Triangle Arts Trust for Rochdale Art Gallery. Kuona connection. Burt, E 1980: An Annotated Bibliography of the Visual Arts of East Africa. Indiana University Press. Kenya has 580 entries. During the 1970’s while teaching at KU and carrying out his own doctoral research, Burt wrote weekly columns in the Daily Nation as ‘Bwana Sanaa’ (Mister Art). Carline, R 1968: Draw they must: A history of teaching and examining art. London: Edward Arnold. Several chapters address art education in the British colonies (ref Trowell). Chamberlain, N 2006: Report on the Rock Art of South West Samburu District, Kenya. Azania XLI. Chami, F 2008: The Great Lakes: a Complexity of Cultural Wellsprings. In M Arnold, op cit. Chege, M 2009: The Politics of Education in Kenyan Universities: A Call for a Paradigm Shift. African Studies Review. 52(3). Coombes, A, Hughes, L & Karega-Munune. 2014. Managing Heritage, Making Peace, History, Identity and Memory in Contemporary Kenya. London: IB Taurus. L Hughes as principal investigator; A Coombes; Karega-Munene academic consultant in Nairobi, former NMK archaeologist. UK cultural historians; UK funding (p-o-v: Kenyan nationalism vis-à-vis UK empire). On the above themes, the book contrasts the oldest national institution the Kenya National Museums and the more recent, local movement of Community Peace Museums (13 are extant). Five chapters each written by one author; brief introduction and conclusion by Drs Coombes & Hughes, the latter draw attention to NNM progress in its displays of contemporary art. For a fuller and apt review of this important book, read John Lonsdale, April 2014: The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 103(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2014.896101 Contact Zones NRB-02, joint-authorship, ed. Sam Hopkins. Nairobi: Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenya. To date, the most serious and extensive coverage of contemporary artists, innovative design; images of work supported by interviews, several essays, some by the artists, biographies. The Contact Zones NRB series is edited by Johannes Hossfield and Tom Odhiambo. Contact Zones NRB-03, joint-authorship, ed. Peterson Kamwathi. Nairobi: Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenya. Contact Zones NRB-04, joint-authorship, ed. Ato Malinda. Nairobi: Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenya. Contact Zones NRB-05, joint-authorship, ed. 2012: Mwangalio Tofauti Nine Photographers from Kenya with the Nairobi National Museum. Nairobi: Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenya. Mwangalio Tofauti “a different way of looking” referring to use of “the medium both for visual art practice and sociopolitical documentary photography” was exhibited in the Nairobi Gallery, 2010. Works by J Barua, J Chuchu, S Hopkins, A Kaminju, M S Kyambi, B Miniski, J Muriuki, B Mwangi, W Mwangi; essay by K Macharia. Best yet in the Goethe-sponsored series. Coulsen, D & Campbell, A 2001: African Rock Art. New York: Abrams. Comprehensive photographic survey by regions; further research and activities of TARA: Trust for African Rock Art, www below; TARA is based in Nairobi. Court, E 1981: The Dual Vision: Factors affecting Kenyan children’s drawing behavior. Paper prepared for the INSEA World Congress, Rotterdam; also presented at National Association of Education through Art, New York, l982. From unpublished MA thesis: A Developmental study of drawing characteristics of school-attending Kikuyu children, ages 3-8, in Nairobi and Kiambu. Kenyatta: Bureau of Educational Research & Antioch. _______1984: Review Traditional and Contemporary decorated gourds. American Cultural Center, Nairobi, January, 1984. African Arts 18(4). New works by Peter Nzuki and Wilson Mwangi displayed in the wider context of gourd practices in Kenya; collabortion with African Heritage, UNbi Material Culture Collection and KIE. _______1985: Margaret Trowell and the development of art education in East Africa Art Education, journal of the National Art Education Association, USA [mid-1930’s -1950’s establishment of specialized education in art at Makerere, the Uganda Museum and publications to support both]. _______1992: Pachipamwe II: the avant-garde in Africa? African Arts 25(1). Account of Triangle International Workshop near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 1989. _______1992: Researching Social Influences in the Drawings of rural Kenyan Children. In D Thistlewood, ed. Drawing, Research and Development. London: Longmans. Chapter associated to the exhibition ‘Drawing on Culture’ at the Institute of Education, U London and toured to Kenya and Zimbabwe, with art education conferences at the BM, London and KIE, Nairobi. _______1994: How culture influences children’s drawing performance in rural Kenya. In E Thomas, ed International perspectives on culture and schooling: A Symposium proceedings. London: Institute of Education. A further, unpublished, Power Point version ‘Andika Picha: writing pictures_Picture-making and art education in eastern Africa’ focuses on the influences of formal schooling. London 2005, ‘07 & Viana do Castelo, Portugal ‘06. _______1996: Kenya. In Macmillan Dictionary of Art. London; OxfordartOnline [being up-date 2015]. _______2002: Dream Jackets: the growth of Kenyan modern art in Nairobi. In J Picton et al op cit. _______2011: Peterson Kamwathi. …Matter of Record… Exhibition catalogue. London: Ed Cross Fine Art. ________ 2013: Edward Samuel Njenga’s Human Art In Edward Njenga: A Son’s Dedication_1962-2013 Ceramic Collection [terracotta figurines] Exhibition catalogue. Kenya: Nairobi National Museum. _______ Summer 2014: Review Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle. African Arts. 47(2). Court, E & Mwangi, M 1976: Maridadi Fabrics. African Arts 25(1). Case study of a mission-sponsored community silk-screen cottage industry for women’s employment in Gikomba, Nairobi; involvement of NU designers; until today. Earlier version in Kenya Past & Present. Court, E with Patel, D l982: Report to Teachers’ Colleges on the Art Education Paper for the Primary Teachers’ Examination. Nairobi: Kenya National Examinations Council. Cunningham, et al 2005: Carving out a Future. Forests, Livelihood and the International Woodcarving Trade. London: Earthscan. Several chapters on the Akamba carving, claimed to be the oldest and largest modern movement in tropical Africa. Saving the Wooden Rhino a subsequent video by the same team has an upbeat account of the carving movement albeit with shallow oral history (one mzee who ‘mis-informs’ re WW 1 influences of Makonde; most sources posit connections with Zaramo carving, whichever agreement on a missionary-connection) and extensive coverage of research and action re the ecology of trees. DAK’ART (joint authorship) 2006: DAK’ART 7th Bienniale of African Contemporary Art. Dakar. Profiles for Kenyan associated artists: Joseph Bertiers, Jak Katarikawe, Ingrid Mwangi-Hutter. Della Rosa, A 2008: The Art of Recycling in Kenya. Milan: Charta. Texts in English, Italian; a range of materials, places and projects including Ecounique (‘flip flops’), Kitengela glass, Ki[G]ikomba with Kioko Mtwitki. Deliss, C ed. 1995: Seven stories about modern art in Africa. Exhibition catalogue. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery. Curator: W Nyachae, ‘Concrete Narratives and Visual Prose (Uganda and Kenya)’ pp 160-189; 272-287; ‘Sisi kwa sisi’: Etale Sukuro pp 283-87; ‘Notes: Kenya workshop activity and modern art’; E Court pp 300+. 1997: received Arts Council African Studies Association USA’s Rubin Prize Honorable Mention. Digolo, O 1986: A Proposal for Effective Implementation of Art Curriculum in A Changing Cultural Environment: The Kenya Case. KU: Bureau of Educational Research. Digolo, O & Orchardson-Mazrui, E 1988: Art and Design for Form 1 & 2. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. A survey of techniques, minimal context of a few photographs of local art practices; the most widely-used art education school text in eastern & southern Africa, reprinted 10x as of 2006. Eisemon, T, Hart, L & Ongesa, E l988: Schooling for self-employment in Kenya. The Acquisition of craft skills in and outside schools. International Journal Educational Development. This investigation concerns the conditions for becoming a skilled carver of Gusii stone, the second ethnic-based modern movement in Kenya. It finds that such skill can not be learned in formal education due to the lack of expertise and time required in contrast to acquisition in the community, through apprenticeship and peer learning. Esbin, H 1998: Carving lives from Stone: Visual Literacy in an African Cottage Industry (Kenya). Unpublished Phd Thesis, McGill U. ______ Spring 2000: Soapstone Carvers of East Africa: Not Isolated and Not Alone. Inuit Art Quarterly, 15.3. Fall, N & Pivin, J-L, eds 2000: An Anthology of African Art in the 20th Century. Paris: Revue Noire & New York: DAP. Includes G Kyeyune on Makerere art school, S Sanyal on art education in Kenya and Tanzania; Jules-Rosette on ‘Airport Art’; images: Kyalo: 1923, Maloba: 1940’s, Ong’esa: 1978. First Word [joint authors] Autumn 2011: ACASA Arts Council African Studies Association (USA) Fifteenth Triennial Symposium 23-27 March 2011, Los Angeles. African Arts 44(3) pp1-9. The ACASA Triennial is the state-of-the art symposium for African art; the 2011 edition had 46 panels comprising 210 presentations albeit with scant attention to the eastern region -- two panels (Pido, below) plus a few other papers. In a five-section review, only one writer gave an example from Kenya/east Africa. ‘Theoretical Trends’ by S Anderson cites a presentation that discusses the phase/moment in which matatu public transport vehicles were decorated in ‘gangsta’ style (note that any painting on such vehicles other than a yellow line was outlawed in 2003 by the Ministry of Transport; and again in 2004 by Parliament; in 2011, the law was being enforced.). Anderson’s account states that the matatu genre “synthesized Nairobi urban culture” and for some “is celebrated as the only ‘true’ Kenyan art” (p8). Gachanga, T 2008: How Africans view Peace Museums. An unpublished paper; shorter version on-line: www. Hiroshimapeacemedia.jp. Galavu, L ed. 2011: Visionary Women: An Art Exhibition Marking International Woman Day & the Centennial celebration 1911-2011. Nairobi National Museum. Introduction by M Odundo. Gerschultz, J. 2013: Navigating Nairobi: Artists in a Workshop System, Kenya. In S Kasfir & T. Forster, T, eds: African Art and Agency in the Workshop. Indiana U.P. Gerschultz provides a substantive overview and critique of the “dynamic workshop system underlying production and exhibition” of art which has developed in Nairobi and environs over the past twenty years. She stresses the system’s fluidity, how artists construct and negotiate it, with examples from a range of groups: Triangle Network, Banana Hill Art Studio, ‘Healing through Art’; she stresses the key importance in human agency and social media. Gregory, P. 2012: The Art of the Impossible? A Case Study and Reflections on the Experience of Art in a Rural Kenyan Primary School. International Journal of Art and Design Education. 31(3). Within the framework of postmodern theory and wholistic art education, this visiting art educator to Ukambani writes candidly of the difficult conditions for teaching art in a primary school and a teacher training college; he found scarcity of materials, chalk-and-talk methods, lack of local context. He compares children’s drawing performance with my post-graduate research (1981, 1992, 1994) indicating less influence of traditions. He reports positive responses to his efforts to extend drawing and introduce papier maché. Gregory’s account is bracing but adds to the literature that is documenting the decline in the quality of education in most parts of east Africa (possibly as part of UPE). For further insights, see Odoch Pido (2014). Guille, J 2006: Crafts, Enterprise and Intersectoral Partnership in East and South Africa. In E Court, ed [forthcoming] Artists and Art Education in Africa. London: Saffron Books. Available on-line http://www saffronbooks.com/index.php (under Artists and Art Education in Africa). ______2010: Health, Design, Community: Creative approaches to craft in Uganda_ Transferring the Siyazama project to Uganda. Paper presented at TATU Visual Traditions of Eastern Africa, Oxford, 23 July 2110. [http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/scd/research/news/siyazama]. Hirst, T Summer 1971: New Art from Kenyatta College. African Arts. Hughes, L, Coombes, A & Karega-Munene August, 2011: Introduction. Special Issue on ‘Managing Heritage, Building Peace: Museums, Memorialisation and uses of Memory in Kenya’. African Studies. Clear framing and discussion of issues concerning heritage, with attention to tensions between the local communities and the state. I prefer this sampler to their book below. ISCAFEE: International Society for Ceramics Art Education and Exchange. Tertiary level collaboration between University of Creative Arts, Farnham, England and the Dept Fine Arts, Kenyatta U, on the initiative of Prof M Odundo, Farnham. Jager, N 2011: Becoming Transnational Insights into Transformations of the Contemporary Art Scene in Nairobi, Kenya. In H Belting, J Birken, A Buddensieg, P Weibel, eds. Global Studies Mapping Contemporary Art and Culture. Germany: ZMI|Karlsrule & Hatje Cantz Verlag. Delimits Kenyan contemporary art to two generations (omitting developments prior to 1985): (1) Shaffner’s Watatu; (2) Kuona’s less market-driven environment, posits a third generation for artists whose practices are transnational (critical, conceptual) with three examples: Miriam Syowia Kyambi, Jimmy Ogonga and Ato Malinda. Apt if brief analysis of the effects of political liberalization and transnational exchange on art in Kenya. Jules-Rosette, B 1984: The Messages of Tourist Art An African Semiotic System in Comparative Perspective. New York: Plenum Press. Includes a case study of the Akamba carving movement. Kader, T 2000: Material Culture and Art Education: Examining cultural artifacts of the Bohra [Asian] from Mahaan to Masjid (Kenya). Unpublished Phd Thesis, Penn State. Kader was once an art teacher at Lenana Secondary School during the early years of the 8-4-4 curriculum when it included the study of material culture, see Somjee. Kagia, M 2003: Drawing As Process. MA Thesis, Kingston University. For Mercy Kagia, drawing as process is a means of thinking, exploring, “a way of knowing” the world that is based upon creative interaction with what/whom is observed. In a new kind of academic research in which the researcher investigates her/his own practice, Kagia is analyzing her drawings in relation to discussions with other reportage artists and her own photographs. In her 10.03.11 SOAS presentation, she discussed a sample of her drawings, some associated with her teaching (in London and Nairobi) but most from her field research in Kisumu, western Kenya. Ironically, she selected the city for her PhD study because “it didn’t have connections”, but by the time of her research the location had experienced post election violence in 2008 and, the timing of her research could have affected the nature of her experience. Rather, the very presence of a person drawing in the Kisumu market stimulated varied conversations about drawing “what is it for”, remarkably with little reference to politics. She observed a very low level of public awareness of drawing, of drawing as a career or “that there are people who just draw.” Kagia, M 2013: Documenting Daily Life through Reportage Drawing. PhD thesis. Kingston U, UK. Advocacy for reportage drawing; applies western theory on drawing to fieldwork in Kisumu town (as above). Kakande, Angelo 2008: Contemporary Art in Uganda: a Nexus Between Art and Politics. Unpublished Phd thesis. Johannesburg: U Witswatersrand. Kasfir, S 1999: Contemporary African Art. London: Thames & Hudson. Kasfir’s contribution is a thematic, systems approach with many examples from eastern Africa examples, eg. Kamba wood carvers, peri-urban Nairobi art collaboratives, Makerere artists, eg. Francis Nnaggenda. ______2005: Narrating Trauma as Modernity Kenyan Artists and the American Embassy Bombing. African Arts 28(3), 66-77. A Nairobi exhibition on the theme of the 1998 bombing is the basis for discussions of ‘popular art’, Kenyan nationalism; comparison of the works by “wananchi with brushes” (mostly the Banana Hill group) with academically-trained painters. ______2007: Jua Kali Aesthetics Placing the city as a context of production. Critical Interventions. 1:1, 35-45. ______2012: Up Close and Far Away Re-narrating Buganda’s Troubled Past. African Arts 45 (3), 56-69. Kasfir, S & T Forster, eds. 2013: African Art and Agency in the Workshop. Indiana U.P. A most significant volume in that illuminates the significance of the workshop in its many forms to African art, especially contemporary practices. The book is in four sections: Education & Learning, Audience & Encounter; Patronage & Domination, Comparative Aspects in fourteen chapters: seven concern eastern Africa. Three essays by the editors provide their observations and theorization of the topic; don’t miss Kasfir’s ‘CODA’ with her observations on ‘Twenty years of workshop changes, 1987-2007.’ Kasule, Kizito Maria 2001: The Independence Decade as the Renaissance of Art in Uganda. Unpublished Phd thesis. Kampala: Makerere University.
Assessment of “gaps in achievement of objectives on appreciation of aesthetic value… learners have not attained skills in areas such as creativity... respect for the dignity of work… non-coverage of the syllabus is due to heavy workload of teachers and high pupil-teacher ratio”; on-line www. kie.ac.ke. Kenya, Republic of 1988: Presidential working party on education and manpower training for the next decade and beyond. Kamunge Report: ‘8-4-4’. Nairobi: Government Printer Kenya Republic of, MOEST Ministry of Education, Science & Technology 2005: Kenya Education Sector Support Programme 2005-2010. Delivering Quality Education and Training to all Kenyans. Candid assessment concerning the weaknesses in formal provision. An objective of TIVET is “To produce skilled Artisans, Craftsmen, Technician and Technologies for both formal and informal sectors” (pp 208-9). Kenyatta, Jomo 1938: Facing Mount Kenya. London: Secker & Warburg. 1978, Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. “Education might help to promote progress and at the same time to preserve what is best in the traditions of the African people and assist them to create a new culture which, though its roots are still in the African soil, is yet modified to meet the pressure of modern conditions ” (p128). King, Kenneth 1996: Jua Kali Kenya Change and development in an informal economy 1970-95. London: James Currey. Second edition of King’s seminal 1970’s text. Kingdon, Zuleika 1998 [video, 118min]: Visions and Dreams. Uganda’s contemporary art worlds through case studies of artists Nabulime, Sserulyo, Banadda, Tumwine in the context of recovery from war and Makerere Art School’s resilience. Kirumira, Rose Namubiru 2009: Art Residency Programs: The Formation of An African Artist. Unpublished Phd thesis. Kampala: Makerere University.
Kiruthu, F M 2009: A History of the Informal Enterprises in Kenya: A Case Study of the Artisan Subsector of Nairobi 1899-1998. Unpublished PhD thesis, Kenyatta University. Klumpp, D & Kratz, C 1993: Aesthetics, Expertise and Ethnicity: Okiek and Maasai Perspectives on Personal Ornamentation. In T Spear & R Waller, eds. Being Maasai Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa. London: James Currey. Kuona Trust (joint authorship) 2003: Thelathini: 30 Faces of contemporary art in Kenya. Nairobi: Kuona Trust. Minimal if disappointing text. Kwesiga, Philip 2005: Transformation in Arts Education: Production and use of Pottery in Nkore S.W Uganda. Unpublished Phd thesis. London: Middlesex University. Kyeyune, G 2003: Art in Uganda in the 20th Century. PhD Thesis. Dept of Art & Archaeology, School of Oriental and African Studies, London. _____2008: Pioneer Makerere Masters [Maloba, Njau, Ntiro]. In M Arnold, ed., op cit. Labi, K. November 2013. African Art Studies in Kenya. Third Text Africa. 3(1). A summary of the author’s enquiry into the gap between Kenya’s extensive system of higher education (with provision in fine arts and design), recently increased production of gallery art and the dearth of conventional academic art scholarship. His study, 2008-2012, based upon on a review of literature and interviews with 25 university dons and artists, is candid, if depressing. Reasons given by respondents were: theses are more accurately reports of projects for industry and tourism, institutional priority is given to commerce over academic research, lack of research culture, lack of adequate teaching of art history (outmoded books, lack of method/theory and mentors), “chauvinistic division of east African historians”, a perception of art as “jua kali” (hot sun, connoting makeshift, casual) with “a naïve art methodology”, apathy. His findings indicate gross underdevelopment of historical and cultural context from which to understand and draw from the past while charting the future. Labi opines awareness may generate interest in systematic research. (Compare these lacuna with the situation at MTSIFA, Makerere University, Kampala, which has awarded some 14 PhD’s since the recovery of the Art School .) Lagat, K & Hudson, J eds. 2006: Hazina: Traditions, Trade & Transitions in eastern Africa. Exhibition catalogue. Nairobi: National Museums Kenya with the British Museum. Lagat’s MA project: a regional survey by theme: trade, well-being, leadership, contemporary art; p 31-33 kanga with hujui kitu: you don’t know anything. Lagat heads the Department of Cultural Heritage, Nairobi National Museum, Lagat, K 2008: Traditions, Trade & Transitions in East Africa: A collaborative educational project between the National Museums of Kenya and the British Museum. In K Yoshida & J Mack, eds. Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa. Oxford: James Currey. Larsen, L 2013. Power, politics and public monuments in Nairobi, Kenya. Provides a useful survey of political monuments taking an historical, imperial perspective. This perspective ignores art-type public monuments, such as Nnaggenda’s Mother and Child at the NNM. [Note a modern approach is apparent in the 2013 50th Anniversary sculptures by Gerard Motondi HSC for Heroes’ Corner in Uhuru Gardens, which embody shared, national values such as athletic excellence.] www. opendemocracy.net/laragh-larsen/power-politics-and-publicmonuments-in-nairobi-kenya. A version is in African Studies August 2011. lo Liyong, T, ed 1972: Popular Culture of East Africa. Nairobi: Longman. MacGregor, N 2010. A History of the World in 100 Objects. British Museum Press. The BM Director begins with Olduvai tools: a core and hand axe). Mack, J 1995: Eastern Africa In Tom Phillips, ed. Africa Art of a Continent. Exhibition catalogue. London: Royal Academy of Arts. ________2000: East Africa. In Africa Arts and Cultures. London: British Museum Press. Mazrui, A 2000: Cultural (re)construction and Nation Building in Kenya. In B Ogot & W Ochieng, eds Kenya: The Making of a Nation A Hundred Years of Kenya's History 1985-1995. Maseno: Kenya University Press. Mboya, J 2007: The story of the Godown Arts Centre: A Journey to Freedom through the Arts. In K Njogu & G Oluoch-Olunya, eds Cultural Production and Social Change in Kenya Building Bridges. Nairobi: Twaweza Communications. Director of the Godown, Mboya retells a story about a chicken who had been tied by a string to a tree which restricts her movement and nourishment. Even after being released, she remained in her small space. Mboya posits “that in East Africa, artists behave like the chicken. The string has been cut but we are afraid to move into the wider civic space, to play our part. We are still tethered in our minds” (p 184). Mboya, J 2010: (Over)riding the Rainbow Ethnic Diversity and the Kenyan Creative Economy. In K Njogu et al, eds. JM reiterates J v Miller on the ethnic, tradition-based carving movements of the Kamba and Kisii, calling for them to be reframed as national movements (which non-Kenyans usually do); then p 65 she identifies two individual artists Mwitaki and E Ongesa who extended conventional to unique practice; pp 68-9: JM concludes with 5 policy points, including 1 “comprehensive mapping the creative sector”, 2 “consolidate K’s creative economy sector”, 3 “financing the sector”, 4 p69 “the arts must be reinstated in the education system as a core subject in schools. At the same time, a broader offer of vocational training, one that would include creative sector-related courses in areas such as arts management and technical courses such as sound engineering and lighting design ought to be developed.”, 5 “dynamic and timely policy and laws.” Maingi, D 2003: ‘Secondary School Art teachers and administrators’ viewpoints on the role of Art Education: Nairobi and Central Provinces, Kenya.’ Unpublished MA Thesis, Kenyatta University. In his presentation of 3.10.11 at SOAS, Donald Maingi described the social science/art education methodology that he employed to profile and investigate the attitudes of educators who are and are not specialists in art but have responsibility for the subject in secondary schools, in order to ascertain “the main root” of the subject’s marginalization in secondary schools. His evidence from two adjacent Provinces (and not Western which has the highest provision for secondary art) was inconclusive, in part because most teachers’ knowledge about art was limited. Most respondents agreed the purpose of art teaching was for “societal concerns” eg., “improving the appearance of the school” and as having both individual and utilitarian/vocational purposes. His key observation is that “school culture is more particular than the national curriculum”. For his Phd, Maingi has shifted disciplines to the history of art; his path breaking research addresses the development of modern art in Kenya from the perspective of nationhood. Mahoney, D April, 2012: Changing Strategies in Marketing Kenya’s Tourist Art: From Ethnic Brands to Free Trade Labels. African Studies Review. 56(1). Miller, J 1975: Art in East Africa A Guide to Contemporary Art. London: Frederick Muller. Mid-1970’s comprehensive survey of art movements: Kamba, Kisii, Makonde; art institutions and many artists in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, though it does not include material culture. Ministry of State for National Heritage and Culture. 2009: Guide to Kenya’s National Heritage and Culture. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau. Jointly authored between the Ministry and the National Museums of Kenya; 11 chapters have temporal and culture range, continued emphasis on natural heritage and include ‘Threats to Heritage in Kenya’; 110 pp. Motondi, G O 2014: Creation of Monumental Sculptural Forms to Commemorate the Spirit of Sportsmanship in Kenya. MA Fine Arts Report for the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Kenyatta University. Motondi describes the process he followed in the creation of an ensemble of stone sculptures to amplify the theme of sportsmanship, which he does briefly unpack with local and international examples. No mention is made of non-political public monuments in Kenya or elsewhere in Africa (most relevant are Zimbabwe’s genre of modernist hard stone sculpture). The bulk of his Report focuses on the practical work involved, at times collaborative, in executing 10 maquettes, 10 small sculptures in Kisii stone and one monumental granite sculpture, with considerable technical information about power tools and kinds of stone. His report supports Labi’s assertion (above) that tertiary level research(in state-sponsored institutions) is conceptualized as a project report rather than a thesis that addresses a problem that is then systematically explored and argued; also Odoch (below) in what I read as a gap, not a clash, between academy and home. Motondi, who learned his skills through a focused Kisii apprenticeship in conventional/generic stone sculpture (some 1000 have), is amongst the few sculptors (?less than ten) whose works are exhibited in the fine arts sector. In fact, two of his recent sculptures, form the centre of the national monument that commemorates Kenya’s 50th Anniversary of Independence, one Hero’s Move is an expression of the sportsmanship theme. Mount, W 1973: African Art The Years Since 1920. Indiana University Press. Pioneer book on colonial and post-colonial conditions for art in south of the Sahara nations. Nine chapters w ref to eastern Africa include 2: ‘Mission-Inspired Art’ (Cyrene Mission); ‘3: Souvenir Art’ (Akamba, Makonde), 4:‘The Emergence of New Art’; 6: ‘Art [tertiary] Schools in English-Speaking East & Central Africa’ (Kampala, Addis Ababa, Khartoum), 8: ‘Artists Independent of African Art Schools’ (NO examples of traditional styles for east Africa). Musa, H Winter 2010: The Party of Art: When the People Entered the Gallery. The South Atlantic Quarterly 109(1). Durham, N.C.: Duke U. With reference to Khartoum in the 1970’s and 2008, Musa describes and analyzes the transformative role of modern art exhibitions, curated mostly by artists with Leftist politics, which he likens to improvisational theatre; instructive to compare with conditions for art in Nairobi, Kampala and/or Dar. Mwangola, M 2007: Leaders of Tomorrow? The Youth and Democratisation in Kenya. In G Murunga & S Nasong’o, eds Kenya The Struggle for Democracy. Dakar: CODESRIA. Discusses different attitude of the post-colonial Uhuru Generation and role of expressive arts - music and drama – in political protest; omits visual art. Nabulime, L 2007: The Role of sculptural forms as a communication tool in relation to the lives and experiences of women with HIV AIDS in Uganda. PhD thesis. Newcastle University, UK. Nabulime, L & McEwan, C 2010: Art as social practice: transforming lives using sculpture in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in Uganda. Cultural Geographies 18 (3) 275-296. Ugandan Lecturer of Sculpture moves out of the gallery into the community to use art/soap sculpture as a form of social practice to modify gender relations and improve understanding of this medical ‘elephant in the room’. Nagawa, M 2008: The Challenges and Successes of Women Artists in Uganda. In M Arnold, ed., op cit. Nairobi Arts Trust| Centre for Contemporary Art of East Africa. 2008: AMNESIA Story One. Broad sheet document for a project/?exhibition devised by Jimmy Ogonga, director of the Centre and uber-curator Simon Njami, comprised of paired artists as writers (for each other’s works), P Kamwathi’s candid response to DakART’08 (for him, a game-changer) and professional writer Bertha Kang’ong’oi’s polemic and poetic texts. Several contributors criticize the GOK’s abandonment of art and culture subjects from the primary syllabus. Raises rather than extends understanding of the prevailing context for amnesia, silence, rootlessness, presentism; its subtitle “A Nairobi Arts Trust Party” is apt. Nakazibwe, V 2005: Barkcloth of the Buganda People of southern Uganda: A record of continuity and change from the late 18th to the early 21st c. Phd Thesis, Middlesex U, London. 2007: Arts Council African Studies Association USA Triennial Award for outstanding doctoral thesis. NNM (Nairobi National Museum) 2013: Edward Njenga: A Son’s Dedication (1962-2013). exhibition catalogue (exhibition 31.07.13 – 31.02.14). Pioneer Kenyan sculptor’s retrospective show of his figurative ceramic works of daily life in colonial and Independent Kenya. Essays by E Court, M Ndekere, L Kariuki. Clear images. Ngugi, Catherine 2004: Kenyan Artistic Narratives Across the Generations. In KWANI? 2. Nairobi: Kwani Trust. Ngugi wa Thiongo 1981: Writers in Politics. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. Critical essays on education and culture. ________ 1993: Moving the Centre The Struggle for Cultural Freedoms. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers; London: James Currey. Unpacks neo-colonial habits. ________ 2011: Dreams in a Time of War A Childhood Memoir. London: Vintage Books. Regarding the struggle over the content of formal schooling during the author’s childhood, “The syllabus would be determined by colonial masters. The effects were immediate. In the new Manguo [‘old ‘was an independent school], music and performance died. The interschool sports festival became a thing of memory. The marching band too. The school no longer was the centre of community festivities” (p167). Njogu, K, Ngeta, K, Wanjau, M, eds. 2010: Ethnic Diversity in Eastern Africa Opportunities and Challenges. Nairobi: Twaweza Publications. Nyairo, J 2006: Modify: Jua Kali as a metaphor for African’s urban ethnicities and cultures. In J Nyairo & J Ogude, eds Urban Legends, Colonial Myths Popular culture & literature in East Africa. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press. (on-line Google: Kingsley Lecture, London: AEGIS, 02.07.05). Seminal essay on the appropriation of the non-formal economic category (used by the ILO and Moi government) to describe broader, urban culture, especially visual art though not by Prof Nyairo, a literature don. Being unpacked in current discourse. Odoch Pido. J P 2014: Pedagogical clashes in East African Art and Design Education. Critical Interventions. Journal of African Art and History and Visual Culture. 8(1). Affective participant observation -- autobiographical -- about the writer’s suffering due to the dissonance between cultural knowledge he learned at home (from his grandmother) and the neo-colonial, western art education that he met in school. East Africa herein refers to his homeland, Acholi in Uganda and his professional home in Nairobi since the 1970’s. He documents, ironically, what he terms “mismatches” when a designer has insufficient understanding of local visual literacy and devises inappropriate imagery. Many generations of students give highest respect to Odoch Pido as a lecturer/doer in the design domain. His lack of references to academic and other texts in his field and art history – his perception of phantom lacuna -- are indicative of the lack of a reading and research culture amongst even the most outstanding university dons. Compare with P Gregory, K Labi, G Motondi, S Somjee. Ogude, J, Masila, G & Ligaga, D, eds. 2012: Rethinking Eastern African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes. New Jersey: Africa World Press. A rich collection of 19 essays by Kenyan and Ugandan academics and specialists, mostly based in Kenya and South Africa. Focus on literature and print media; two articles discuss recent, locally-produced critical journals: Kwani? (T Odhiambo) and Jahazi (G Oluoch-Olunya), several articles about film but without mention of material culture or gallery art. Oketch, M & Somerset, A 2010: Free Primary Education and After in Kenya: Enrolment impact, quality effects and the transition to secondary school. Research Monograph 37. University of Sussex & IoE, London: CREATE. Okworo, B 2009: Ong’esa: The Master Artist. Nairobi: The Artisan World. Includes Ong’esa’s criteria for an effective art education to “uphold professionalism”: 1 “training for the acquisition of necessary skills and conceptualization of original ideas”, 2 sufficient “practice to become resourceful… innovative” 3 theory/context, “understand the historical background of art”. Ong’esa, E 2010: Artists’ Day Speech, Nairobi National Museum. (unpublished, EC can provide a copy) critical of government; note his criteria above. Ongesa HSC is one of the few practicing Kenyan artists and art innovators of his generation. [Onyango, R] 1992: Richard Onyango: The African Way of Painting 1992. Exhibition catalogue for Gallery of Contemporary East African Art, Nairobi National Museum, Kenya & international tour. Malindi Artists’ Proof printed in Italy. Includes the artist’s autobiographical statement and interview, 98pp art works; title on dust cover The Paintings of Richard Onyango: Vehicles, Vessels, Trains and Planes 1992 Salvatore ala Gallery New York. Directory: cas cas -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? cas -> Hurricanes and Global Warming An Alternative Point of View by cas -> Review of coastal ecosystem management to improve the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area cas -> Enhancing interactive learning in the classroom with Turning Point cas -> Atlantic hurricanes and global warming cas -> U. S. versus eu competition Policy: The Boeing-McDonnell Douglas Merger cas -> Even major global powers won’t use hsr, China is failing cas -> Inter-American Court of Human Rights Download 123.35 Kb. Share with your friends:
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