Because
laughing at a dysfunctional system is the first step toward changing it
peacefully.
laughing at a dysfunctional system is the first step toward changing it
peacefully.
Michael
Soi was hard at work in his Nairobi studio, speckled in acrylic paints, when
four unidentified Chinese men and women walked in, demanding to see some
paintings. It was July 2015, and Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting
Kenya.
Soi was hard at work in his Nairobi studio, speckled in acrylic paints, when
four unidentified Chinese men and women walked in, demanding to see some
paintings. It was July 2015, and Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting
Kenya.
Soi’s
visitors didn’t wait for him to respond. They moved around the studio, shifting
cans of paint, canvases, stacks of art pieces, making a mess in their search.
The collection they were looking for is one Soi calls “China ‘Loves’ Africa.”
Here, in bold hues of pink and green, he paints Chinese men staring lecherously
at a nude black woman, hair braided, dancing on a pole. In one piece, a Chinese
man is bedridden, hooked up to IVs containing “gold,” “titanium” and “copper.”
A Black male doctor administers his treatment.
visitors didn’t wait for him to respond. They moved around the studio, shifting
cans of paint, canvases, stacks of art pieces, making a mess in their search.
The collection they were looking for is one Soi calls “China ‘Loves’ Africa.”
Here, in bold hues of pink and green, he paints Chinese men staring lecherously
at a nude black woman, hair braided, dancing on a pole. In one piece, a Chinese
man is bedridden, hooked up to IVs containing “gold,” “titanium” and “copper.”
A Black male doctor administers his treatment.
The
Chinese visitors didn’t find the paintings funny. They claimed Soi had been
influenced by the West and that china was only in Africa to “help” by building
bridges and hospitals in his home country, Kenya. Soi invited the group to get
out of his studio.
Chinese visitors didn’t find the paintings funny. They claimed Soi had been
influenced by the West and that china was only in Africa to “help” by building
bridges and hospitals in his home country, Kenya. Soi invited the group to get
out of his studio.
The
46-year-old Kenyan artist is part of a fresh cascade of creative producers
emerging across Africa, using the visual arts to satirize the politics of the
day, question their governments and inspire civic engagement. Africa has had a
postindependence history of political satire, but mostly through literature and
newspaper cartoons. Writers such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ayi Kwei Armah, Wole
Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o were part of this tradition. Some
were at times stopped from producing work, while others were jailed, persecuted
or exiled.
46-year-old Kenyan artist is part of a fresh cascade of creative producers
emerging across Africa, using the visual arts to satirize the politics of the
day, question their governments and inspire civic engagement. Africa has had a
postindependence history of political satire, but mostly through literature and
newspaper cartoons. Writers such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, Ayi Kwei Armah, Wole
Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o were part of this tradition. Some
were at times stopped from producing work, while others were jailed, persecuted
or exiled.
We are
witnessing that moment in that fairytale when the child points out that the
emperor has no clothes on.
witnessing that moment in that fairytale when the child points out that the
emperor has no clothes on.
Ose
Anenih, co-founder of TACT, which recently organized a satire festival
Anenih, co-founder of TACT, which recently organized a satire festival
But
political satire on the African continent now is moving to the canvas,
television and computer screens, counting on the much harder-to-control social
media share button that didn’t exist before. In Accra, Ghana, 28-year-old satirist
Bright Ackwerh uses caricatures to highlight aspects of Ghanaian life often
missed in the simplistic global narrative of the country as a stable,
fast-growing economy. Nigeria’s biggest television station, Channels TV, airs a
satirical show called The Other News that mocks the corruption and poor
governance that hobbles the country. And Soi, observers say, is helping show
Kenyan society a mirror.
political satire on the African continent now is moving to the canvas,
television and computer screens, counting on the much harder-to-control social
media share button that didn’t exist before. In Accra, Ghana, 28-year-old satirist
Bright Ackwerh uses caricatures to highlight aspects of Ghanaian life often
missed in the simplistic global narrative of the country as a stable,
fast-growing economy. Nigeria’s biggest television station, Channels TV, airs a
satirical show called The Other News that mocks the corruption and poor
governance that hobbles the country. And Soi, observers say, is helping show
Kenyan society a mirror.
“We are
witnessing that moment in that fairytale when the child points out that the
emperor has no clothes on,” says Ose Anenih, co-founder of TACT, a civic
engagement nonprofit that recently produced a Nigerian satire festival.
witnessing that moment in that fairytale when the child points out that the
emperor has no clothes on,” says Ose Anenih, co-founder of TACT, a civic
engagement nonprofit that recently produced a Nigerian satire festival.
That many
of the satirists portray their
work more as documenting society rather than looking to change it is in keeping
with the self-deprecating humor they want their art to capture. But whether
it’s China, their own governments or sections of their societies, opposition or
efforts to control satire are a reality too and suggest that these artists are
making some impact.
of the satirists portray their
work more as documenting society rather than looking to change it is in keeping
with the self-deprecating humor they want their art to capture. But whether
it’s China, their own governments or sections of their societies, opposition or
efforts to control satire are a reality too and suggest that these artists are
making some impact.
In
countries where government commitment to the freedom of speech is often only
skin-deep, the threat of a clampdown is also a reality the artists can’t
ignore. Critics have suggested, for instance, that The Other News
occasionally plays it safe, while Soi and Ackwerh acknowledge their work is
making only so much of a dent in their societies.
countries where government commitment to the freedom of speech is often only
skin-deep, the threat of a clampdown is also a reality the artists can’t
ignore. Critics have suggested, for instance, that The Other News
occasionally plays it safe, while Soi and Ackwerh acknowledge their work is
making only so much of a dent in their societies.
