Dream Kona provided a ‘dream come true’ this past weekend when scores of elders, artists and youth joined hands and hearts to celebrate the arrival of Elkana Ong’esa’s multi-ton granite stone sculpture, ‘Elephant Family’ to Uhuru Garden.
The
sculpture had been delivered, courtesy of TICAH (Trust for Indigenous Culture
and Health), from the Nairobi National Museum where it had lain on NNM’s front
lawn for the last four years.
Originally,
the work had been scheduled to go to Washington, DC as part of the Kenyan cultural
showcase during the Smithsonian Institution’s biannual summer festival. But
that was never to be.
Despite
promises having been made to one of Kenya’s most esteemed and venerable artists
and teachers, Elkana’s sculpture had been left behind literally on the runway
as the plane took off for the States.
The museum
was kind enough to give it a temporary home. But now, thanks to TICAH the
‘Elephant Family’ stands proudly in the heart of Dream Cona, like the
monumental national icon it was meant to be.
But that
dream wasn’t the only one that came true last week. The whole idea of Dream Kona, according to TICAH’s founder-director Mary Ann Burris, is for Kenyan
creatives (whatever their genre or age) to have a venue where they can work,
play, perform and share ideas in an open, arts-affirming space.
And that’s
what was happening last Saturday all around Dream Kona where artists and elders
from no less than 15 Kenyan communities came early to prepare for the open day.
They’d been invited from all across the country, from the Sabuat, Ogiek, Kuria
and Pokomo to the Maasai, Luo, Kikuyu and Kisii among others.
The elders
(many of whom were artists in their own right) had been together the whole week
prior to Saturday, courtesy of TICAH. In fact, many had been participants in
the four-month exhibition, Hekema and Urembo at the Nairobi Museum which TICAH
had organized and which closed the day before in a grand ceremonial style.
‘Hekima’ had
been all about elders from a wide range of Kenyan communities giving programs
where they shared their wisdom related to everything from traditional medicines
to cultural practices and philosophies.
‘Urembo’ on the other hand, exhibited
aspects of indigenous beauty, both contemporary and traditional.
So while the
twin exhibitions closed the previous day, Saturday was when aspects of both
shows came out and illustrated what indigenous Kenyan culture looks like on the
wider ‘Dream kona’ platform.
There were
demonstrations (and teaching) on everything from beading by Maasai mamas and
weaving by Pokomo men to pottery-making by Luo ladies and carving by Kisii
stone carvers.
There were even elders on hand who specialize in preparing
natural plant products to heal assorted maladies. They were sharing some of
those skills on Saturday.
And as Health (as well as culture) is one of the key
concerns of TICAH, these ‘medicine men’ have inspired the Trust to document
their indigenous knowledge (including their ‘dawa’ recipes) so that their
wisdom won’t be lost. (One of the ways elders’ wisdom is also shared is through
TICAH’s annual calendar which contains one indigenous herbal recipe every month
in a year.)
But as
important as the elders were on Saturday (especially as they prepared bottles
of dawa said to heal), it was the painters who seemed to dominate the day since
they had one gigantic wall on which to paint colorful images highlighting the
theme of wildlife and humans’ relations and responsibility to endangered
species like Elkana’s elephants. The painters arrived from assorted art centres
in Nairobi, including Dust Depo, GoDown, Kuona Artists Alliance and Brush tu
Art Studio.
Meanwhile, art classes went on for children from several Nairobi
‘informal settlements’ where TICAH also works.
But the day
would not have been complete if there hadn’t been plenty of music and dancing.
Some of it was especially designed for the youth while there were also music
and dance performances by groups like Kenge Kenge and the Pokomo Vuggula
Cultural Dancers who wore leg rattles that they’d woven themselves out of dried
palm leaves filled with noisy granite stones.
TICAH’s
engineering of the whole event at Dream kona, especially their giving the
‘Elephant Family’ a permanent resting place, is all part of the Trust’s larger
vision. Appreciating indigenous culture and the arts and their role in healing
people’s bodies and minds is something we hope the government will strive to
emulate.
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