In Africa, literature has traditionally always been performance, inseparably intertwined with music and dance, before an audience, which often participates in the performance. In Europe, this connection gradually disappeared. But recently it has experienced a rebirth in Europe: by the circuitous route through Afro-American Word-Art as youth culture, through Rap, Hip Hop und Slam Poetry, performative word-art is making a comeback. In East Africa (as in the greater Africa), the tradition of performance has remained strong, as it was handed down in, for example, the Swahili high culture of East Africa (literature in itself was a medium, in which cultural identities resisted colonial influence. But at the same time, Rap, Hip Hop and Slam now on their part influence the big-city youth culture in East Africa which invents new forms of expressions.
Jukwaani! brings all forms and scenes of performance literature together in four days: From high culture Swahili literature to poetry slam, from Swahili free style to indigenous storytelling, from the Nairobi poets to Hip Hop. We aim to bring together scenes that have a common basis, but are hardly in contact with each other. Rocha Chimera, Sheikh Ahmed Nabhany and Clara Momanyi will perform alongside a Swahili adaption of “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Timeless Poems from the 1960s will meet Mister Abbas and the German Slammer Sebastian23; we will see a satirical depiction of a live news set that explores the strains of human rights and gender roles in Kenya performed by Muki Garang, Pepe Haze Kennet B and others. Through this website we want to document the rich culture and heritage of literature as performance in East Africa.
For Jukwaani! Is a project by Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française. It is a joint initiative supported by the special fund for cultural projects established by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both France and Germany created on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty sealing reconciliation and friendship between the two countries.
Festival concept:
Goethe-Institut Nairobi and Alliance Française de Nairobi
Curators:
Prof. Kimani Njogu, Muki Garang, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Murik Garang, Aghank, Muthoni Garland, Cindy Oganga, Betty Muragori and Mister Abbas
Jukwaani! brings all forms and scenes of performance literature together in four days: From high culture Swahili literature to poetry slam, from Swahili free style to indigenous storytelling, from the Nairobi poets to Hip Hop. We aim to bring together scenes that have a common basis, but are hardly in contact with each other. Rocha Chimera, Sheikh Ahmed Nabhany and Clara Momanyi will perform alongside a Swahili adaption of “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Timeless Poems from the 1960s will meet Mister Abbas and the German Slammer Sebastian23; we will see a satirical depiction of a live news set that explores the strains of human rights and gender roles in Kenya performed by Muki Garang, Pepe Haze Kennet B and others. Through this website we want to document the rich culture and heritage of literature as performance in East Africa.
For Jukwaani! Is a project by Goethe-Institut and Alliance Française. It is a joint initiative supported by the special fund for cultural projects established by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of both France and Germany created on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty sealing reconciliation and friendship between the two countries.
Festival concept:
Goethe-Institut Nairobi and Alliance Française de Nairobi
Curators:
Prof. Kimani Njogu, Muki Garang, Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Murik Garang, Aghank, Muthoni Garland, Cindy Oganga, Betty Muragori and Mister Abbas
