Creative players now champions of climate justice

“Chiragala chiragala! Chetwagalo Kulagula! The energy is rising…filling up the air! Forests are burning…burning the green away! Swamps are flooding…plastics everywhere…” Sandra Suubi’s chants rose captivating her audience, her costume stealing what was remaining of emotions at the recent Climate Story Lab Africa 2022 in Nairobi.

For over eight years now, the socially conscious visual artiste from Uganda has been on the forefront of the green revolution. Her latest creations include Kiragala (green). Through this wearable sculpture and performance, the multimedia artiste asks us to rethink the single use of plastic. The costume is made from over 500 used green plastic bottles collected in Kampala, Uganda.

Mimicking the West African ‘awosoke’, a large, voluminous, free-flowing outer robe worn by Nigerian men, Suubi presents herself as the pied piper of plastic, this time not only attracting different forms of used plastic, but also suggesting ways in which the plastic could be repurposed.

Production dangers

Another piece that stole people’s hearts at the event was ‘The Blues’ in which she paints the picture of how the production of denim jeans is hazardous to the environment. Producing a single pair of jeans requires an immense amount of water and energy and creates significant pollution. Through her art, she stirs a lot of reactions on the urgency needed to go green in Africa while showing the power of art in the revolution.

“The response in different communities has been powerful and humbling at the same time. I remember when I used to make specific sculptures alone. I go to a community, collect what they considered trash and together with them, we have sharing sessions where we share and experiment with the material to build these site-specific sculptures. People always had so many questions and interest in the work and why we were doing,” she tells People Daily.

She continues, “Now when I coupled the music and the art, this changed everything. As I walk in procession, the communities listen to the songs while they see the wearable sculptures and they become the agents to pass this message to their fellow community members as well. Many times they never forget the message when put on song.”

Just like Suubi, more and more artistes are getting on board of the green revolution train, seeking to create and increase awareness on climate justice. The creative artivists have the tools to not only share stories of different people and communities that might not be able to, but also to create more awareness in effective yet light ways through their creations.

Environmental trainings

Jukwaa Arts Production’s Bahari Huru Project in Mombasa recently finished their second edition of the Bahari Huru Festival. It brought together over 20 artistes from different genres for a one of a kind art residency. The project has worked to bring together artistes and scientists for an interactive environmental training, after which artistes are required to create art from their diverse genres.

Caroline Ngorobi, the Jukwaa Arts producer and founder of Bahari Huru, says the project initiated in 2020 was as a result of the overwhelming litter state in Mombasa. Her plan was to take photos and hold an exhibition, but on realising that the issue was much bigger and urgent, she decided to engage more people in creating the awareness on ocean pollution, especially with plastic waste.

This year, the second edition of Bahari Huru Festival brought together artistes from different disciplines such as poetry, music, film and fine arts, to showcase different creations echoing scientific research on different environmental issues including overfishing and mangrove farming.

“We are using the festival as a tool to communicate science to the community for the purpose of conservation. After the training and creating, the artistes travel to different communities at the Coast to bring interactive performances and art installations that speak out against ocean pollution, igniting conversations and challenging the community to take action. Art mirrors the society, and according to scientists if we don’t take care of the environment the effects will come to haunt us. So, artistes have to be ambassadors at the community level,” shares Ngorobi.

Barry Arts and Design Studio was started in in 2019 in Nairobi’s Komarock estate. It offers training to artists on creation of bamboo products such as jewellery, furniture, handicrafts and weaved items. The studio also partners with Comb-Green, a community-based organisation in Korogocho slums in Nairobi to farm bamboo trees along the Nairobi River. This serves to rehabilitate the highly polluted water body while availing raw materials for the studio.

“I have been in the green movement since 2012, just after college, where I started designing the bamboo factory a few years after. The studio took off as a project post-Covid-19 because we had more free time in our hands. As an artist in the green movement, I believe artists need to be more diverse with products that are available to them. For me, bamboo was it. As a product, it can be used to serve the same purpose as plastic. At the same time you can do a lot more with it to create products at every stage of its life,” says the studio founder Tedd Barry.

Media as tool

Besides being a top artiste manager, music producer and reggae deejays, Alvin Sika aka Sir Henry is the founder of LEAF (Learning About Forests), a reforestation project in Nairobi that partners with several primary and high schools.

Aside from the tree planting initiative, Alvin is also a part of an upcoming water project by the Alvesta Rotary Club, with the Rotary Club of Nairobi and the Kenya Organisation for Environmental Education (KOEE) where he is acting as the project officer.  The main goal of the project is to enhance water access and supply for improved livelihood and enhanced resilience in Machakos. He also uses his capacity in the music industry to educate the masses on the importance of environmental conservation.

“I am now also on Ghetto Radio every Saturday morning where we aim to educate the listeners on issues to do with social and economic and climate justice. We have a show where we talk about climate justice. In the show, I specifically play music that talks about the issues happening around us. It is important for artistes to be more involved, especially by speaking up more on shows and also to be equipped with the knowledge, so as to use the information in their songs to help sensitise more people,” shares Alvin.

Beyond the art

Apart from singing about environment care, Malindi-based Mijikenda jazz musician Katoi Wa Tabaka has also been actively involved in tree planting on Sabaki Estuary and Mida Creek.

He participates in city cleaning activities, which he also involves and teaches his children the importance of tree planting.

Also, his four-year-old son, Leon Katoi, has also embraced the revolution and has already planted 325 seedlings so far.

For Katoi, the global crisis demands now more than ever that all members of the community get on board of the green revolution.

“While it’s important that artistes get actively involved in driving this change, it’s not only artistes who should get involved, its everyone’s responsibility to take care of the universe. Artistes should use their artistic talents to spread the word,” shares the musician, who has also organised several workshops on civic education about climate change, global warming and waste recycling.