Description
Art, Culture and Society Vol 1 is the first in a series of books to be published by Twaweza Communications on the relationship between art and society, with special reference to Kenya. It is part of a cultural leadership initiative being undertaken by the organization through a reexamination of the arts as they are produced and studied. This volume brings together important reflections on the arts and is a major step in encouraging dialogue on the relationship between creativity and the human condition in the region. Significantly, it creates a space for academicians who are based in universities to engage in dialogue with artists and writers based outside institutions of higher learning. The conversations will bridge the gap between the two domains for knowledge production and hopefully enrich the creative enterprise in Kenya, in theory and practice.
As the essays in this collection show, the present global situation demands a way to conceptualize and theorize an ever growing cultural interconnectedness, sometimes manifested in art; an interconnection that draws from a myriad of cultures and experiences. Through the bridges of contact and cultural exchange distant images are mediated are brought closer to us. They are reinterpreted and modified. In the final analysis, culture is shown to be an important aspect of human creativity but its separateness and boundedness is contested. Instead, culture is shown to be malleable and fluid. The essays bring in a few freshness to our reading of the creative arts coming out of Kenya.
