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
university-based academics 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
enrich creative enterprise in Kenya, in theory and practice. As the
essays in this collection show, the present global situation demands a
way to conceptualise and theorise an ever growing cultural
interconnectedness, sometimes manifested in art; and interconnectedness
that draws from a myriad of cultures and experiences. Through the
bridges of contact and cultural exchange distant images are mediated and
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 separateness and boundedness is contested. Instead, culture is shown
to be malleable and fluid. The essays bring in a new freshness to our
reading of the creative arts coming out of Kenya.
