A sneek-peak into Kampala’s art scene.

A couple of weeks back I had the pleasure of attending a show celebrating the art of poetry. What was unique is that this show was put up by teens, people my age, so I thought it a perfect opportunity to peer into the minds of our country’s youth which in this globalized world is a representation of youth problems from all over the world.

You’ll be amazed what I found. As expected, there’s a lot of bad going around that these teenagers were eager to expose;

The lose of our cultural norms as Ugandans as a result of influence from Europe and the Americas.(That’s globalization for you.)The fear of a society that cherishes violence and sexual deviance above all else. Children forced into situations where they have to, as the old saying goes “grow up too fast” as a result of continued negligence of the society around. This also is a problem encountered by teens world wide.

One of the poets, Ivy Rukara, giving a passionate performance.

This next one, you’ve probably heard so much about especially from the older generation but its interesting to see that we ourselves seem to now accept this fact, their grave insecurity of our generation. A constant need to check ourselves at every step, to ensure we are fit for public consumption in every aspect, coupled with the cropping of social media.

One of the performers put forward an interesting paradox that I think many of you will find intriguing and many others with find it difficult to decipher.

“Generation that has come to be the most informed in history is surprisingly the most mus-informed generation of all.”

Stabbed at also was the dying but persistent and retrogressive cultural norm of early marriage which results in underage pregnancies. Male Chauvinism in the school environment and work place as well as exportation of the labor force who are in search of employment only to turn into sex slaves.
But its not all bad. Just like any teenager everywhere also celebrated the phenomenon of love and all its new forms today. They gouged at all the randomness of life and encouraged us in the audience to cherish every moment of it all.

Murungi Martha, an excellent performer, portrays a tenacious lover, in a poem named “Jezebel Nature, Boyfriend snatcher.”

All in all, I was fascinated by my experience among this crowd of socially conscious and brave group of people. I encourage you all, my readers, to take a liking to any form of art of you’re preference; have something that you can use to express yourself. The spectrum of art forms is so wide I couldn’t even dare attempt to list it out here. Find something that defines you best and use it as an extension of yourself. Even what you say is an art form! Someone I know and cherish said something once that I find very honest as well as relatable and I felt I should share it with you all;

“I think all speech should be poetry. Because poetry can cause change and if you’re speech doesn’t, then you are making noise.”

See you next week!