Key Takeaways
- Traditional Turkana values prioritize family, livestock, and environmental factors like rain for survival.
- A 2014 film project in Kenya's Turkana region expanded from oil discovery to pastoralist identity and cultural exploration.
- Creative collaboration among 10 artists from Nairobi and Turkana fostered new art forms and shared understanding.
- The Nomadic Arts Festival was founded to sustain collective artistic endeavors rooted in Turkana's heritage.
Deep Dive
- The traditional Turkana greeting, asking about children, cattle, and rain, highlights the community's core values.
- This emphasis underscores their pastoral way of life and the importance of family, livestock, and weather.
- Filmmaker Jackie Lebo's 2014 project in Kenya's Turkana region, initially on oil, shifted focus to pastoralist identity.
- Lebo facilitated creative collaboration in Turkana, leading to new resource-sharing models inspired by the local 'Ere' social organization.
- A county tour brought together 10 artists—five from Nairobi and five from Turkana—to visit oil fields and cultural sites.
- This journey fostered deep connections among artists to ancestral ways of life, emphasizing cooperation and compassion.
- Collaborative efforts produced new art forms, including 'The Fly Sweden in Africa' and 'Floating Flying,' inspired by Turkana culture.
- A third photo series, 'Oil and Milk,' examined the impact of oil on their way of life.
- The group also created 'The Turkana Sessions' music project with musicians Elizabeth Korikel and Eddie Grey.
- Difficulty finding an agent for the collective led to the establishment of the Nomadic Arts Festival, featuring songs like 'Eloto' and 'Atacare'.