Graffiti/underground art and Propaganda

Sometimes I often wonder if like in other continents graffiti art could serve a purpose in steering people to revolution against tyrannical governments as we often find in Africa.
Graffiti art besides being an eyesore in a few cases could quite easily also translate to being a potent source of communication to the masses. It does not require purchase, it only needs an individual to focus or stare, consciously or otherwise. This simple trick has been used the world over for commercial purposes in the form of outdoor billboard advertising, why then can it not be used to further more worthy causes. I may be wrong but I’ve not come across anywhere in Africa where this method is currently being or has been used to educate, inform and organise the masses to stand up for their rights. Another brilliant point about graffiti propaganda could also be its one-to-many nature which communicates not only to the oppressed but also the oppressor. My most recent foray into the field of graffiti propaganda has led me to the works of Shepard Fairey who with his art contributed immensely to the election of one Barack Obama as the first ever Black US president, interesting. I hope in the coming months to share with you more…

Propaganda

I don’t know about y’all but I seldom see or come across images that express africaness (if there is such a word) or images of African art or illustrative designs and such on the web and in general. The explosion in web access and usage still hasn’t aided in the propagation of such images. The African art form still remains by far inferior to other kinds. This I think is due to little or no publicity and the lack of a driven/targeted effort on the part of African artists or maybe bias. Through no fault of theirs as I can imagine, African artists still struggle with getting a strong web presence, plus it takes some time to really come to terms with the ever changing technology and platforms. I for one can attest to the ingenuity and quality of the African art form which to a large extent supersedes the recognition it is currently being accorded. This to an extent leads me to believe that a massive gap still needs being filled in terms of web propagation with the aim of educating the world on African cultures and values. With the price tags on modern art forms reaching record height’s who says African art pieces cant make it on a regular basis to the likes of Christies? I strongly believe more has to be done on the part of the artists and the like in getting their art form seen or heard. It’s got to be out there, like they say you’ve got to be in it to win it. I’m afraid if you don’t do it nobody’s gonna do it for you. Now let’s go out and propagate the earth, tell our side of the story. That’s what iBuntu stands for.

The Genesis...

Now its almost getting to the end of the 1st quarter of 2009 and as usual nothing really good is being projected about the land of my descent. There's still as always the famines, ethnic wars/cleansing/hunger/poverty being peddled about my the western media. Not denying that this is, but some times it gets sickening to listen to or watch when you know it could be better, is better in some circumstances and could be projected in a more endearing light. If I may take a pun from a speech from one of my all-time-great Rom-Coms: Love Actually, "we may be an impoverished continent, but a great one too...the land of Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nelson Mandela, Fela Kuti...Emmanuel Adebayor's Left leg...Emmanuel Adebayor's right leg...". Africa beyond doubt is great and in my opinion it is left to us it's seed to portray it in a more deserving light. We're not perfect, we know our weaknesses, we can be better.

It is in the light of this background that the iBuntu project was set up to explore ways of projecting images that celebrates, dignify and exhorts us Africans in diaspora as well as in the continent.