Kenyan artists bag Sh25m from French Embassy to boost digital, performance arts

The French Embassy in Nairobi has awarded a grant worth Sh25m to 17 creatives through their Création Africa programme.

The recipients were nine artists in the field of performance arts dubbed ‘Hii Stage II’ (This Stage), with each receiving Sh1 million, and eight creatives in the digital arts getting Sh2 million each.  The beneficiaries were unveiled at the Alliance Française Nairobi.

The digital artists showcased their inventions at the same event. 

One of them is video game designer Joanna Olouch from Fallohide Studios, who displayed ‘Argo’, an augmented reality hiking game that promotes environmental conservation.

The video game is set and installed in Oloolua Nature Trail, where visitors can scan the images to play it through their phones. As the participants trail the forest, they encounter the video games at different points.

The video game has four main characters: Lulu, the spirit of the forest; Ruki, the leader of her troop of monkeys; Hariri, the problem solver in the forest; and Popo, a spy with his intelligence team of bats. Users fight off creatures to get to the final destination.  

Kyansimire Oroni, a stop motion animator from Inkspace Bureau, will use his Sh2 million to shoot ‘Hatukufi Bado’, a stop motion animation film about the Gen Z-led protests last year.

“The resolve to do something about what goes on in the journey sparks in their minds. Protests were initially for certain people, but these women, like many youths last year, did soul-searching and had to take part,” explains Kyansimire.

The Création Africa programme implemented by the Alliance Française received 232 submissions of digital creations with a total ask of Sh464 million.

The 158 entries of performance arts from 10 counties had a total ask of Sh147 million, both figures revealing the huge funding demands in the creative sector.

Alliance Française Cultural Affairs Director Harsita Waters, who was also a jury member, said the artists were selected based on their ingenuity, themes of their works, and the impact of their productions.  

The performing artists will tour venues in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Lamu. “The performing groups will take their original quality productions across the Creative Arts Spaces in Kenya (CASiK) network and expand their audiences across the country,” said Harsita.