NEW GALLERY OPENS UP POSSIBILITIES FOR VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTISTS

By margaretta wa gacheru (28 November 2023) Ardhi Gallery is turning out to be one of the most vibrant and versatile art spaces in Nairobi. They have only been open for the last few months, but like another venue, the French Cultural Centre when it was establishing itself in the city many years ago, Ardhi made its space available to virtually every artist that needed a public venue to get the word out that they are painting, drawing, sculpting, or printmaking. Christine Ogano, the gallery’s owner and chief curator was also new on the job. “I wanted artists to feel free to come and show their art here. I wasn’t discriminating or rejecting anyone since I wanted [visual] artists to come,” which Christine told BD Life shortly before the end of her current exhibition, Art Fusion. “Our current show, which is all about the fusion of art and fashion has proved to be so popular, we decided to extend it until early January,” Christine added. Art Fusion is one of a stream of exhibitions that the gallery has had this year. The shows normally fill her vast basement gallery which is just beneath her husband’s restaurant. She also just had a brief exhibition of miniature paintings which she hung outside, in the open air. “The miniatures show was well-received since most of the artists were young and prepared to keep their art affordable,” she said. Art Fusion is the gallery’s most ambitious Pan-African showcase that Christine has curated thus far. “We have 33 artists represented in the show. They come from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda as well as from Nigeria and Ghana,” she noted. It has taken a while to assemble this collection since much of it had to be sent from the artist’s home country, so that has been a major challenge. Christine now admits it may have been a good thing that she hadn’t known beforehand how complicated the shipping process could be, since she might not have embarked on the exhibition in the first place. Or minimized it somewhat. But her being a banker by day and a curator and gallery owner by night and on weekends has taken its toll. Christine sleeps less these days, but she is happier nonetheless. “I have always had a passion for art, and dreamed of having a gallery of my own. But I hadn’t seen myself actually owning one. So I’m grateful. My husband has been really encouraging,” she said. Meanwhile, it wasn’t only visual artists who have been eyeing the Ardhi space and its potential for use as a performing arts venue. Millicent Ogutu, the former managing director of Phoenix Players as well as a stage producer, director, and actor saw that potential and recently proved its worth. Her company, Kibanda Theatre, working with the research team at the Venio Group, just staged an original piece, ‘What we have/What we need’ downstairs at the gallery, amidst colorful paintings and prints in the exhibition. These are by everyone from the Tanzanian artist Masoud Kibwana, the Rwandese Romeo Niyigena, and Ugandan Michael Dungu to the Nigerian Emmanuel Idowu, Ghanaian Oyekale Segun, and a wide assortment of Kenyans, including Tom Mboya, Mbugua Kimani, Jane Gathoni, Maria Kwamboka, and Evans Linyerera among many others. The paintings served as a beautiful backdrop to the story, which was based on the research of Dr Njoki Ngumi and Elizabeth Maina related to women’s sexual and reproductive health and Rights (SRHR). And while the stage was definitely make-shift, it served its purpose. The only shortcoming was the show’s MC and her microphone which was quite unnecessary. What worked the best was when Arthur Sanye came on ‘stage’ without using a mic and his story was clear, his power of projection ensured his voice was crystal clear. Lorna Lemi also didn’t use a microphone, although perhaps she should’ve since her sensitive portrayal of one woman’s feelings came across as a whisper. One had to be a lip reader to know what she had to say. Millicent’s production was staged in the round, in one remote and intimate corner of the gallery. Designed as a series of monologues and based on interviews with women from West and East Africa, the other two actors, Fulky Agnes and Hannah Wangare also told stories about women’s relationships that touched our hearts. But one couldn’t leave the performance without making a quick dash around Art Fusion, an exhibition that’s bound to captivate someone in a corner where they will find an artist’s work that they have never seen before.

AMAHL, A PERFECT OPERA STORY FOR THE SEASON

BY mARGARETTA WA gACHERU (POSTED nOVEMBER 27, 2023 Opera is a form of theatre that most Kenyans don’t know much about. Yet it’s easy to understand once you see it as a form of storytelling using music and song as its key components. It’s very much like musical theatre, only that the voices must be trained to a professional standard of beauty, audibility, and articulation which is so clear and strong that the singers never need a microphone to be heard and ought to always be accompanied by a live orchestra. Baraka Opera Kenya was started by Rhoda Ondeng Wilhelmsen with the specific goal to promote opera by staging wonderful stories with the desire to arouse broad public appreciation of opera. It was launched a decade ago with the performance by her company of Kenya’s first indigenous opera entitled Nyanga, Runaway Grandmother. “It was based on the life of my own grandmother who ran away from her village to become a Christian [and to marry Rhoda’s grandfather, a Christian missionary],” Rhoda, a professional opera singer herself, told BD Life late last year when the opera was being restaged. Baraka Opera Kenya ushered in the holiday season this past weekend with the glorious production of ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors’ at the Visa Oshwal Auditorium. Amahl may not be as well-known a Christmas story as for instance, Charles Dickens’ novelle, A Christmas Carol or the animated cartoon adaptations of the holiday classic like Scrooge: A Christmas Carol and Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. But it’s a beautiful story, especially as it was adapted for Kenyan audiences by Michael James who also conducted the BOK orchestra, assisted by his wife Chiru. The story itself is a charming one. It’s based on the Nativity story and the coming of the three kings who are following the Star which they know is guiding them to the new-born babe, the Christ child. All three are kings bearing gifts to give the babe, gold and exotic spices The story (all of which is sung) is set in the home of Amahl and his destitute, widowed mother. Amahl is a shepherd boy who can only walk with a crutch that he’s made himself. It is dusk and he is seated outside, watching a giant star shine right over his home. His mother calls him to come inside, but he’s in no hurry. He is clearly a mischievous little boy who’s adored by his mother. But because he’s told her so many fanciful tales in the past, she doesn’t believe him when he speaks about a brightly shining star. Finally, he comes in and she reveals her fears for their future since they have nothing more to sell, so they may have to begin begging to stay alive. He is not bothered by the prospect as long as they stay together. Their story is beautifully sung by the 12-year-old Barak Malachi Mwangi as Amahl and Mariah Gichu as his mum. But then, after they sleep, knocks at the door rouse Amahl who refuses to let the gentlemen in. Finally, Mama Amahl goes to the door and welcomes in the three kings. They explain that they are following the star. Meanwhile, the mama has sent Amahl to get the villagers to come greet and entertain the visitors with song and dancing. Then the three men sleep, but the mama is tempted by the gold which she feels she needs to save her son. Of course, she is caught, and the kings tell her she can keep the gold since the Christ child has come to build God’s kingdom not with gold but with Love. She is so moved by his message that she gives all the gold back and wishes she had more to give to the babe. So does Amahl who offers his crutch and claims he wants to go with them to meet the Messiah and give him the one thing of value that he has. It’s by that act of selflessness that Amahl is suddenly healed and is able to walk again. After that they head out together, and we are also meant to learn the value and power of selfless love. It's a beautiful story written in 1951 by the Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti. It was the first opera ever written for American television. It’s been performed annually ever since. The second half of the musical showcase was a beautiful Pan-African collection of Christmas carols, several of which the audience at Chandaria Auditorium were invited to since along with.

MAMMA MIA MAKES FUN WITH POP-MUSIC

Theatre may still be an extracurricular activity at Brookhouse school, meaning the student doesn’t get graded in the activity, but still, the students as well as the faculty throw themselves with a passion into the performing arts. That could be easily seen last week at the Karen branch of the school when they staged ‘Mamma Mia!’ The musical, which is based around the pop-music of the Swedish band ABBA that took the world by storm in the mid-Seventies and early Eighties. The group broke up in the Eighties, but then their album came out years later, and again, they hit number one on the pop charts for weeks. Then when Mama Mia! The Musical was devised, it too became a blockbuster. When the show was finally made into a film, ABBA’s popularity got even bigger since not only did the baby-boomers know all the words by heart. Their children and grandchildren were loving the film and learning to sing along with the elders. That timeless magic of the music apparently had the same impact on students from the upper school who clambered to be in the musical. Around 150 went on stage as both dancers and singers, to fill the school’s spacious auditorium with joy and reverie. The beauty of ABBA’s music is that it’s filled with stories simply told and musically rendered by the two composer-lyricists, Benny Andersson and Bjm Ulvaeus who were also members of the ABBA quartet. The music was made to sing along to, which is why it’s been translated into so many languages (even Chinese) and staged worldwide. The Brookhouse production could easily be the first to be staged in Africa, with the students, mentored and directed by gifted teachers, giving the show their all. The musical is essentially a romantic comedy with an inter-generational edge since both Donna (Stephanie Muiruri) and her daughter Sophie (Nolwazi Ndlova) are the co-stars of the show. Their story is set on a remote tropical island where Donna, a single mother, runs an old tavern and has raised her lovely daughter to be as strong and committed feminist as she has always been. The problem is Sophie has picked up her mother’s independent spirit but reversed her gender ethics. Where Donna grew up just as the sexual revolution in the States was taking off, Sophie had gone back to the tradition of abstinence until marriage. Thus, the 20-year-old Sophie plans to be married to Sky (Nate Mwangi), which absolutely freaks out her mother who can’t understand how her daughter could make such a radical reversal of all that she believes in, namely freedom, equality, and independence and the firm determination not to depend on a man to lead a good life. The show’s story begins on the day before the wedding. Sophie has always had a nagging curiosity to know who her father is. So when she discovers her mother’s early diary, she gets closer to finding out who her daddy is. Sophie found three men who her mom had discussed in the diary. So she secretly writes and invites all three to attend her wedding which is taking place the following day. Hoping to have her authentic dad walk her down the aisle, she meets all three as they get off the boat. She then sweetly explains that Donna doesn’t know they were coming because she is the one who invited them. It doesn’t take long for Sam (Leon Muriuki)), Harry (Paul Turray), and Bill (Andrew Momany) to figure out who she is and how they are indeed her father. Of course, they don’t know that Donna had slept with all three around the same time. All three are happy to walk Sophie down the aisle! Sophie faints at the realization that she had generated a disaster in the making. As it turns out, Donna knows who the father is, and is furious that he has come. But as Sophie reaches the alter, the tide turns sharply and she decides she doesn’t want to get married. Instead, there’s a reconciliation between Sam and Donna who utilize the Pastor who has come to marry Sophie and Sky. Now he’s going to do the ceremony (as spontaneous as it is) for Donna and Sam. The musical is meant to be a light-hearted romantic fantasy, which is the best way to see this unrealistic resolution. It works for Sophie who now will have a father for the first time and it works for Donna who’s finally back with the love of her life.

MISSING MARKS BLENDS HILARITY WITH HYSTERIA, Mbogo style

by Margaretta wa Gacheru (POSTEDNov 22, 2023) Prevail Presents recently put together an almost impeccable set of elements required to produce an award-winning play. They included a genius script, sensitive director, and gifted cast who could easily grasp the levity, lyricism, and alacrity behind playwright, Fred Mbogo’s words. Prevail may have fallen down on set design which was nothing special, and time management, starting the show a half hour late. But how could they have known the public was coming out in full force to watch Fred’s latest script, ‘Those with missing marks cannot graduate’. Or maybe they came because they love Martin Kigondu’s (who’s also a playwright and actor) directorial skills. Or because they appreciate cast members like Justin Mirichii [who recently played Pilate with Chemichemi Players] or Bilal Mwaura [last seen in Kigondu’s Matchstick Man] or even Justin Karunguru (who’s much love for his comedic antics in the improvisational show, Because You said so). For whatever reason, more than a house-ful of theatre lovers showed up at Ukumbi Mdogo last Friday night right when the show was about to begin. They all wanted to be accommodated, so Prevail requested we be patient as they filled the aisles with plastic chairs so that all could finally get in. And they weren’t disappointed. Basically, the tale is about the dysfunctionality of the public university system in Kenya today. But Mbogo’s storytelling isn’t that simple. It’s illustrated in the lives of anyone who has expectations of receiving anything essential from the system. It could be a paycheck, as sought by lecturer Mr. Kiprong (Bilal Mwangi), or a signature, needed by the acting department head, Dr. Joseph Birunda (Justin Karunguru), or notice of a job interview (like Dr Friedah Mbula’s (Angela Mwandanda), or the missing marks sought by Justin Mirichii’s character, Maina Njoka for his daughter to graduate. Yet as much as the situation might seem bleak, (given it’s all about those victimized by the broken system), Mbogo somehow manages to keep his script light and ironic. We often get glimpses of the absurdity of it all. But there’s also a serious sense of realism seen between the lines of humor and hysteria, irony and angst, frustration and future hopes of truly ‘corruption-free’ campuses all over Kenya. Those sentiments are played out most strikingly in the performance of Justin Mirichii, whose social persona disappears completely as he presents himself credibly as a peasant from upcountry who wants nothing more than to find his daughter’s missing marks. He’s even prepared to chain himself to the Principal’s desk, not budging till he gets them. Meanwhile, the principal is going nuts over his bosses not giving him a green light to attend an academic conference in Zimbabwe. It finally comes but not before his frustrations get so raw his shouts are at par with those of the angry father. Then comes Bilal’s character, Kiprong (the long-suffering, unpaid lecturer), prepared to spur on the Dad who’s protesting till those missing marks get found. The irony is that Kiprong is protesting too, only his strategy involves omitting students’ marks (including Njoka’s daughter’s) until he gets his cheques long overdue. Once Njoka gets the picture, he’s obviously relieved. He now knows the source of the omission and the guy who’s going to give back the missing marks. And lest we forget, the one female lecturer in the play, Dr Friedah Mbula (Angela Mwandanda) exposes the misogyny ingrained in the male-dominated system. Not that she made a dent in her department head’s, Dr Birunda’s attitude. But at least the issue was identified. Now it can be rectified. The climax of the play, leading to a liberation of sorts, comes as Kiprong agrees to return the missing marks and the dad agreeing to go home happily. But as the hysteria and hilarity subside, we are still left wondering when and how the broken system will get fixed. Mbogo’s play can’t tell us that. It has us laughing through our tears. He raises serious issues, such as ‘what is to be done?’ to rectify a system so broken that it has accelerated Kenya’s brain drain which has led to literally thousands of the country’s best minds fleeing the country and scattering for work all over the world. Fortunately, the protests are growing, including Mbogo’s sharp but subtle rebuke to bosses and politicians who don’t have their people’s best interests at heart. It’s time for them to go. But first, let them give us back all the billions they got by underhanded ways and means.

MY BODY BETRAYED ME AGAIN FULL OF SURPRISES

By Margaretta wa Gacheru... My body has betrayed me again’ was initially conceived as a short story by Ndegwa Nguru. It was then transformed into an audio-play interpreted by Jim Chuchu in a podcast that Joseph Obel heard and felt compelled to respond to creatively, in his own artistic way. “Joseph was so moved by what he heard in the podcast, he devised, produced, and directed the show we have just seen,” Obel’s co-producer Esther Kamba told BDLife on the show’s opening night at the FEMLAB in Westlands. Clearly, the solo performance was a deeply personal expression by Obel of the challenges both he and the author have faced, growing up in a world that still largely treats gay people as aliens and outcasts even when they are making immense contributions in their respective fields of practice, especially in the performing arts. Obel’s production aims to defy those stereotypic tropes of gay people as being bestial and alien, outsiders who should never be let into society, leave alone lauded for their public contributions. Nonetheless, he starts his performance with sound, sound that suggested it might be coming from alien territory since it has an extra-terrestrial aura to it. The alien echoes, generated by sound masters Emmaus kimani and …./ give way to sounds of the Nairobi streets. Matatu touts or manambas call out for customers. But then, they have a special style of mockery for an effeminate fellow like Obel’s androgenous man. By now, the mocked one has suffered years of cruelty from classmates who, early on, could see that his body was already ‘betraying’ him. He walked like a girl and moved like a model. And it would seem he had ‘queer DNA’, meaning it wasn’t just a fad imported from the West that he was emulating. It was an implicit quality received from birth and unlikely to be ‘cast out’ or exorcised by religious means, however much one might believe otherwise. In any case, Obel spent much of his performance strutting on high heels and swinging his hips in a fashion nearly as stylish as the elegant strut of a Naomi Campbell. As it turns out, in real life, Obel is a fashion model as well as a thespian. But where he did fall short was in his choreography. That is to say he had set up so many open-ended situations where his body movement could have dramatized so much more story if he had worked with a choreographer. The other area of contention is costuming. Obel was sharing stories about how gays were victimized. Yet to his credit, his actions mostly reflected the resistance to and defiance of the oppressive and undermining encounters that came his way. Freedom of expression is the ethic that comes through in My Body. It also underlies the totality of his performance. And it’s the costuming that confirms that commitment. Yet I really wondered if just a simple black drape was sufficient to enable him to express himself fully? Those who saw the contours of his long, lean, and lanky body will most likely agree that we saw his embodiment of freedom in the near nudity that he gave us in the last few minutes of the play. He moved with so much vigor in his dance that his black drape went flying. One assumes it was meant to do so. But either way, one wasn’t shocked by the no-drape effect, only suggesting that the next time he performs the show, he pays more attention to costuming. The drape covered up the beads, bangles, and totem-like necklaces that covered the guy until the drape flew off. After that, those totems served as his attire. Speaking to Esther Kamba after the show, she implied that some of what we watched may have been improvised and unanticipated. But if that is true, Obel didn’t have a problem strutting without shame since his body is well-toned, shapely, and well-suited for a career in modeling as well as on stage. His was a brave endeavor and we applaud him for that. However, the ending of the show felt anti-climactic. unfinished and unresolved.. “Joseph wanted it to end that way,” says Esther. But if his defiance has ultimately turned into outrage at the lack of tolerance, kindness, and love of the haters he knows, Obel feels that by ending with him banging on floor, he’s implicit affirming the idea, ‘A luta continua,’ the struggle continues. And so will he.

THE NUTCRACKER 2023 WILL BE MORE MAGICAL THAN EVER

By Margaretta wa Gacheru... The Nutcracker opened this past weekend, but the Gala is this coming weekend at Kenya National Theatre. But my preview story can work for anyone keen to know the backstory of the Christmas musical and the show's artistic director. So here you are: The beauty of attending a dress rehearsal for Dance Centre Kenya’s annual holiday musical, The Nutcracker is in meeting the show’s artistic director, Cooper Rust. What’s marvelous to see is the passion she puts into her pedagogy, which is not only about dancing with perfect precision, balance, and grace. It’s also about literally keeping her students on their toes, to stay alert and follow all the corrections, critiques, and clear directions that she commands to be followed to the ‘t’, precisely. If she can be characterized by a single word, it would be perfectionist. Yet however much she speaks at a decibel loud enough to fill every inch of space in any one of the three Dance Centre’s studios all around Nairobi, her students listen intently and immediately try to respond accordingly. She has the aura of charisma and control that makes young dancers delight in pleasing her if they possibly can. She trains them to do that, and she does it by actually dancing every part that needs special attention herself. She can demonstrate exactly what she wants for any particular part because of her history with the ballet. “I think I was three when I performed as a mouse in my first Nutcracker,” Cooper told BDLife as she reminisced on how she had performed in this Christmas classic practically every year since then. The other reason she can demonstrate what she wants from her students by doing it herself is because she has been a professional ballerina who danced with several professional ballet companies in the States before deciding to work with underprivileged youth in Kenya. It was that surprising shift of life priorities that led her to meet and teach young people from Kibera. Among them were Joel Kioko and Lavinder Orisa, both of whom (among many others) she mentored, not just in the dance studio, but also in her home where she’s brought a number of Kibera kids who she saw had immense potential but still required special tuition to prepare them to go places she envisioned for them, both socially and professionally. That multi-disciplinary training is what enabled both Joel and Lavinder to be invited to study and dance at the English National Ballet School. Joel, who is several years ahead of Lavinder, went on to work with the acclaimed Alvin Ailey Dance Company of Chicago, USA. But he had planned to return to Kenya especially to be in this year’s ‘Nutcracker’. However, at the last minute, his plans were changed. “Joel just got a job dancing with the Milwaukee Ballet Company,” Cooper told BDLife shortly after she got the news herself. But Lavinder, being several years younger than Joel, just got back from London and will star as this year’s Sugar Plum Fairy. She will be dancing opposite the fabulous principal dancer from the Turkish State Ballet and Opera Company, Yigit Erhan, who had just flown to Kenya to join his good friend Cooper as DCK’s Guest Artist performing in The Nutcracker. He will dance the part of the Prince, a role Cooper re-choreographed in order to maximize on Yigit’s special gifts as a dancer. For he dances like a flying angel, swirling above ground as if his feet defied gravity. One might even describe him as the Michael Jordon of the DCK ballet. Yigit’s premiere performance in a DCK production was in 2020 when he starred as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and was warmly received for his performance. The Nutcracker was originally commissioned by the director of Moscow’s Imperial Theatre in 1891. It premiered in St. Petersburg with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Marius Petipa a week before Christmas in 1892. Since then, everyone from George Balanchine and Rudolf Nureyev to Mikhail Baryshnikov and our Cooper Rust has choreographed their own version of what has now become a holiday classic staged all over the world. Cooper admits she tweaks the ballet dance-wise every year, depending on various factors, but always, the goal has been to maximize the beauty of the performance and allow her students to shine. This year, Tchaikovsky’s music will be performed live by the DCK Orchestra under the professional baton of conductor Levy Wataka. And a new backdrop is being painted by the Kenyan artist, Robinson. The costuming has also been given special attention as parents are also enlisted to help the Centre create an even more magical experience at this year’s Nutcracker. The Gala night will be Saturday, December 2nd, but the first performances will be this coming weekend, from Friday, November 24th to Sunday, November 26th.

CHELENGE AT NCAI AS A RETROSPECTIVE

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted November 19, 2023) Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, NCAI, has again curated a fabulous retrospective exhibition of one of the country’s most illustrious female artist. Chelenge van Rampelenge often describes herself as self-taught. But I am more inclined to describe her as a Renaissance woman. She is someone, who like Michaelangelo left formal schooling early on, but who went ahead to make many artistic breakthroughs fueled by her immense energy, curiosity, and determination to pursue a career as an artist. “Before I knew what an artist actually was, I knew I was different,” Chelenge told BD Life just days after her solo exhibition “The Long Way Home” opened at NCAI. “I also knew that my father meant no harm when I heard him tell my mother I should have been born a boy,” she added, referring to his intuitive sense that her difference was an artistic strength more often associated with men than women. “But I was always hanging out with the boys up until I was 14,” she noted. From an early age, she was also spending lots of time with her father, a weekend furniture maker. “From age 5, I was playing with wood chips he used to leave as he carved. I also used to play with his hammers and chisels,” she said, never imagining at the time that those memorable moments with her father foreshadowed a blossoming career as a sculptor and printmaker. Chelenge’s other source of inspiration was her grandmother, a woman who used beads to decorate calabashes and make colorful jewelry. She was also a fascinating storyteller whose stories Chelenge says continue to serve as the subjects of many of the paintings and sculptures. As you enter the first room of her exhibition, you will see some of her earliest paintings and the first sculpture she created, that of her mother and herself as the child. What the exhibition doesn’t include is any of the jewelry that Chelenge made, inspired by the beadwork of her grandmother. “After I left school, I had to earn a living and jewelry is what earned me my first paycheck,” Chelenge said. “I had gone to African Heritage Gallery and [Alan Donovan’s assistant] saw the beaded jewelry I was wearing and asked if I could make her a bracelet like mine. When I brought it to her the next week, she handed me a cheque which I hadn’t expected. But after that, I started selling my jewelry as the Gallery as well as at the Maasai Market. Soon after that her husband Marc discovered Chelenge had been drawing and painting in secret. He quickly alerted his friend, Ruth Schaffner of Gallery Watatu who became another source of inspiration, encouraging her to come out and feel free to express herself more fully. But the sculpture came by another means. She had an avocado tree, that somehow had split so that half of it was dying. “I was concerned the dying branches might fall and do damage to our roof, so I called people to chop half of the tree down. It was from that tree that I saw the sculptures I was meant to create,” she said, speaking like a visionary. It was from then on that Chelenge picked up the skills she’d begun to develop as a child, working with a hammer and chisel, mallot and nails. Increasingly, her attention was given to working with woods, including the avocado as well as the jacaranda, ebony, and indigenous mahogony. In her Retrospective show, one will see no less than 17 of her sculptures, one of the most spectacular of which was shipped all the way from Japan just to be part of the exhibition. But then, there are still more sculptures at her home which is literally in the bush at Kitengela. “I didn’t want the show to feel cluttered with too many sculptures,” said Chelenge who also included her etchings and woodcut prints as important elements of the retrospective. Inviting us to come visit her at her home where I had come before and drank goat’s milk for the first time. “I won’t be able to serve you that goat’s milk now since a leopard came and ate the goat,” she casually noted. But her comment reflects just how fearless Chelenge is. “I love my home,” she says, noting the title of her retrospective, The long way home, is more than a metaphor. It’s also a specific place. “This exhibition is also like coming home for me. It’s a wonderful experience and I’m grateful.”

MATCHSTICK MEN GRAPPLES WITH TRAUMA

Trauma is not an easy concept to understand as one would have seen last weekend when Prevail Arts presented ‘Matchstick Men’ at Kenya Cultural Centre. Trauma is defined in one dictionary as simply ‘a deeply distressing experience’, But the consequences of such experiences are not easily understood. Yet they can shatter relationships, turn one’s life upside down, and even disable someone’s grasp on reality. Martin Kigondu chose to tackle the topic of trauma sometime after the 2007-2008 post-election violence that rocked the country and traumatized whole families and communities. Shem (Emmanuel Mulili) is one man who’s been deeply traumatized by the violence that robbed him of his wife; but as the play opens, one cannot see visible scars on his body nor detect a psychological scar when his friend (Bilal Mwaura) arrives late for their meeting. There’s a white medic’s jacket on a chair in their meeting room that suggests this might be a psychiatric session. But then, who’s the doctor and which one’s the patient? One can’t be sure since both men seem to have issues. What’s more, as their conversation opens up and they start to address more intimate, personal topics, they seem to get eluded, intertwined in word games and mental twists and turns. Shem seems to be especially good at this sort of stone-walling, remaining with what the Shrink (who we have figured out is Mwaura) believes are Shem’s secret demons. Yet just as their hour-long session is about to end, there seems to be a breakthrough in Shem’s steel-clad story (that even he doesn’t remember). That’s when we see the Shrink step out of the room and tell his nurse he needs a ‘double session’ with this patient. But he quickly steps back into their interchange to try to unravel Shem’s traumatic experiences with his parents and also with his wife. As it turns out, both of those experiences were deeply traumatizing. So much so that Shem apparently buried them down in the deep recesses of his psyche. He unconsciously stashed them so far away from his rational consciousness that they might never hurt him again. Both traumas were closely associated with his close encounters with violence and death. They began in his childhood when he watched his cruel step-father beat up his gentle mum. The violence inflicted on her was so intense one night that Shem at aged 11 was now strong enough to fight back. He pushed the man down a flight of stairs, at the bottom of which the man lay dead. Yes, Shem had actually killed his step-dad. The other truly disturbing experience happened during post-election-violence when terrorists broke into his house, raped, killed, and chopped off the hand of his wife. It goes without saying that the loss of his wife by those exceedingly cruel and violent means must have had a profound impact on Shem. The Shrink had sought to unearth both of these ugly experiences so that Shem could reconcile himself to what really happened. The play ended rather inconclusively since Shem was now stuck having to address the guilt that he must have buried all those years. The Shrink had succeeded, but poor Shem. Beautifully sensitive performances by both Mwaura and Mulili. ++++++++5666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666a sensitive, loving man which shem had been. Now he is numb, and this was why his sister, a friend of the Shrink, decided it was imperative to get to the root of her brother’s problem. Otherwise, the State could take him away and his problem would never be treated. Matchstick Man is an elusive script aimed at unraveling the truth about one man’s traumatizing experiences and breaking through the mental barriers that obstructed his grappling with his demons. At the end of the play, we naturally do not find out what Shem will do with all of this unadulterated information. He looks shocked by these discoveries about what he’s done in his life, and what he can actually do with this information. The two actors have a wonderful chemistry that enabled them to naturally swing from a sensitive exchange of ideas into a well-choreographed brawl that went on for several minutes, but is beautifully choreographed, rather like a brutal wrestling match. It was as if the demons that were gripping Shem’s spirit and memory were battling to remain in Shem’s head. But in the end, they lose their place and disappear. It’s a warfare reminiscent of several in the Bible, especially the one between Jacob and an unnamed angel who ultimately gives Jacob a new name, that of 'Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and has prevailed.' (Gen 32:28)

ART AUCTION AS A SECONDARY MARKET MADE MILLIONS

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (composed nov 15, 2023)

This year’s Art Auction East Africa was a highly anticipated affair. For not only was it the first time the auction would be held at the Circle Art Gallery, from where it was actually hatched by the founder of both Circle Art and the Auction, Danda Jaroljmek. In previous years, Danda had taken the event to fancy five-star hotels. But having recently moved the gallery to a new and more spacious arena, it made sense to bring the auction home to Circle as well. However, it’s still an experiment. “We finally have a large enough space to hold the auction right here,” said Danda who now has been able to not only curate the auction but also hang it with time and space to spare. She’s also able to control the lighting and sound as well as the filming of gallery exhibitions and the auction itself.

The experimental nature of this year’s auction extends to the fact that practically all the sumptuous mix of 45 paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures has come to Circle, using it as a secondary (or resale) market. “That is what we had expected the auction to eventually become,” she noted, adding that collectors have various motives for delivering their art for resale. For some, it may simply be that finances are tight at home, and whereas the collector might or might not have actually bought art for its investment value, knowing that art invariably accrues in value over time, its sale at auction would bring in some much-needed funds. What many collectors realize is that rather than trying to sell a work of art by themselves (and making a pittance in the process), they can earn a whole lot more if their art sells at auction. If it doesn’t sell, that is another story. And several works didn’t sell for whatever reason. In some cases, we saw how fickle the market can be. For instance, why did Ancent Soi’s Feeding Flamingos sell, but his Hat Maker did not? And why did Rosemary Karuga’s lovely collage get ‘bought in’ while her sculpture sold for far more than the top most ‘estimated value’ of her work. Her sculpture’s sale is what the audience who attend auctions in person come to watch. It’s the notorious ‘bidding wars,’ fought between competing bidders who professional auctioneer Philson Wamoja has to field. His job is no easy task since he has to watch those who are fielding on-line bidders as well as those on the phones and audience members who may also be part of the ‘war’. Fortunately, for every artwork that didn’t sell, there were pieces that either exceeded the estimated value or sold above the minimum estimate. For instance, Yony Waite’s impressionistic Migrants End sold for USD10,096, above the higher estimate. So did the Tanzanian artist Francis Imanjama’s Giraffes by selling for $2583. And so did another Tanzanian, David Mzuguno’s Jungle; by selling at USD4579 he too exceeded expectation. Of course, Richard Onyango’s I Love Africa painting of himself with his beloved Drosy sold for more (at USD4696) than expected. Onyango and Drosy especially are epic characters in Kenyan coastal art. The gallery was expecting both E.S. Tingatinga paintings to excell in value after previous bidding wars surprised everyone who witnessed the ferocity of that bidding. Neither painting exceeded the maximum estimate of USD15,000; but both got up to USD14088, so that can’t be considered bad news. Another one who didn’t quite go over the top was Shabu Mwangi. His Bedsitter painting didn’t reach the suggested maximum estimate of OSD5000. But it did sell for USD4461, which came pretty close. Two other sales that exceeded expectations were Ugandans Livingston GK Nkata’s Namanwe Forest at USD4109 (not USD3500) and Fred Mutebi’s A Dream at the Pealing Place for USD2818 (not USD2000). Ultimately, it was the two sculptures that most dramatically exceeded expectations and vindicated the value of both the artists and their works. Rosemary Karuga’s terracotta Mother and Child sold for USD9509, not the KSD7000 expected at best. And Gakunju Kaigwa’s Kisii stone Chai Motto went for USD7748, not the USD4000 anticipated. There was a sigh of relief especially after Kaigwa’s bidding war since there were several buy backs prior to his sculpture’s success. In all there were 45 lots that got auctioned (or not) by professional auctioneer Wajoma. They came from Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, DRC Congo, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. And in total, they made USD…..

ROSES OF BLOOD OPENS KITFEST 2023

Roses of Blood was one of the first plays staged at the Kenya International Theatre Festival (KITFEST) 2023, and as I’d felt committed to attending as many of the shows being performed at the Kenya National Theatre, I decided to attend. The title might have put me off. What did ‘roses of blood’ mean? Something gory, I guessed, but as it was coming from Mount Kenya University students, I figured I should just be adventurous and find out. The synopsis shared in the program was equally cryptic. It was about a dead woman, a madman, and a dysfunctional family. How grim. But again, it might have something of interest to communicate. The first thing that confirmed I had made the right choice was the set design. It was both mobile and portable, and once opened, stretched all across the wide National Theatre stage. Act one opened inside a mad house, or insane asylum. Mad people were misbehaving everywhere with the staff having little control over the scene. Even the doctor (Warren Othiambo) couldn’t take charge as he brought the family of their sick son, Stephen (Jacob Koli) for a visit. But Stephen seems oblivious to any need to interact with, acknowledge, or communicate in any way with his father Mr Johnson (Steve Odewa), mother (Marylyn Wangari), or brother Raul (Anthony Macharia). But he does seem to be tortured mentally. He hears voices, which we too get to hear. They are troubling to him, up until his dead sister appears, dressed in a pure white gown as if she was either a ghost or an angel. It’s as if we are meant to be climbing into his head since nobody else on stage can see or hear her but Stephen and us. The father isn’t pleased with his son’s behavior and sounds as if he would just as soon leave him there forever. But the mom urges him to be patient and understand the boy is ill. The issue that had made him sick was the news that his beloved sister Abigail (Irene Lucy Akinyi) was dead. The cause of her death is not explained and the dad claims he loved the girl too, but that doesn’t mean a real man would break down as Stephan has done. The family departs as the doctor is amusingly ineffectual. The set change is signaled with the lighting, which shifts to the room next door where Johnson and Raul are planning how to benefit themselves in the name of serving the community by setting up a water project which supposedly will serve the whole community. Now the scene has cleverly shifted to a flashback or prequel-side of this story. The water project was originally the dream of Johnson’s and his sister Audassia’s (Florence Nyasiwe) Dad. It’s Audassia’s plan to pick up the idea and run with it. She proposed it to her brother, Johnson, but this is when the crux of the story comes out. Johnson’s misogyny (hatred of women) comes out in all of its raw and self-righteous colors. It’s also deep-seated, ridged, and rooted somehow in what it means to be a man. At the same time, there’s an economic element to Johnson’s resistance to having his sister involved in the project. First and foremost, he’s already planning to rob the project and doesn’t need Stephanie snooping around and discovering his corrupt practices. So, to say that Johnson is threatened by Audacissia’s strength might not be initially apparent. But his attitude is ugly, argumentative, and self-serving. It’s also extremist and deeply insulting in its demeaning of the entire female gender. In any case, Audacissia ignores her brother’s opposition to her being involved in what he now sees as his family business. She proceeds anyway, enlisting her niece Stephany (an Akinyu look alike, Abigail Wangui) set up their own company in order to bid for and legally win the tender to carry out the whole water project. When Johnson hears about their plan and their efforts to take legal steps, his rage against his sister and daughter is manic. It leads one to seriously wonder if he isn’t the one with the more extreme mental problems. Johnson transmits that sense of intense, over-the-top outrage to his son Raul who, when he has a one-on-one conversation with Stephany, he’s also propelled by the dad’s insane misogyny. Thus, once Raul pulls out a knife, one could feel his vicious intent. It was truly a tense, threatening interchange between Stephany who was about to die, and Raul. But it was still a shock. What gave this story such a fascinating and powerful twist came in the final scene when not just Stephan, but even Raul and Johnson can also hear from beyond the grave. Stephany’s ‘ghost’ had struggled to break through that mental barrier that divides the living from the dead just to reach Steve. But the conditions were ripe for breaking through again and speaking first to Raul and then to Johnson. Somehow she was able to convey to her father that he had to loosen up and give the women a chance to be +``equal partners both in the water project and in life at large. Meanwhile, Raul was in agony, seeing what evil deed he had done to destroy the life of one human being. The show endS in contrition and in convincing us that Mt Kenya had an outstanding team of actors whose performance touched me deeply. They and their director and scriptwriter all dared to address some very relevant issues, doing so without belaboring points that might put us to sleep. Keep it up, good people.

PASSION INFUSES PHOTO PORTAITS OF PAN-AFRICA: CAROL AND ANGELA

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (POSTED NOVEMBER 7, 2023) Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher have been devoted to documenting the most authentic indigenous elements of African culture since they first met in Nairobi almost half a century ago. Their quest to photograph as many African ceremonies and traditional rituals as they could before those practices disappeared, led the two women to travel all around the region, often to remote areas where people still practiced their pre-colonial cultures. A marvelous sampling of those years is currently on display at the Tribal Gallery in Loresho. Entitled ‘Beauty Portrayed: 40 years of photography’, the exhibition features a fraction of their photographs taken in more than 40 African countries among 150 ethnic communities and including thousands of photos and films taken of peoples whose cultural practices are infused with significant meaning and ancestral memories. “What we found was that every element of beauty or artistry had a meaning behind it. For instance, you could look at a Maasai woman’s jewelry and know whether she was married, widowed, or divorced,” Angela explained. “The same was true with scarification,” she added, pointing to a Dinka elder whose forehead was scared in curves shaped like the horns of his favorite ox. “The man had been named after the ox, so the animal is his namesake. The scars signify how much he loves his ox,” she added. Every image in the show at Tribal has a fascinating story to go with it. But not just because you may never have heard of the group represented by the photo, such as the Kroba from Ghana or the Pende from the DR Congo or the Wodabbe from Niger who have an annual Charm Dance in which the men dress up and wear alluring makeup and the young women get to choose the man they wish to wed. What’s also fascinating about these two intrepid travelers is that they have never tired of moving out of most people’s comfort zones into new realms where the unknown is not a threat but rather, a pleasure for them to learn about. What is equally amazing is the way they have managed to established trust with all of these communities, so they have been able to attend their ceremonies and film or photograph them without losing the authenticity of the moment. For instance, they wanted to document the practices of the Surma people who were based in a remote region of northern Ethiopia. So, they took a plane to Addis Ababa and then hired a 15-mule train to travel up to that area. They rode the mules all the way there and then asked their guide to come back for them after six weeks. “As the guide didn’t have a watch or a calendar, he tied a rope with the six-week equivalent of knots, and then untied a knot every day until the knots were done. Then he came for us,” Carol recalled, still amazed by the man’s ingenuity. The most stunning feature of the Surma for Angela and Carol were the young women who prepared their body paint every day and covered their hair with beautiful flowers and stalks, shaped like ladies’ hats worn at the Ascot’s of UK. But equally dazzling at the Tribal are the photos of colorful costumes, made with raffia grass and millet stalks combined with wooden masks worn in Burkina Faso during vigorous dance ceremonies that appeal to the powers of nature and the ancestors to bring the rains and successful harvests that the whole community could enjoy. All of these delicious details are documented in their books, all of which but two of which are co-authored by the two photographers. The two that were not are Carol’s book on the Maasai and Angela’s book, Africa Adorned. They were in the works when the women first met, introduced by Angela’s brother. But as they rendezvoused at the African Heritage Pan African Gallery, it was the late Alan Donovan (who co-owned the gallery with Kenya’s second vice president Joseph Murumbi) who proudly contended that he was the one to bring the two women together. Whatever the case, Alan was an avid supporter of the women’s incredible work. What he understood was the passion that these women shared for their Pan-African project. It’s a project which they just put online in collaboration with Google as a permanent and free opportunity to see all of their photos, films, and stories at Africa online museum.org. But as valuable as is their collaboration with Google, it’s the collab that Carol and Angela have shared for almost half a century that’s the most remarkable of all.

JURIED MURDER CASE CRACKS OPEN THE ESSENCE OF JUSTICE

Unrelenting anger isn’t a narrative I’d be keen to watch on stage. But when it comes within the context of a trial to determine someone’s fate, it might make sense to check it out. A juried trial normally involves collective decision making, especially when there’s a jury of peers whose role it is to ensure that the one charged receives a verdict that is just. It is within such a deliberating process that we meet ’12 Angry Jurors’, the play produced by Igiza Productions last weekend at the Kenya Cultural Centre. Unfortunately, I found the incessant outrage of two jurors in the play tedious and over the top. It was unnecessarily rude, crude, malicious, and at times, even physically threatening. All of those emotions can have their place in a production, but not when they are nearly nonstop as they were in 12 Angry Jurors. The two jurors who were the chief disruptors of the deliberating process were Juror 3 (Jeff Obonyo) and Juror 10 (Samuel Ouma). Otherwise, there were six women and four men on the jury, including one strong female foreman. She (Lisa Odhiambo) was impressive in her ability to command and curtail the egotistical show-offs who tried to bully anyone who even hinted at the innocence of the young man charged with murder. Whether the motive of the bullies was simply to save time by voting to reach a unanimous verdict of guilty so they could go home early, wasn’t clear. We couldn’t know except initially, the first round of voting elicited 11 votes of guilty against the young man, age 19, who was charged with stabbing his father to death. There was just one, Juror 8 (Linda Kamuni) who voted against his guilt on the grounds that the final verdict had to be determined “beyond reasonable doubt’, and she didn’t believe the evidence presented in court had met that high standard. Juror 9, the old man of the 12, said he admired the courage of the hold-out position that Juror 8 had taken. It was the reason he was the first juror to change his vote and side with her. The bullies were all set to beat up Juror 5 (Allan Sifuna) since he too had expressed a hint of a second thought. But Juror 5 hadn’t ‘changed his vote. The wise old man had. Apparently, in most juried cases, the jurors are left to deliberate on their own. They can set their own rules, and come to their own conclusions using a secret ballot or open deliberations. But in this case, decision-making often felt like a battle ground since the bullies kept trying to take charge. The other key factor that Juror 8 observed was related to the lad’s defense. Since he had no funds to pay for a high-powered lawyer who could ensure he got a fair trial, the State gave him an inexperienced young advocate who she felt had left so many questions unanswered, which wasn’t good. Her points were so well taken by fellow jurors that ultimately, all 12 came around to her point of view. But surprisingly, it wasn’t a point that she raised that finally turned the tide. It was one made by the ever-so-delicate Juror 6 (Eve Kiragu), the one sometimes described as the ‘cry-baby’ of the crew. Juror 6 was sensitively portrayed as someone physically pained by the violence embodied in men like jurors 3 and 19. But she must have gained some courage when she realized no one else had her concerns so she would have to speak up or else the boy would probably be convicted of murder. So, Juror 6 finally spoke up. She asked how could the little old lady who was near-sighted and living across the street actually have seen the boy stab his dad? She had been wakened just before the incident occured, but where did she find the time to locate her glasses. put them on, and then witness the murder across the street? . “All she must have seen was a big blur,” Juror 6 finally got up her nerve to say. The actor got her timing just right. There were several times before when she had tried to speak, but didn’t have the strength or courage to stand up for truth. When she finally did, all the rest quickly agreed with her perspective. And voi la! A unanimous vote for ‘not guilty’ was reached. So, apart from the two terrorists among the 12, Igiza also won the day.

MT KENYA U. AT KITFEST ADDRESSING MADNESS, MANIA, AND MURDER

Roses of Blood was one of the first plays staged at the Kenya International Theatre Festival (KITFEST) 2023, and as I’d felt committed to attending as many of the shows being performed at the Kenya National Theatre, I decided to attend. The title might have put me off. What did ‘roses of blood’ mean? Something gory, I guessed, but as it was coming from Mount Kenya University students, I figured I should just be adventurous and find out. The synopsis shared in the program was equally cryptic. It was about a dead woman, a madman, and a dysfunctional family. How grim. But again, it might have something of interest to communicate. The first thing that confirmed I had made the right choice was the set design. It was both mobile and portable, and once opened, stretched all across the wide National Theatre stage. Act one opened inside a mad house, or insane asylum. Mad people were misbehaving everywhere with the staff having little control over the scene. Even the doctor (Warren Othiambo) couldn’t take charge as he brought the family of their sick son, Stephen (Jacob Koli) for a visit. But Stephen seems oblivious to any need to interact with, acknowledge, or communicate in any way with his father Mr Johnson (Steve Odewa), mother (Marylyn Wangari), or brother Raul (Anthony Macharia). But he does seem to be tortured mentally. He hears voices, which we too get to hear. They are troubling to him, up until his dead sister appears, dressed in a pure white gown as if she was either a ghost or an angel. It’s as if we are meant to be climbing into his head since nobody else on stage can see or hear her but Stephen and us. The father isn’t pleased with his son’s behavior and sounds as if he would just as soon leave him there forever. But the mom urges him to be patient and understand the boy is ill. The issue that had made him sick was the news that his beloved sister Abigail (Irene Lucy Akinyi) was dead. The cause of her death is not explained and the dad claims he loved the girl too, but that doesn’t mean a real man would break down as Stephan has done. The family departs as the doctor is amusingly ineffectual. The set change is signaled with the lighting, which shifts to the room next door where Johnson and Raul are planning how to benefit themselves in the name of serving the community by setting up a water project which supposedly will serve the whole community. Now the scene has cleverly shifted to a flashback or prequel-side of this story. The water project was originally the dream of Johnson’s and his sister Audassia’s (Florence Nyasiwe) Dad. It’s Audassia’s plan to pick up the idea and run with it. She proposed it to her brother, Johnson, but this is when the crux of the story comes out. Johnson’s misogyny (hatred of women) comes out in all of its raw and self-righteous colors. It’s also deep-seated, ridged, and rooted somehow in what it means to be a man. At the same time, there’s an economic element to Johnson’s resistance to having his sister involved in the project. First and foremost, he’s already planning to rob the project and doesn’t need Stephanie snooping around and discovering his corrupt practices. So, to say that Johnson is threatened by Audacissia’s strength might not be initially apparent. But his attitude is ugly, argumentative, and self-serving. It’s also extremist and deeply insulting in its demeaning of the entire female gender. In any case, Audacissia ignores her brother’s opposition to her being involved in what he now sees as his family business. She proceeds anyway, enlisting her niece to set up their own company in order to bid for and legally win the tender to carry out the whole water project. When Johnson hears about their plan and their efforts to take legal steps, his rage against his sister and daughter is manic. It leads one to seriously wonder if he isn’t the one with the more extreme mental problems. Johnson transmits that sense of intense, over-the-top outrage to his son Raul who, when he has a one-on-one conversation with Stephany, he’s also propelled by the dad’s insane misogyny. Thus, once Raul pulls out a knife, one could feel his vicious intent. It was truly a tense, threatening interchange between Stephany who was about to die, and Raul. But it was still a shock. What gave this story such a fascinating and powerful twist came in the final scene when not just Stephan, but even Raul and Johnson can also hear from beyond the grave. Stephany’s ‘ghost’ had struggled to break through that mental barrier that divides the living from the dead just to reach Steve. But the conditions were ripe for breaking through again and speaking first to Raul and then to Johnson. Somehow she was able to convey to her father that he had to loosen up and give the women a chance to be equal partners both in the water project and in life at large. Meanwhile, Raul was in agony, seeing what evil deed he had done to destroy the life of one human being. The show endS in contrition and in convincing us that Mt Kenya had an outstanding team of actors whose performance touched me deeply. They and their director and scriptwriter all dared to address some very relevant issues, doing so without belaboring points that might put us to sleep. Keep it up, good people.