The Jahazi Journal

Encouraging dialogue, shared experiences and policy direction for the creative and cultural sector in East Africa

Culture

We embrace culture as a dynamic, inalienable driver of identity, community and development

Art

We believe in the intrinsic human ability to make, for its own sake, but also for gain and the importance of the artist.

Performance

We cherish the ephemeral yet eternal, transcendence of the performative arts and their role in society.

Arts, Digital Technology & The Gen Z Protests in Kenya​

This issue of Jahazi critically examines the interplay between technology and culture. It investigates how advancements in technology have impacted creative writing, pedagogy, and the preservation of traditional practices such as games. It also explores how youth have employed digital platforms to organize and sustain collective social actions with remarkable efficiency and scope.

This issue situates technology as an integral component of contemporary cultural practice, reflecting its pervasive influence on expression, organization, and societal interaction. By exploring these themes, Jahazi seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the evolving relationship between technological innovation and cultural development.

Perspectives on Theatre Practice in Kenya

This Issue of Jahazi, exploring different facets of Theatre as it is today, in Kenya, has been a labour of love for the Editorial Team here at Jahazi Journal.

The first part of this Issue is therefore in tribute to the indomitable Prof. Micere Mugo. Wangui wa Goro’s “The Beautyful One Was Born” and Grace Okafor’s “She Answers Her Name “set us off, and in many ways follow Prof. Micere Mugo as she settles in the hereafter. Grace Okafor’s is
an interactive poem that invites the audience to act as a chorus.

This is a fitting communal tribute that Micere Mugo would have appreciated, perhaps even blushed about.

For an Issue on theatre, which is a moving, visual and embodied genre, we are deliberately wordy, topping at over a hundred pages of thought, synthesis, and tributes. Read us anyway.

The words move in an ebb and flow that is itself a sort of a theatre production. You will be moved, provoked, and given new perspectives. At least, we hope you will be.

Pop Culture

This Issue on popular culture was conceived to begin the conversation around the question: whither popular culture today, in post-pandemic 2022 Kenya?

The study of the popular in Kenya is not new, and indeed, vibrant scholarship and reportage around popular culture in general has existed for about two decades now.

 

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to a halt most activities that spur, facilitate, and mediate popular culture, including the making of music, film, television, art, theatre, dance, and even transportation which, in Kenya, is a source of the artistic and the musical. This Issue therefore sought to act as a check on the current state of the popular.

Jahazi on Popular Culture  brings a diverse range of articles that speak to both the wider debates around popular culture, as well as practical work being done by practitioners of art and culture on the ground.

Reclaiming Our Cultural Heritage​

This Pan-African edition of Jahazi tackles head-on recent debates and discussions around the restitution of cultural heritage stolen from the African continent and the global south in general.

 

The title of the Issue, Reclaiming Our Cultural Heritage, infers that the global south is, and should actively seek return of its looted heritage currently held in museums and private collections in Europe and America

 

Land Governance, Culture & Heritage​

This is a Special Issue of Jahazi, published with the support of the African Land Policy Centre, that focuses on Land Governance, Culture and Heritage. Specifically it carries articles derived from papers presented at the 2021 Conference on Land Policy in Africa.

 

 

The articles capture the intersections between land and spirituality in the African socio-cultural context; education and knowledge systems in inclusive land governance; women perspectives to secure tenure rights; land in African cultural heritage and creative industries; decolonization and social change, among others.

Previous Editions

About Jahazi

Jahazi is an arts and culture journal that brings together practitioners, academia and policy-makers in the creative and cultural space for the betterment of the industry.