“Power to the People?”—Patronage, Intervention and Transformation in African Performative Arts

Abstract

The articles published in this volume are a selection of papers presented at the symposium that was held at Moi University between 20th and 25th March 2018. Themed “ ‘Power to the People?’ Patronage, Intervention and Transformation in African Performing Arts”, the symposium interrogated the following pertinent questions: Who performs what and for whom? Which intentions are behind performance? In which contexts does performance take place? And lastly, whose money is spent in these performances and who profits from them in which way? Regarding to performative arts in Africa and the African diaspora, these questions, which for the purpose of this publication were deliberately kept very open in their wording so as to encourage independent thought, address both the aesthetic and motivational specifics of different artistic performances as well as the relation of their protagonists, namely the actors, the audience and the donors, to one another. This means that the (pre-)conditions and necessities of artistic practices and the impact of economic realities play an important role for the kind of art that can happen, and how. Due to lack of institutional support, many African artists, musicians, and theatre practitioners depend on private sponsorship through businesses or non-governmental organizations (NGOs), who follow their own agendas, especially concerning the content and audiences to be reached. But also in the rare event of support through state agencies, artistic processes are enmeshed in intricate power relations. Artists time and again prove to have gained special competences in navigating these complicated interdependencies.