Collateral Beauty Via Art and Poetry


MiCE- the band


Collateral beauty refers to inner beauty, the kind that never fades and that goes hand in hand with an individuals personality. 

By the way have you watched the movie

Well I finally did after wanting to do so for so long. It caused a battle between me and my tears. "Nope I'm not going to cry" I told myself. We all know that what we resist persists. So tears won. 

On the 8th of April ,the Ink Overflow team graced us with an artistic event themed around beauty at the Micheal Joseph Center, Nairobi, Kenya. They gave visual artists, poets and musicians a chance to do what they do best together.

 


Kaatony 

If you wanted to have a caricature of yourself drawn while the poets and musicians did their thing. James a.k.a Kaatoony was there with his art materials waiting for you to ask. 

When my friend and I walked into the Micheal Joseph Center we found Kerosh  (the graffiti artist I introduced you to last month) drawing Kaatoony his former classmate in Art School. Kaatony had already drawn Kerosh and Kerosh was simply returning the favor.



Ivan
Then there was Ivan the guy who made the whole event possible. He told us that the event was inspired by the movie Collateral beauty. We went to the same campus and I had seen him in poetry events a couple of times. I just had no idea he was a poet himself until early this year. He was the first one on stage and it was really nice watching how his face lit up while he got in the zone.



MiCE the band
They just made me happy from their unique name to their passionate and energetic performance. They are four friends who teamed up to create and learn how to express themselves through different modes of art. I  later find out that MiCE stood for My Inter-missive Creative Escape. 



Shingai
She repped the poets like a boss. She has a way of capturing your attention and maintaining it.She caught mine when she projected the results of a Google search she had done on beautiful skin and lips.

 After which she went on to dispute those results with a touching piece on the beauty of chocolate skin and that it is a color that is needed in this world too. She touched on major issues many women and girls go through about beauty.

Then she maintained my attention when she took us back to African history and slowly unraveled the achievements of African Queens such as Queen Amina of Nigeria, Queen Nzinga of Angola and Ethiopia's Queen of Sheba.

These women added her story to history. Shingai made us see the beauty these women exuded that went beyond their looks. After her pieces it was evident that history is not just his story but her story too and I thank her for schooling us.



Glady 
Glady kept the crowd silent and attentive with her unique performance. The two guys playing the guitar and violin set the mood for her pieces. At some point the guy with the guitar sang and I got goosebumps all over. I was not the only one that got touched by his voice cause people cheered him on.

Mitteiy
She is a visual  artist who paints because there are stories she wants to tell and sometimes cannot find the words. She did a couple of pieces but the one that stood out for me was the one she did about natural african hair. Having cut her hair a couple of times and grown it back she told me African hair is many things but above all it is pretty.

Thus the reason created the piece of a lady with puffy african hair. Although it should not be, hair is a definition of beauty to many. That's why many women with afro textured hair go to great lengths to "look good". Go on, look lovely ladies but before anything else love what you have, love your beautiful kinky hair.



Ben Soul
He was the last one to perform along with a friend on the piano. He sang and played the guitar soulfully. At some point he even sounded like two people singing together. I found that so cool.



Jonathan
Jonathan told me he is a Fine Arts student at Kenyatta University, he draws inspiration for his work from people. objects and events. He is currently studying interactions contained in body language.He is drawn to communication between individuals, attempting to capture what goes unsaid in people's interactions 



Obfuscate I

The art piece from him that stood out for me was one piece he did that had another piece hidden within. I later found out it was titled obfuscate I.  

He also had a piece of someone holding their belly fat. He told me society's definition of beauty is often slim well toned bodies. He wanted to challenge that with that piece. 

We should love our bodies regardless. That does not mean we leave out healthy living, it simply means truly embracing  our bodies as we journey towards healthier ones.

Walt Whitman's poem Leaves of Grass sums  up the message the Ink Overflow team wanted to pass across. It goes:
"I exist as I am that is enough.
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
and if each and all be aware I sit content.
One World is aware and by far the largest to me and that is myself 
and whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years.
I can cheerfully take it now or in equal cheerfulness I can wait."

We should work on our relationships with our inner selves. That is the only way we can nurture that unwithering inner beauty . So when self defeating thoughts come our way.  Whitman's message I exist as I am and that is enough should  be our mantra. Until next time.

AA(Auspicious Art)
Wendi Mutisya




17 comments:

Unknown said...

Great piece

Tales of a Petrol Head said...

Love love love this piece. Your writing style is amazing and the fact that you take your time to do your research makes reading this worth the while.

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you Maureen ☺

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you for your kind words 😀. I'm glad you noticed the work that went into creating this piece. The fact that I love doing this makes it worth the while.

Bibs said...

great work Wendy, you are really talented both as an artist and as a writer

Bibs said...

Thank you Wendy for giving us such awesome pieces to read. You always make me wait patiently for your next work and you never disappoint me.

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you Bibiana. Your words mean a lot to me. I did not know you felt that way about my work.I feel more encouraged to keep at it.

Mwende said...

How you put in your thoughts and ideas to this piece is incredible.Keep reaching for the skies ndaxndax

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thanks Shishi 😊. I most definitely will.

Unknown said...

Nice piece Wendi i appreciate the amount of work and research that you put into your pieces. They are always very interesting to read keep up the good job!!!

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you for reading and for your continued support Nash ☺

Unknown said...

Great article.

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you Frida.

Unknown said...

I enjoy reading your pieces. This one took me back, thanks! 😊

Wendi Ndaki said...

Thank you Joy 😊.It was an amazing evening.

Christine said...

Hi Ndax,
Very interesting! Your writing style is captivating. Go on my girl there is no sky....
luv Mum

Wendi Ndaki said...

Hi Mum,
Thank you so much 😌. I love you too 😚

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