A few words about your artistic career
In 2013, I founded the Mathare Foundation, an organisation that has inspired artists from the slums of Mathare and beyond. As artistic director, storyteller and photographer, I have been instrumental in implementing 10 art projects with around 300 talented young artists from the slums of Mathare.
How long have you been an artist?
I've been an artist for around 13 years and my career began at the Mwelu Foundation and then at the Mathare Foundation.
Why did you apply for this scholarship? How will the scholarship support you?
My intention is to prove myself as this is a litmus test for my growth in the creative economy industry, as accountability and transparency is a major issue affecting different professionals. Acquiring resources to implement Creativity StARTS Here by telling people stories of hope and the future through photography.
**What are your concrete artistic objectives after this residency?
My main objective is to intensify this project by including more stakeholders to examine mental health issues, among others, during this COVID 19 pandemic.
What did you achieve during this creative residency? What is the result (work created)? Who was involved in the creative process?
"Creativity is Here" is a project I ran in collaboration with the Mathare Foundation. The aim of this project is to offer psychological support and therapeutic healing during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to give hope and a bright future to 112,000 people in the slums of Mathare thanks to 80 photographs we took in these areas. The photographs, hung on the walls of houses in Mathare, showed that, whatever the pandemic, people can not only continue to live normally, but can also flourish.
8 young people from the Mathare slums, who are members of the Mathare Foundation, took part in creating the artwork. In total, 100,000 local people had access to the exhibition on the slums and we reached 112,000 people through the online photo exhibition on Facebook.
How do you think these activities help us to think about the world today, in relation to the COVID-19 crisis, and/or about building for the future?
In reality, people are desperate during this period of pandemic Covid-19. Our main concern has been to offer support to people who have been affected economically, socially and emotionally by the crisis. Our priority is to give people hope and a bright future at this time. Photography is a very powerful tool and with this project we were able to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We were able to spark conversations about how people can emerge from crisis and continue to thrive in their different industries. During the preliminary investigation with some of the subjects, we realised that people needed hope and were determined to create that hope themselves through photography.
The future is being shaped by the young people who have taken part in this project by creating content. They are convinced that their voices and those of the slum dwellers will play a vital role, not only in encouraging political decision-makers to think about what projects to launch in the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic. Many organisations have focused on providing people with food, clothing, medicines and cash transfers, forgetting that people are emotionally exhausted and need therapeutic care more than ever.
**How did you feel during the residency? And afterwards?
This project has undoubtedly enabled me to achieve something greater than what I've always wanted to achieve in my artistic life. Working with young people was a great experience, the ideas they brought throughout the project were simply amazing.
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Discover the work of Eric Omwanda Nehemia
