Tangu Nest Collective wachomoke kwa scene 2012, wamekuwa mbogi imechangamsha usanii Kenya design ya ngori wakitumia mamovie, TV, fashion na projects za ngoma kati ya vitu mob. Projects wamefanya ni kama Stories of Our Lives, feature film yenye ilikaziwa viewing Kenya juu ya utiaji ya censorship lakini inapatikana kama mbuku; web series Tuko Macho yenye inafuata ma-vigilante flani online wenye wananyurishia magwangi na watiriri wengine after kuget votes za wadau; mbuku ya fashion, Not African Enough: A Fashion Book; miniseries ya We Need Prayers; na projects za ngoma kama Sweet and Sawa na Blue Ticks and Kisses. Kazi hizi zote zinaunganishwa na vile zinahusu story watu hugongana nazo kila siku kutoka wasanii na hustle zao, mayut ku-vlog kuhusu kukatiana in the 21st century, design watu wa gava huenjoy raiyaa ikifika story ya kupeana huduma, noma za kifamilia, drama za chama na kadhalika.
Inajulikana Kenya saa zile vitu zimeumana maombi inakuwanga first response. Pia, mara mingi, hiyo maombi huisha hapo bila action yoyote (mfano poa ni zile prayer breakfast za ma-biggie). We Need Prayers(2018) ni miniseries inacheki hii phenomenon na iko na episode saba zinagusia form watu hurelate kwa hii jiji yetu. Episode ya tano, This One Went To the Market, inatuindroduce kwa msaani Kui Ngirachu akijaribu kupenya art world na njaro ajaab.
Tunakuta Kui akiwa photoshoot yenye amevalishwa ma-charger za simu kama exhibition za Tom Mboya Street. Anaeleza hii ndio mlango itamwezesha kupenya usanii, hadi iko na jina: afrofuturism. Lakini afrofuturism ni nini? Jina yenyewe iliundwa na Mark Dery kwa essay yake ya 1994 Black To the Future na akaidefine kama “speculative fiction that treats African American themes and addresses African-American concerns in the context of twentieth century technoculture and African-American signification that appropriates images of technology and prosthetically enhanced future.” Siku za mbeleni afrofuturism ilikuwa na focus ya science fiction ya African-Americans kama Samuel R. Delany na Octavia E. Butler yenye inaguzia issues kama alienation, time-travel, na mutation lakini pia ikakuwa njia ya kudescribe ngoma na visual art zilikuwa zinaongelea same themes. Kwa kuunganisha Africa(afro) na future, ilikuwa design ya kufikiria kupitia science fiction yenye huchukua present na kuidistort ndio tuweze kuimagine future inaweza kuwa aje. Ilikuwaje concept iliundwa majuu ikakuwa form ya wasanii wako Africa kuomoka?
Art world ilichukua hii concept ya afrofuturism ikageuzwa ikakuwa njia ya kuunda maweng na pia spectacle ya kubamba walami. Mara mingi picha za afrofuturism hukuwa na junk na scene za dystopia. Hizi images hutumia logic ya vile future ya Africa vitu zitakuwa zimethoka based on developmental futurisms zimedevelopiwa na multinationals na NGOs. Museums na galleries zimechangia kueneza propaganda, for lack of a better word, ya afrofuturism kupitia exhibitions zinaendelea kutumia hizi picha za extra-territoriality (picha za waMaasai space), junk fashion. Wahenga walisemanga palipo na nia hapa kosi njia kwa hivyo wasaani wanafuata mtindo kwa sababu hapo ndio doh iko. Kui anaeleza si ngumu kupenya, kuna soko bora msaani aelewe hustle na abanje lugha ya kuingizana box.
Hii episode inaraise maswali muhimu kuhusu lengths msaani anaweza pitia ndio aweze kupenya na zaidi, kuhusu vile concepts flani zimetumiwa kupunguza complexity ya Africa na imaginations zake za future. Jim Chuchu director wa mini-series aliuliza 2015 akiwa kwa panel ya African Futures Goethe Institute, “Mbona future ya walami na watu wengine haina prefix, inaitwa tu science?” Kuna future different ya wasee waBlack versus wasee wengine? Alafu mbona future ya Africa mara mingi huonyeshwa kama junk? Alipeana mfano moja ya morio wa Rongai alikuwa amejiundia ndege lakini haikufikiriwa kama afrofuturism, ilionekana kama yut mwingine anajibamba. Alipeana pia mfano ya Sustainable Development Goals za United Nations (UN) ambazo ni 17 goals UN imeset out kuachieve by 2030. Hizi goals kama kuhakikisha umaskini imeisha, kila mtu anadishi vipoa, afya kwa kila mtu, maji safi, ni vitu poa sana kuimagine kuhusu future yenye ni possible na inasaidia kila mtu. Hiyo ndio futurism on steroids. Afrofuturism kama concept iko sawa lakini imetumiwa kama njia ya kuforecast na kuendeleza dystopia ya Africa badala ya kuimagine vibiggie venye tunaeza badilisha present yetu na pia future.
