KENYA: PAWA254 is a new collaborative space in Kenya that brings together journalists, artists, photographers working on social change in the country.

Record ID: 362292

  • Title: KENYA: PAWA254 is a new collaborative space in Kenya that brings together journalists, artists, photographers working on social change in the country.
  • Date: 1st June 2012
  • Summary: PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE SLUM CINEMA
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Arts
  • Reuters ID: LVA5V962ZOV14A3BMNGRJTW3X4H2
  • Story Text: PAWA254 is a new collaborative space that brings together journalists, photographers, musicians and artists working on social change in Kenya. Its name comes from 'pawa' - a slang language spoken in Nairobi, for power and '254' - Kenya's telephone area code.
    Beyond being a working area with fast internet connection, the space hosts weekly workshops with established photographers and writers. Most recently, Sam Ouma, the former photo-editor for the Nation Media Group, hosted a training session for around 40 amateur photographers.
    PAWA254 was founded by Boniface Mwangi, the man behind "Picha Mtaani", a street-side exhibition of photos from the 2007-2008 post-elections violence. Mwangi also made a documentary about Kenya's post-election violence called 'Heal the Nation'.
    Mwangi set up PAWA254 so that he and his peers working on social change in Kenya could work together and make a difference.
    "The whole idea of having this space is not only to produce work for money but produce work for change. Produce social-political work. I find creatives who want to make an impact in society but they don't have money to give out but they have this skill or talent that they can be able to use to tell a story or to highlight an issue," he said.
    Young people are being encouraged to start using the PAWA254 space to run their independent organizations and businesses. Currently, the space houses two organisations, 'Inter-news Europe' run by Arnold Wafula and 'Kama Si Sisi' run by hip-hop artist Juliani.
    "Kama si Sisi" is an attitude change campaign aiming to educate the youth in regards to their rights as citizens and raising their awareness on issues of climate change. Manciny Migwi, the project manager for the group, believes spaces like that greatly facilitate creative work.
    "It is a creative space and creatives know best how to express themselves in a space where they are free to be themselves. I guess, so PAWA254 gives you the freedom to express yourself," she said.
    Beyond the walls of the PAWA254 venue, the PAWA team runs a number of social change projects. Among others, the group was screening the film 'Heal the Nation' in Nairobi slums, showing it to about 100,000 people between February 2012 to April 1012.
    Through these screenings, the PAWA254 team hopes to sensitise people about the 2007-2008 post-elections violence and the consequences of tribalism. After each screening, the audience discusses their experiences during the post-elections violence and how it affected their understanding of Kenya's politics, tribalism, and the gap between rich and poor.
    According to Miriam Christina, who coordinates PAWA254's slum screenings, this will help create more informed voters for the next presidential elections in early 2013.
    "I see PAWA254 helping to bring revolution in the country. There is a lot of great ideas coming from that place. There is a lot of different people from different sectors that come to discuss and talk about different projects they want to do. And it just seems like there is a lot of energy coming out of there. And most people they are very passionate about where they are from, about the community. So I just see that PAWA, if there is any big thing that happens in Kenya, PAWA will be part of it," she said.
    PAWA254 is modeled on other successful creative spaces in Nairobi, such as iHub for programmers and the Sarakasi Trust for acrobats and dancers. But whereas both iHub and the Sarakasi Trust are free, PAWA charges for using the space. Their monthly membership is KSh 10,000 (USD 120), which is a steep fee in a country where average monthly earnings are around USD 700.
    So far few people have joined PAWA254 as long-term members, preferring to use the 7 USD day pass option, but David Mutua, PAWA254 community manager, defends the group's decision to charge for membership.
    "We charge because we have to maintain the space. We are self-sustaining we do not have any funding. Everything that we do we do it in-house. So because of that members have to pay to ensure the upkeep of the space to pay for the rent, for the amenities, the water, the electricity and all that. So... yeah, that is the reason why we do charge," he explained.
    PAWA254 runs short training sessions on writing, photography, journalism and art as well as setting up edit suites and photo studies for its members. It also hopes to scale up its work in the community and engage 10,000 young people in the coming months, through workshops, training session and outreach programs.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.
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