Peace wanted alive: an artist’s response to Kenya’s post-election violence

Abstract

In this article I examine how the chaos of Kenya’s PEV became the source of motivation for Solo 7’s peace activism. For the artist, the term "chaos" was initially understood as a metaphor for the violence and destruction in the slum of Kibera (where Solo 7 resides), which upturned daily life as people knew it. The article will go on to argue that once this particular episode of chaos came to an end, other forms emerged – notably, an anxiety as to whether violence might reoccur, but also the uncertainty of surviving day to day in a precarious and highly unequal society. These multi-layered connotations of chaos created new subtexts for how Solo 7’s peace slogans and activism were interpreted and used by both the artist and public. [...] And they are needed today more than ever.