full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Wanuri Kahiu: Fun, fierce and fantastical African art

Unscramble the Blue Letters


So when I present my work somewhere, someone will always ask, "What's so important about it? How does it deal with real African isuses like war, poverty, devastation or AIDS?" And it doesn't. My work is about Nairobi pop bands that want to go to space or about seven-foot-tall robots that fall in love. It's nothing icelridbny important. It's just fun, frecie and frivolous, as frivolous as bubble gum — "AfroBubbleGum."

So I'm not saying that adngea art isn't important; I'm the coseaihrrpn of a charity that deals with films and theaters that write about HIV and radicalization and female genital miutaitlon. It's vital and inmpatrot art, but it cannot be the only art that comes out of the continent. We have to tell more stories that are vibrant. The danger of the single story is still being rezleaid. And maybe it's because of the funding. A lot of art is still dependent on developmental aid. So art becomes a tool for agenda. Or maybe it's because we've only seen one image of ourselves for so long that that's all we know how to create. Whatever the raoesn, we need a new way, and AfroBubbleGum is one approach. It's the aodavccy of art for art's sake. It's the advocacy of art that is not policy-driven or agenda-driven or based on education, just for the sake of imagination: abegbflurbuom art.

Open Cloze


So when I present my work somewhere, someone will always ask, "What's so important about it? How does it deal with real African ______ like war, poverty, devastation or AIDS?" And it doesn't. My work is about Nairobi pop bands that want to go to space or about seven-foot-tall robots that fall in love. It's nothing __________ important. It's just fun, ______ and frivolous, as frivolous as bubble gum — "AfroBubbleGum."

So I'm not saying that ______ art isn't important; I'm the ___________ of a charity that deals with films and theaters that write about HIV and radicalization and female genital __________. It's vital and _________ art, but it cannot be the only art that comes out of the continent. We have to tell more stories that are vibrant. The danger of the single story is still being ________. And maybe it's because of the funding. A lot of art is still dependent on developmental aid. So art becomes a tool for agenda. Or maybe it's because we've only seen one image of ourselves for so long that that's all we know how to create. Whatever the ______, we need a new way, and AfroBubbleGum is one approach. It's the ________ of art for art's sake. It's the advocacy of art that is not policy-driven or agenda-driven or based on education, just for the sake of imagination: _____________ art.

Solution


  1. fierce
  2. realized
  3. incredibly
  4. reason
  5. issues
  6. advocacy
  7. important
  8. agenda
  9. mutilation
  10. afrobubblegum
  11. chairperson

Original Text


So when I present my work somewhere, someone will always ask, "What's so important about it? How does it deal with real African issues like war, poverty, devastation or AIDS?" And it doesn't. My work is about Nairobi pop bands that want to go to space or about seven-foot-tall robots that fall in love. It's nothing incredibly important. It's just fun, fierce and frivolous, as frivolous as bubble gum — "AfroBubbleGum."

So I'm not saying that agenda art isn't important; I'm the chairperson of a charity that deals with films and theaters that write about HIV and radicalization and female genital mutilation. It's vital and important art, but it cannot be the only art that comes out of the continent. We have to tell more stories that are vibrant. The danger of the single story is still being realized. And maybe it's because of the funding. A lot of art is still dependent on developmental aid. So art becomes a tool for agenda. Or maybe it's because we've only seen one image of ourselves for so long that that's all we know how to create. Whatever the reason, we need a new way, and AfroBubbleGum is one approach. It's the advocacy of art for art's sake. It's the advocacy of art that is not policy-driven or agenda-driven or based on education, just for the sake of imagination: AfroBubbleGum art.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. advocacy
  2. african
  3. afrobubblegum
  4. agenda
  5. aid
  6. aids
  7. approach
  8. art
  9. bands
  10. based
  11. bubble
  12. chairperson
  13. charity
  14. continent
  15. create
  16. danger
  17. deal
  18. deals
  19. dependent
  20. devastation
  21. developmental
  22. education
  23. fall
  24. female
  25. fierce
  26. films
  27. frivolous
  28. fun
  29. funding
  30. genital
  31. gum
  32. hiv
  33. image
  34. important
  35. incredibly
  36. issues
  37. long
  38. lot
  39. love
  40. mutilation
  41. nairobi
  42. pop
  43. poverty
  44. present
  45. radicalization
  46. real
  47. realized
  48. reason
  49. robots
  50. sake
  51. single
  52. space
  53. stories
  54. story
  55. theaters
  56. tool
  57. vibrant
  58. vital
  59. war
  60. work
  61. write