poetry events are continually growing in kenya
every other day a new one is being born
every other day a poet is talking about a performance they are having
and poetry lovers continue to throng the events.
but something is wrong
something is terrible wrong
if you leave the event and ask what any one of them gathered you shall be met with stares and 'i cant remember what the name was but the lady in red really jazzed me' ask what was she talking about and you shall be met by 'i cant remember exactly but it had something to do with her heart ...it was deep' this is what you are likely to hear even when the poem was about flowers.
poetry events are now getting crowded not only by poets and poetry lovers but hang out ,chill out kind of people. these are the kind of people who want to wait for traffic to end in style or who want prices to come down with reduction of human traffic . these are people who want to do meet ups with all their facebook and twitter pals one each day. a.k.a pass time in a not am passing time kind of way.don't get me twisted i have nothing against meet ups ,i think its a cool way of putting a head to the thoughts you are exposed to on social networks.
these people will attend any low cost or free event even when they know not what its about or what it encompasses all together.these are the people you will find in a rugby match but have no idea when or what a try has been made,people you find in a poetry event asking the d.j to play a request catching up with their buddy's at their loudest voices,clapping at the sound of any intimate word even when the poem is about rape they cheer at the hear of the word sex.
they are the people i wish i would freeze at the entrance of poetry events,books launches or a listening party. they make me so frustrated both as a perfomer and lover of reading and listening to poetry..it beats me why a normal human being would come to a poetry event and talk all through,burst out loud with shouts at the waiter and making unnecessary ohs and has as he listens to his pals stories...come on don't be an idiot..there are hundreds of clubs you can go to you do not have to come to a poetry event to crowd and distract listeners and perfomers
yesterday i was at wamathai spoken word. it was well attended and during assessment am sure they will record maximum profits however in terms of impact i declare it total FAIL. call me hater but i know you know what i mean. there were to many bloggers who had more or less had found a place to have a meet and greet i mean from the facebook and twitter updates i saw no comment on any performance it was all about,so and so looks abc and so and so has said or done abc....GOSH.FOCUS guys focus...i felt crowded by idlers and unfocused guys i mean there are 4 other clubs around loita street they could go and do their agenda..i hated when they collectively burst out laughing when a perfomer was on stage and when we the listeners would turn to them the least they would do was a peace sign...get a life grown up idiots!
i got more mad when njeri wangari a veteran and one of the greatest poets took the stage and we couldn't hear a word she was saying because dimwitts were so loud in some heated argument..she had to not once,not twice and not thrice tell them to keep their tones down..at least she had enough authority and we got to hear one of her great pieces as the other one was drowned by people voices..i am not saying we don't talk i am saying keep the bloody tones down.. when jemedari a well known poet took to the stage i heard not even a single word he said in as much as i was at the front most adn considering how good he is...the first few poets were heard because i bet people hadn't warmed up but the rest were heard zero...when the very good looking ladies took to the stage we cheered them because they looked pleasing to the eye...GET A LIFE POETRY EVENT GOERS...
i am so disapointed and will continually be as long as poetry event continue being meet up joints and chill out zones...lets give what poetry events are due...watch def jam poetry events on you tube i mean even eye contacts would be heard if they dropped.
i say this with all the love i have for poetry ...you look foolish and idle when you attend a poetry event and hear nothing..
pass this to as many people as you can as we prepare to attend kwani open mic and the next wamathai,adel open mic...
xoxo
choozih the perfomer and warioH the poetry lover.....
You have hit the nail in the head Warioh.I feel you. But i'm also guilty for having dual agendas attending social events;one for the interest subject,and two to meet friends.
ReplyDeleteHa haha... Well I go for safari sevens and get drunk before the games start... and I have gone to poetry nights cos the chics are hot and easy(just read a bit of Allan Poe and send a shiver down there spine they will love you)... but to the true literature fan out there.... Kenya is not that mature yet
ReplyDeleteYou said it!!!I was there and I invited a pal to come with me and she was utterly dissapointed, tried standing near the stage but dint hear anything...its like you read our minds jana I was really pissed!!!!they could not even respect the guys who were singing too..its the same thing even during Adelle's poetry nite people just go to this events to hook up..sad!
ReplyDeleteSucks that some of us were locked out because the place was full of people who were not even interested in the poetry in the first place!!!!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we can't limit these kind of events to just the people who perform understand and respect this art cos at the end of the day, part of purpose of these performances is to teach, inspire or influence at least one more person to support poetry and build a culture of poetry lovers in Kenya..
But you are right, most people who go for these events have no respect whatsoever when someone is performing!
I was there last night and was pretty disappointed. The crowd was the worst and I had to strain my ears to hear what was going on. The sound itself was bad so that did not help matters. Most of the poems I felt lacked depth (I liked Njeri Wangari's though),and it would be good to build an element of interaction with the poets to discuss content. Hope the organizers learn from last night.
ReplyDeleteMy 5 cents:
ReplyDeleteThere were 3 conflicting agendas for this event:
1. The crew on Wamathaai's social graph came out to show support (even though most had no idea of what to expect)
2. Those outside his social graph sought the venue as an opportunity to put faces to handles and
3. Poetry lovers sought the opportunity to meet and share an evening of poetry.
I believe the 3rd group was the minority by far. That said, The situation is bound to be repeated in other similarly structured venues (read bars). Alcohol and intellectual stimulation rarely mix.
I'm a regular attendant of poetry goings on in town and I must say, some people just come to jaza the seats and mumble the whole time. Like someone else said, it takes courage for someone to stand in front of a crowd of even 5 people, let alone a whole pub - to say something that is in their heart.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that some people were not brought up with courtesy to listen to another person. Like someone has mentioned hapo juu, I wish there was an apparatus to single out these noisemakers and freeze them at the door forever.
If you remove the idlers from such events the chances are you would not have audience worth talking about. The people who attend such events for the substance are very few. The next challenge would be how to make idlers start listening or at least keep their tones down. I came to Wamathai spoken word quite late and found chaotic scenes but i had assumed that it was coz of the timing. I am surprised it was like that throughout.
ReplyDeleteBut again the way the event was marketed, left the room for what happened. It was meant to be a day when Wamathai.com, the blog celebrates turning one year old. In the mind of many it was an event to show solidarity and the performance were just but by the way, or at least just entertainment.