Kenya, like many African countries, has a large youth population with high rates of literacy but also high rates of unemployment and few livelihood opportunities. Growing numbers of child nurses, street children, ethnic gangs, and youth workers in Jua Kali (the informal economy or "hot sun") demonstrate that Kenyan youth increasingly take on adult roles and responsibilities and have fewer resources to draw on for support. Although more students have been able to access formal education through the provision of free primary and secondary education, they face obstacles to formal employment. Therefore, many youth seek out jobs in the informal economy and remain stuck in a liminal state of youthhood - unable to attain adult status. In its national policies and system of education, the Kenyan state positions youth as both the problem and the solution. Youth energy and potential, if not contained, may lead to violence and idleness; thus, youth should participate in education, empowerment, and employment. These portrayals are reinforced by the media and many youth hold themselves accountable for their success or failure. Despite significant economic, political, and social constraints, youth are not without agency. The goal of this dissertation is to document and analyze how Luo students use tactics in their everyday practices to learn fine art, build social networks that enable them to join an artistic community of practice, and transition into work in the informal sector.This dissertation is based on ethnographic fieldwork I conducted in Kisumu, Kenya from 2011 to 2013 centered on Imani Art School, a three year, non-formal art college founded in 1987. Imani means faith in Swahili, and its founders chose that name to reflect the school's purpose: to provide training in fine art to youth from the community of Nyalenda who cannot afford to pay high fees and have had difficulty accessing higher education. Imani is the only art school in Western Kenya and is considerably more affordable than art academies in Nairobi. However, Imani constantly struggles to resolve its central contradiction: how to make education affordable, accessible, and flexible but also legitimate, recognized, and sustainable. This dissertation's theoretical framework draws on de Certeau's notions of strategies and tactics and space and place and Lave and Wenger's classification of learning as legitimate, peripheral participation. Lave and Wenger argue newcomers through legitimate peripheral participation become part of a community of practice transforming themselves as well as the communities. Using this frame, I analyze how current and former students interact with each other, become participants in the community of practice of local artists in Kisumu, and build networks to help them transition into work. I use de Certeau's ideas about strategies and tactics and space and place as a lens to explore multiple ways of knowing and making do that young Luo students employ as they become artists and adults. de Certeau's ideas allow me to ethnographically detail what happens to these young students in the process of becoming artists - to record and analyze their production of material culture in the form of visual arts, poetry, playmaking, and storytelling. These examples of material culture provide evidence of youth's multiple ways of knowing and making do as they navigate the liminal space of Imani Art School and the marketplace to create a meaningful life for themselves.
Read
