ART BY : SYDNEY OWIYO SINO- owiyosydney@yahoo.com ( 0736 029 614 )-Lupita nyongo-DRUM.2009.
Her full names in full are Zuhura Eba Lupita
Amondi Nyong’o Buyu .Born March 1, 1983 in Mexico .She chose to go with the name
Lupita when she joined Loreto Convent Msongari in Standard one , a few years
after the family returned from Mexico ,the country of her birth .She was to
stay in the school till Standard five ,from where she joined Rusinga School in
Standard Six ,after which she joined the
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico to study Spanish . She would later on
return home to Join ST .Mary’s School in Lavington , where she did her
International baccalaureate . After completing this ,Lupita went to the
US,where she she was caught up with the idea of either majoring in theatre or
film where she later picked the latter ,but her heart was in theatre and she
also wanted to act .
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Back home she had been involved in plays and at the age of
14 years had played Juliet in the classic play Romeo and Juliet at the phoenix
theatre in Nairobi. Lupita attended Hampshire College in Amherst
,Massachusetts, for her undergraduate degree in film and theatre after which
she applied to do her masters in a number of universities . A natural class act
,and go getter she auditioned at the New York University to study for Masters
of Fine Arts In Dramatic Acting and was a natural being accepted after her
first audition .But she would turn it down with pride and regret because of her
vision and dream to study at Yale .Many
famous American actors have studied in Yale including Angela Basset ,Meryl
Streep ,had been students of Yale . Not only did she get in , but she was
awarded a scholarship, of which she
began her Masters in August ,2009 ,all this without an official college
transcript ,just sheer talent
being at the age of 26 then .
Lupita has been making her mark in the Film world long
before the Oscars and other awards from her role in the movie 12 years a slave,
which has been her coronation to glory . As part of her final thesis at
Hampshire she released In My Genes , story sharing seven’s people’s
Individual experiences living with albinism in Kenya .The documentary received
high acclaim at various International festivals, including the New York Africa
Film Festival ,where she was the youngest filmmaker at that time .It was voted
as the Official Souvenir Selection at the Africala Film Festival in
Mexico ,and the Best Film 2008 and Best Documentary 2008 at the Pioneer Valley
Five-College Film Festival in the US. Until In My Genes she was more into
fiction, but then realized that Kenya had not fully exploited the potential of
documentaries, yet they are cheaper to make .
While working on In My Genes ,she was part of
the team that created ,pitched and won the opportunity in a Pan-African music
video-making competition to produce one of Kenya’s music video ,Little Things You Do, performed by Wahu and Bobi Wine . During
her early years she had also spent some time in New York , where she worked as a model .While working
as a model in New York ,she had landed a
gig for Nike posing as a track athlete..When she returned home,Lupita entered
the Miss Malaika pageant .She went on to become the competition’s first winner
.Lupita also worked as an assistant production manager of Maisha , a
screenwriters and directors workshop in Uganda . in 2008 and starred in the Kenyan television series Shuga .She also worked as a
post-production intern with Miraba Films in New York , a production assistant
for the award-winning movie ,Contant Gardener , as well
as a presenter on Metro Television’s Kilele . She worked also as part of the production crew for films such as, Mira Nair's The Namesake and Salvatore Stabile's Where God Left His Shoes .
Asked ,the
three people she would have to dinner ,she replied Barrack Obama , Afro pop
Singer Salif Keita and Oprah Winfrey, I guess because she like her does great
things .With her win she has put belief in Kenyans following the Arts as a
profession .Those who had their KCSE results should not be limited to sciences
and business courses ,and parents should not limit their children to them as
Lupita has shown that there is value in the Arts .
Film is a
foreign concept to Africa , but it is a medium in which we can tell our
stories,for Africa by Africa .The future , is in the Arts , and those that
embrace its world .For so long Kenyan
schools have been churning out students whose focus has been on science
.The Kenyan curriculum has ever been focused on technical skills and the
sciences with few curriculum focused on the Arts and even fewer careers in the
Arts . Secondly Kenyans have embraced their child who has made it in the world
but back home are they supporting their own Industry .Many Kenyans are quick to
applaud the heroine that the world embraces but back home ,do Kenyans buy
Kenyan movies ,go to see Kenyan plays ,buy Kenyan Art ,buy Kenyan Music, buy
Kenyan products .The Arts Industry has been reeling as those in these
industries put in so much yet get so little .
With the
vision of Alfred Mutua’s Machawood in Machakos to auger Nollywood and Hollywood
, it is yet high time we take part in developing our Arts Industry . Investing
in the Arts is Key, in terms of building Infrastructure, buying from our own.
We should not be only agents of praise in only embracing what the west builds
and approves as the best , but also make our own . Ask yourself, have you ever
bought any Kenyan Songs? How many Kenyan
Albums have you ever purchased? Which Kenyan Movies have you bought? Kenyan Art , have you bought ? The answer you
have is the reason why the Kenyan Art Industry is where it is .Kenyans can pay
value for International products yet ask yourself do you buy from your own
Kenyans back home . The answer is satirical.
The
International community have already steered the way for creating value for the
Arts, building a platform for recognition for their own Industry .The writing
is on the wall, and building our own Industry is the answer at the end of the
day, no one will make it for us .There is need for involvement from top down,
building curriculum and Institutions that focus on the Arts, Kenyans as consumers to acknowledge the value
of the Arts and Kenyans to start buying from our own as the only way to inject
value to the world of Arts .This will need change in the mindsets of the Kenyan
psyche ,develop belief systems in our own, buying Kenyan products from Kenyans
not only in the sphere of the Arts but business as well.
Komla Afeke Dumor (3 October 1972 – 18 January 2014) was a Ghanaian journalist who worked for BBC World News and a regular writer for Kenya airways Msafiri . Salute"
One way this can be
initiated, is by early on childhood
development in our children by showing them you buy Kenyan, that Kenyan
products are the best and involving them in the buying process of Kenyan
products from an early age .By the time they are adults they will embrace the
mantra and belief that Kenyan products are of value and should be awarded with
pay, thus our Industries and the childrens thay raise will support the Kenyan.Secondly packaging the product as ART in it's highest perection and quality is Key . From Movies , Plays ,Artworks ,Music and every other kind of artform will need packaging in its best quality before aggresssively marketing it to the cosumer .As a brand and as a product , which can stand side by side with other artforms locally and internationally.
Till then let us wallow in the Miasma of the Lupita effect as ,my Luopeans in Luo Nyanza name their newborns Lupita and expect them to follow in the dream .Kudos Zuhura Eba Lupita
Amondi Nyong’o Buyu .
Machalink is one of Kenya's premier Business advertorials encompassing business features and offering advertorial positions for SME's ,Individual Business ,Corporates .We will be promoting Art and all its art forms in our Art,Fashion and Music Subsection .Other feature sections include a Business Guide: Features business',their locations services and goods ,Property and Real Estate Guide : Showcasing the Property and Real estate market ,Restaurant & Bar Guide : Listng the best and available restaurants and eating spots , School Directory : Giving a comprehensive coverage of all schools from babaycare,primary& secondary schools , Colleges,Universities and all institutions of higher learning ,Medical Directory : providing coverage of medical providers,Institutions,Pharmacies & Clinics and a Car Guide : Listing car dealers,bazaars and individual car sellers .
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