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Afua Hirsch tells the epic story of Kenya, exploring how artists, musicians and writers have responded to the country's colonial past and asserted a new identity through art.

In Kenya, a state created barely a century ago, Afua Hirsch explores how the British spun an idealised stereotype while carving out a brutal empire. Afua reveals the extremes of life today, the urban sprawl and untouched outback, and a young population still pushing away the lingering darkness of the British imperial past.

In an epic narrative that takes in railway building, Karen Blixen, President Jomo Kenyatta and the brutal British suppression of the 1950s Mau Mau Uprising, she charts how artists have responded to history happening around them. She meets acclaimed Kenyan painters Dennis Muraguri and Michael Soi and discusses the after-effects of the British colonial period and China鈥檚 growing influence as a new power in East Africa.

59 minutes

Last on

Sun 13 Jun 2021 22:30

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Clip

Music Played

  • Fela Kuti

    Roforofo Fight

  • Mark Isham

    Men Before The Mirror

  • John Barry

    Black Stockings

  • Peter J Tsotsi, Ta Lupopo

    Fanya Imani

  • Aphex Twin

    i

  • Nashil Pichen and The Eagles Lupopo

    Ng'ong'a Wa Mwanjalo

  • Bonobo

    Cirrus

  • Clark

    Winter Linn

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Afua Hirsch
Director of photography Samuel Jackson
Production Manager Clare Burns
Editor Greg Pittard
Director Alex Brisland
Producer Alex Brisland
Executive Producer Russell Barnes
Executive Producer Emma Cahusac
Production Company ClearStory Ltd

Broadcasts

Producer/Director Alex Brisland on creating African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power

Producer/Director Alex Brisland on creating African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power

With hundreds of ethnicities, Africa is the most culturally diverse place on the planet.