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Soi, Chinese investors and the huge Kenyan debt

 

Michael Soi was at the immigration queue at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when he saw a Chinese couple jump the queue to be served at the counter. “People on the queue pretended like this was not happening; they were willing to let this blatant breach of procedure pass,” says Soi.

Soi was of a different persuasion; this was going to happen on his watch. “I spoke up and asked the Chinese couple to get to the back of the queue,” he explains. “It was only when the people realised that I was serious that they also expressed their displeasure.” The Chinese couple was left with no option other than to do the right thing.

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Today, the topic of entitlement and high handedness by Chinese living and working in Kenya is quickly gaining currency. This was especially after the Sunday Standard published a dossier on how Chinese workers were ill-treating Kenyan workers on the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).  Another aspect about the Chinese that is currently preoccupying Kenyans is the ballooning debt owed to the Chinese.

Latest figures released by Treasury indicate that China owns 70 per cent of debt owed by Kenya.

While the reality of Kenya/Chinese relations might come as something of a shock to a majority of Kenyans, Soi, a visual artist based at the Godown, had somehow seen it coming. Way back, even before Jubilee came into power, Soi had started doing a series of paintings he called China Love Africa.

The series take a satirical if not mischievous look at how China relates with Africa. “Ever since some African countries, Kenya included, embarked on the ‘Look East’ policy I got intrigued,” explains Soi. In Kenya, the ‘Look East policy started with the Kibaki administration. Tired of having conditions – mostly human rights related – attached on aid by Western donors, Africans found a willing ally in China

No matter how stained a county’s human rights were, this was no big deal to the Chinese, who were too willing to open their wallet and do business.

Apparently the Chinese had gotten wind of Soi’s paintings. In May of 2004, the artist was minding his business in his studio when he got some unexpected visitors. Four men and a woman, all Chinese nationals, proceeded to ransack his studio. Apparently they were unhappy with the message Soi was communicating in the China Loves Africa series. They felt he was disrespectful to China in spite of the “good things China was doing to Kenya”.

Well, Soi called them to order by telling them that he was an artist and was not interested in politics, and could they leave his studio.

The five visitors happened to be in a delegation that had accompanied the Chinese Prime Minister on a State visit to Kenya. The Prime Minister had come bearing a bag of goodies, including funds that would be used to kick-start the SGR.

In an interview with Maisha Yetu, at the time, Soi had this to say “… the Chinese are giving their money without any conditions. This is one way of abetting impunity among our leaders; that no matter how many people are killed or imprisoned China will still pour in money, money that most likely ends up in people’s pockets and which will be paid by our children in years to come…”

Four years down the line Soi’s words sound disturbingly prophetic.

The China Loves Africa exhibition opened at at the Circle Art Gallery, in Lavington on August 15. Among the pieces on display include one depicting a beach scene where two men, representing Europe and the US, stare enviously as a Chinese man enjoys the attentions of a well-endowed bikini-clad woman, representing Africa. The Chinese man is blissfully licking a chocolate in the shape of the African continent.

The painting shows how China has beaten Western powers in the race to exploit Africa’s rich resources. Another piece foresees a future where China actually chairs the African Union – remember the crippling debt? – and African delegates asleep behind the new ‘chairman’.

You only need to visit the exhibition to see for yourself. It ends on September 25

 

 

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Book piracy and the Chinese connection

A few months ago visual artist Michael Soi, based at the Godown Arts Centre in Nairobi, found himself on the receiving end Chinese visit who felt that he was giving their country a bad name in spite of the ‘good things’ China was doing for Africa. The visitors had been in the delegation of the Chinese Prime Minister, who had been a guest of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The bone of contention had to do with China Loves Africa, a series of satirical paintings poking fun at the duplicitous nature of China’s relations with Africa. Far from silencing Soi, the visit must have served as an incentive to spur him on. In his latest piece, China Loves Africa 27, done on September 30, Soi depicts a group of well-suited Chinese ‘gentlemen’ ogling the bikini-clad body of an African pole dancer.

Michael Soi's China Loves Africa #27
Michael Soi’s China Loves Africa #27

The message of Soi’s art is that China is only interested in the ‘fundamentals’ of the African continent depicted as the body of a well-endowed African woman, and that the trade is merely the excuse for raping the continent’s resources. Africa is depicted in the unflattering light of a woman of easy virtue, hawking her ‘products’ to the highest bidder.

Conservationists have for some time now been complaining that China’s gigantic appetite for animal trophies is responsible for the dwindling population of wildlife in the country, especially elephants and rhinos. Publishers have now entered the fray and without mincing words are accusing the Asian giant of abetting Intellectual Property (IP) crimes by allowing pirates to print their books in China without carrying out due diligence.

Publishers under their umbrella body the Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) say that if the government does not check the activities of book pirates, the publishing industry, as we know it will be brought to its knees. Piracy is slowly but surely proving to be a publisher’s worst nightmare. Pirates target the fast moving books, print them illegally and flood them in the market at throw away prices, thus undercutting the original publishers.

Today, pirates are not only targeting the fast selling books but are also picking on any book that is guaranteed even modest sales and having them printed offshore, with China and India being the most preferred locations.

Publishers have for the longest time been howling in the wind with no one to listen to them. However things were different on Saturday September 27, when none other than the Attorney General graced the Wahome Mutahi Prize gala night, which is organised by KPA.

Seizing the occasion, Lawrence Njagi, the chair of KPA told Prof Githu Muigai how book pirates are threatening to wipe out the gains Kenyan publishers have made over the years. “If pirates are not stopped in their tracks in future we might not be able to congregate here to celebrate the efforts of writers,” he said.

Njagi urged the AG to oversee the crafting of stiffer penalties aimed at deterring Pirates once and for all. He called for the empowerment of the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) such that it is mandated to clear all educational materials, including book, being imported into the country. “That way it will be easier to know who is bringing in what into the country,” he explained. “Pirates will think twice before shipping their containers of pirated books.”

Kakai Karani, who heads the anti-piracy committee at KPA, urged the AG to ensure that IP Crimes are elevated to the more serious economic crimes. “The current sh800,000 slapped on pirates is small potatoes to the big pirates who might have shipped in books worthy more than sh5 million,” noted Karani.

And the AG, flanked KPA chair Lawrence Njagi (Left) and Musyoki Muli of Longhorn did a small jig...
And the AG, flanked KPA chair Lawrence Njagi (Left) and Musyoki Muli of Longhorn did a little jig…

They must have been preaching to the converted for the AG promised to “fight the pirates living off your sweat.” He touched of the small matter of rebasing the economy – which had by then not been formally implemented – and explained that the intellectual property sector which previously not been factored in economic projections was now one of the pillars of the economy that catapulted Kenya to middle income status.

“I know, only too well, the heartbreak of having to stare at a blank screen for hours,” said the AG as he revealed that he has been attempting to write a fictional short story for the last ten or so years without success.

The import of his statement was that matters that affect the IP sector, like piracy, will be dealt with with the seriousness they deserve. No one wants Kenya slipping back to the low income strata.

 

 

 

 

 

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Michael Soi’s art draws wrath of Chinese

The other day visual artist Michael Soi took to his Facebook page to protest an incident where he got ‘visitors’ at his studio based at the Godown Arts Centre. ‘My latest piece ‘Santa is coming to town’ has finally drawn the wrath of the Chinese,” wrote Soi. “Four gentlemen and a lady from China walked into my studio and one of them went off about how ungrateful I was to all China is doing for Kenya…”

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Initially one man got into his studio and after scanning some of his artworks burst off laughing. “He later went and came with the other guys,” he explains. “These people could not wrap their heads around the fact that I am not grateful for all the ‘good things’ China is doing to Kenya. I told them that I am an artist and therefore I cannot engage them in a political discussion.”

Incidentally, the visit from the Chinese ‘Delegation’ coincided with the much-talked about visit by the Chinese Prime Minister who came to the country with a bag of goodies, which included money to kick start the controversial Standard Gauge Railway

china loves africa 7

As an artist, Soi says that he has the license to question things. “We are not supposed to accept everything just because those in authority tell us they are good; that is how corruption scandals are hatched,” he adds. To be honest Soi says that he views the newly-found found friendship between Kenya and China with a lot of suspicion.

“The IMF and World Bank attach a lot of conditionalities before they give out their aid,” he says. “But the Chinese are giving their money without any conditions. This is one way of abetting impunity among our leaders; that no matter how many people are killed or imprisoned China will still pour in money, money that most likely ends up in people’s pockets and which will be paid by our children in years to come.”

The piece that so much angered the Chinese forms part of the popular China Loves Africa, a series of paintings that takes a mischievous and satirical look at the relation between China and Africa. In his pieces Soi takes the view that China is not necessarily genuine in her relations with Africa. In one piece titled China Loves Africa 7, the Chinese are portrayed holding elephant tusks and rhino’s horn. This is in reference to the allegations that it is the Chinese that are fueling the runaway poaching of these products. Interestingly when the Chinese Premier was in town, together with his host Uhuru Kenyatta, made a symbolic visit to the Nairobi National Park. He even gave out money meant to go towards fighting poaching.

Soi has landed an invite to do an exhibition in South Korea, where the China Loves Africa series will be a major attraction.

china loves africa 8

Apart Sino-Africa affairs the burly artist has developed an interesting character called Omari. He uses the character to highlight the ills that take place in the society. The typical Omari character is possibly a coastal native who sees the only way of earning an income is by hooking up with white women. “My intention is to ask whether these relationships are genuine,” explains Soi. “Most of these boys drop out of school at an early age to go after these women. I have spoken with some of these boys and they tell me they are in it for the money. They believe that a Mzungu will help them cross the poverty border.”

Omari-and-his-Women

“In most cases the African boys have wives at home. One might think that it is Omari who is lying to the Mzungu but the woman is also doing her fair share of lying; some these women come to Africa with the knowledge that the relationship will last for as long they are here,” explains Soi who adds that Kenyan tourism, especially at the coast, is fuelled by sex.

Seduction ritual

Soi says that he likes to make his art simple. “What you see is what you get,” he says. “I paint what I see; I am not in the business of judging people.” This is especially so in his pieces where he shows men in strip joints. “I have been accused of portraying society in negative light but then it is a fact that men, even ‘decent’ church going types visit these joints where women are skimpily dressed.” In any case, he adds that strip joints are not cheap places to visit. “They are frequented by people with deep pockets; not your everyday ‘pervets’; I do not create these things.” he adds.

Soi's bag

Soi who mostly works with acrylics on canvas has series of portraits that he sews on to women’s handbags. “These are what pay bills,” he says. “They have become so popular with women I can barely meet the demand.” Each bag goes for sh3,000.