The late Ugandan poet and scholar Okot p’Bitek (1931–1982) famously wrote about the beauty of art and the artist as the ruler of humankind.
In the essay “Artist the Ruler,” Okot described himself as a student of man, and art as the soul of a people. It rules them. When it does not, anarchy reigns.
Art is about order, and the beauty and joy of living. It is about organising silences in the middle of the noise that is life, to produce meaningful rime and rhythm.
In music, the pause between notes defines harmony, melody, and rhythm. When sound loses soothing silent gaps, it becomes noise – a deafening cacophony. Hence, the joy of living resides in ability to find and savour the beauty in nature and the calm of a collected world. Such a world is easily lost in meaningless rat races that take us nowhere. The ability to appreciate natural beauty in flora and fauna around us, and the small good things we ignore in daily life.
There is the silent flow of the river and the magnificence of the ocean. The soporific sound of raindrops and the isolated cooing of the pigeon. The swishing of the wind through the trees and the soothing symphonies in music. There are innumerable little joy bringers that we ignore, or lose to rat race of life.
Do Kenyans seem to occupy eminent space on this highroad to nowhere? A society that will lose its soul begins by losing restraint and order. The 14th Century Italian poet Petrarch introduced the notion of the European Dark Ages.
This was a 900 year-period when Europe suffered a cultural and intellectual heart attack. It is not that nothing significant happened in science and technology – and indeed in learning generally. New universities came up. Industries were built. But this does not negate the fact that society slipped and sank into ignorance, savagery, and a general state that can only be described as cultural melancholy.
It was the age of dragon boats, terror and mind-boggling bloody wars, some under the guise of promoting religion. Only the worst elements of society thrived. To be schooled was laughable. Social etiquette sank, as did philosophy, literature, music, and elevated culture generally.
The exception to this social malaise was in monasteries. Monks tore themselves from society and lived in total isolation. They took time to study and meditate.
This way, they kept the embers of knowledge simmering, for a future blossom. For, even the Church itself had become the high citadel of corruption, murder and mayhem.
It was adept at political manipulations, selling of forgiveness – otherwise known as indulgences – prebendalism, salacious scandals, and roasting in wild fires of those who disagreed.
Salvation came with the European Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation from the 16th Century. Tellingly, the starting point was rediscovery of the beauty of learning, music, and the arts. A rediscovery of the soul of society, that went on to include the Catholic Counter Reformation.
Kenya and Africa are in their own Dark Ages, symbolised by the chaotic traffic on our roads. The above-the-law-multiple-cross-scissor motorbikes are the ultimate reflection of the state of the collective mind and the sick soul of the nation.
You cannot tell where the bike will materialise from, nor where it is going. You cannot even guess how many bikes you must avoid running into, in the next split second. They come from multiple directions.
Throw in reckless taxis, matatus and buses. Rope in irate private motorists. Free-range goats, handcarts, pedestrians, exhausters, VVIP motorcades, fire-engines, ambulances, everybody is in the mix – with competing cacophonies of sirens and heavy music.
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
Don’t take this confusion and loss of order lightly. It reflects the sick soul of the nation, the loss of values, and our descent from Xanadu.
-Dr Muluka is a strategic communications advisor.
www.barrackmuluka.co.ke
