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'Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life,

to enjoy the arts and to share its advancement and benefits.'

From the 27th Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

'Art education is indispensable for success in a rapidly changing economy.'

Barack Obama, 2009

There is no art education in Kenyan schools. Art is not an examinable in Kenyan schools, and is generally absent from the curriculum.

Mobile Art School in Kenya, MASK, children’s educational charity, is the only organisation in Kenya that gives active help to young people, particularly in rural areas and those affected by conflict, in exploring their creativity and self-expression.

MASK:

promotes peace and social justice amongst schoolchildren through the arts in our Art for Peace and Social Change programme (see below),
provides art workshops to children in their schools, sets up and runs weekly art clubs in those schools, and exhibits the children's work in local communities in Kenya,
brings an international base of volunteer artists to Kenya to nourish and develop children's creative skills and encourage Kenyan contemporary art through our Artists for Aid programme,
through our ongoing exhibitions and advocacy work lobbies the Kenyan Government and local educational administrations to bring art subjects back into schools.

MASK believes that art education is not a luxury, an optional extra, not the privilege for a few chosen. It is a fundamental part of humanity and integral to civilised society and an essential component in developing a child's self worth and identity. To be creative and express yourself in a peaceful way is the birthright of every child. Art can transport children psychologically and helps them to make sense of a world around them. It is a way of communicating across boundaries, building bridges between cultures, and a powerful tool in uniting communities and healing wounds of conflict. It is also a necessity in a country's economic and development progress. Yet, children living in poverty are often the most deprived in terms of artistic input.

UNITED NATIONS/ UNESCO/ THE COMMONWEALTH

Such international bodies as United Nations, UNESCO, and the Commonwealth all view cultural expression as a fundamental human right.

THE UNITED NATIONS in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: 'Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life, to enjoy the arts and to share its advancement and benefits.' (27th Article) (MASK’s motto)
UNESCO at The General Conference in 2005 (the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions) affirmed that culture defines humanity and should be cherished and preserved for the benefit of all. It states that cultural diversity creates a rich and varied world, which increases the range of choices and nurtures human capacities and values, and therefore is a mainspring for sustainable development for communities, peoples and nations.
THE COMMONWEALTH at the 2007 Commonwealth People's Forum, Kampala, Uganda, agreed that culture in the Commonwealth is a driving force for people-cantered development. They called on Commonwealth Member States to: recognise and promote awareness that culture is a fundamental pillar of the Commonwealth, alongside development and democracy; recognise and support the increasing role of the creative industries, cultural heritage, and other forms of cultural creativity in contributing to economic development; raise the status and budgets for culture.

Our mobile format allows us to reach and benefit many children across different ethnic groups.

The School works with young people and children aged 3+ including children with disabilities, or who may be homeless or abused.

MASK has proven to be very effective in achieving its objectives. With minimal resources the School has made great progress with thousands of youngsters, beginning to transform local arts and raising children's self-confidence and motivation. Schools all over Kenya are eager to join MASK network. There is a great need for and much interest in the arts in Africa!

Our aim is to show another side to Africa, one that is hopeful and enriching, not the usual outstretched begging-bowl, but a demonstration of cultural and artistic talent!

ART FOR PEACE AND SOCIAL CHANGE

MASK is advocating ART FOR PEACE and SOCIAL CHANGE, addressing peace and national unity and other social topics through the arts-based methods, making connections between art and human development, governance and democracy and communities and livelihoods in Kenya.

Currently, there is no peace-building organisation in Kenya that focus in their work on schoolchildren. Children in Kenya are underrepresented part of society. They are not listened to. This disempowers them and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation.

MASK strongly believes that to teach children mutual respect and tolerance must be the first step towards a future of peace and prosperity. Art is the most effective and comprehensive way of educating children. It is also a powerful and low-cost tool in uniting communities and healing wounds of conflict. Yet, children living in conflict or extreme poverty are often the most deprived in terms of artistic input.

Through their art Kenyan children are able to demonstrate their experiences, hopes and aspirations for themselves and their communities in most powerful way.

MASK has set up to:

promote peace, ethnic tolerance and national unity amongst schoolchildren in Kenya through art and drama;
give voice to marginalized children affected by conflict;
through our Kenyan Schools Exchange programme organise exchange visits between schools of different ethnic groups, especially those groups who are in conflict where children work together in a creative way (this is the only such exchange programme in Kenya);

MASK works with schoolchildren in rural areas across the country and across all ethnic groups and religions, and has become an important link between children in the Nakuru, Narok, Laikipia, Samburu, Pokot, Naivasha and Baringo regions

It continuously collaborates in Kenya with local not-for-profit and non-partisan peace-building organisations, drawing on their experience and expertise.

In early 2008, MASK worked with child victims of the Kenyan post-election violence in displaced persons' camps in Nakuru town and schools in Laikipia. Children had been traumatised by witnessing people being killed and their houses set alight. They hid in the bush, scared and hungry for days. Some lost their parents and now live with their siblings in over-crowded huts with their relatives who cannot feed them or pay for their schooling. In the refugee camps, a few possessions covered by a plastic sheet have become their homes.

In 2009, one year after the conflict, MASK's children expressed their experiences and hopes for the future. The wounds are still open, however. Children want to go back to their lands and rebuild their houses. As a result of the conflict, famine and hunger became widespread in the country. This became the biggest concern to children, and they strongly expressed their daily struggle for food in their paintings.

The exhibition 'One Year After The Conflict' was shown at The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) UNESCO on 20-31 July 2009, and during the UNESCO General Conference in Paris in October 2009.

We believe that with sufficient support and resources, MASK will become an important regional organisation, providing an inexpensive but effective contribution to the prevention and management of conflict in Kenya.

ART CLUBS

To encourage continuity and growth among pupils, MASK sets up art clubs in the schools and provides these clubs with art materials.

The clubs organise weekly art workshops for pupils of the schools, put on exhibitions of children's art, stage dramas for local people and even make films about local issues.

These clubs are run by MASK's volunteers, pupils and teachers of the schools.

MASK believes that the continuous learning of practical art skills can help children with further education and employment.

EXHIBITIONS

Exhibitions of children's art in schools and in communities are an important part of MASK's work. They promote art and demonstrate and encourage children's talent and aspirations.

In 2008 MASK organised an exhibition, at the Russian Embassy in Nairobi and at a leading law firm in the City of London, of children's paintings of the Kenyan post-election violence. The major Kenyan television station KTN featured the exhibition in their daily youth programme, 'Str8up'. Kenyan radio stations broadcast children's peace messages nationally.

In 2009, MASK organised a 'walking' exhibition in the Kongoli village in Naivasha, published a book of children's artwork 'One Year After The Conflict', and showed the paintings at the UNESCO see News.

ARTISTS FOR AID

Artists4Aid is designed to bring an international base of volunteer artists to Kenya.

The main purpose of Artists4Aid is not to train professional artists, although that would be a welcome by-product, but to nourish and develop in children wide range of creative skills.

We wish to give children an opportunity to be exposed to new ways of seeing, and to fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art.

Children demonstrating a special talent for art will be eligible for a MASK Award to study art at leading international art schools.

As there are currently no fine art schools in Kenya, MASK plans to build permanent studios in Kenya, which will be a cradle for art studies and cultural exchange.