Active Rift Valley 1

Curator James Muriuki and artist Olga Kisseleva went to an active Rift Vally site to document the movements of the Rift in the present time and their effects. Their conversation with the Kikuyu dweller of the area about the effects of the land movement on her daily life, the observation of the cracks in the asphalt of the road informed their views of the continued role of the Rift in the lives of Kenyans. It also allowed them to better appreciate the role of the Rift in the imaginary. In the conversation the Rift was treated as a supernatural phenomenon. A carved stone with a map of the Rift also showed the translation of the perception of the Rift into an art work. The visit also revealed that the villagers appreciated the greater value of the Rift phenomenon since such stone maps could be sold to tourists and interested passers-by.

The Rift Valley meanders from Djibouti to Mozambique, uniting and dividing the countries and peoples of Eastern Africa. The beauty, the vastness as well as the dangers of living at the cusp of the Rift will be EAMAN’s breathtaking reality.