The Sun and the Moon, Maasai folktale

In the beginning the sun married the moon. They travelled together for a long time, the sun leading and the moon following. As they travelled, the moon would get tired and the sun would carry her for three days every month.
On the fourth day the donkeys are said to be able to see the moon. People can only see the moon on the fifth day.
One day the moon made a mistake and she was beaten by the sun. But it happened that the moon a short-tempered woman. When she was beaten, she fought back, and wounded the sun's forehead. The sun also beat the moon and scratched her face and plucked out one of her eyes.
When the sun realised that he was wounded, he was very embarrassed and said to himself, "I am going to shine so hard that people will not be able to look at me." And so he shone so hard that people could not look at him without squinting. That is why the sun shines so brightly.
As for the moon, she did not feel any embarrassment and so she did not have to shine any brighter. And even now, if one looks closely at the moon, they will see the wounds that the sun inflicted on her during their fight.

Advithi Emmi is an Indian artist and art educator. For her art is a reflection of self and the society, it's an inexplicable journey that aids introspection. She believes in collaboration over competence, and have had several stints with different community-based projects and organizations, where she has contributed creatively to their growth while working hand-in-glove with the best in the field. In recent times, her work is mostly based on visual documentation of traditional knowledge and culture. As an art educator, she works towards sharing and instilling her experience with young minds.

In the third edition of the Wise Wall Project, we are collaborating with the culturally rich and one of the oldest communitys in the world, the Maasai community, in Arusha, Tanzania, in partnership with Vikram Solar Ltd., Vijana Inspiring Foundation, Lions Club of Dar es Salaam and Arusha City, and Google Arts and Culture. Along with building an on-ground community centre and museum for the community, we are bringing an exclusive insight into the life, lifestyle and learnings from this inspiring community.

The Wise Wall Project is an initiative of Project FUEL that aims to document, design and strengthen the wisdom of rural communities and marginalised villages using art and community outreach programmes. The arts lead the way to raise support for the challenges these villages face today like migration, quality education and access to basic amenities like water and roads.