SINA SIRI NINA JIBU performance 15

Students from the Anidan center for children performing the interpretive dance SINA SIRI NINA JIBU ("I have no secrets but I have an answer" in Swahili) at the roofs of the Peponi hotel, Lamu Island

The performance SINA SIRI NINA JIBU took place on the coastline rooftops of Shela village. Its title was inspired by the Swahili inscriptions found on the broad rim of the khangas used in the performance: SINA SIRI NINA JIBU means "I have no secrets but I have an answer".

For the performance Olga Kisseleva and James Muriuki chose a young baobab from Lamu Archipelago, the emblematic tree which has a big practical, nutritional, cultural, and spiritual value for the Swahili coast inhabitants. The artist consulted with Kenyan botanists and collected from a selected Baobab dynamic biological data providing insights into the Baobab’s state and wellbeing. The scientific team developed sensors to monitor noise measurements, circulation of fluids within the tree trunk, electric signals, impulses and pressure, electromagnetic waves, shrinkages, hydration, gas emissions, the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves, wind resistance, and many other parameters.

In nature all these vital signs allow the tree to communicate with other trees, birds and plants, i.e. with the environment as a whole. Transcoded by scientists, these data allow them to judge the health of the tree and the strategies it adopts for survival. Interpretation by the artist, allows the spectators to learn about the languages of nature.

Data collected from the chosen Baobab show the changes happening within the tree during several days of observation. These data, translated into colors, were matched with khangas. About 500 khangas were used to express through dance and color the “message” from the baobab as captured by the sensors.

Khanga is a colorful fabric common in Swahili culture. It has many uses including by women as a garment, a baby wrap, a towel and a ceremonial gift to name a few. Essentially, khangas are more than a piece of fabric. Sayings printed along their wide rim have been a means for women to send messages to those around them for ages.

The performance was carried out by the students form the Anidan centre. The students took part in the development of the choreography and used khangas for color coding. Interpretation of the baobab message by the creative young people of Anidan was a homage to the baobab, its wisdom, its resilience, and effort to take the dialogue with nature to a new level of understanding, protection, and exploration.

The art and science performance SINA SIRI NINA JIBU is a part of the collaboration between EDEN (Ethics – Durability – Ecology – Nature) developed by artist Olga Kisseleva and EAMAN. It explores a range of issues, including the protection of endangered plant species and interspecific communication between living subjects that are placed in the “inhuman” category and building a new kind of organic network based on vegetal medium. It transforms this encrypted communication into a comprehensive and open network. The trees included into the project can talk across continents, and humans follow their communication through interactive artworks.