Listening to The Rift Valley
Discover the art, the science, and the nature of the Rift Valley through art works and performances centred around trees.
We find it appropriate therefore, that our inaugural project
... is dedicated to the connections of the peoples of the Rift to its dynamically changing natural and cultural environment. We are looking into the artistic and scientific relationship with trees, the guards and protectors of the Rift and of life evolving in their shade.
We use distinctly human means of understanding and experiencing reality - the scientific and artistic approaches and merge them in a quest to give new dimensions to communication and self-expression of the living beings of the Rift. Here are our first steps in this journey.
Listening to the Rift Valley 2 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
Arborescence - the harmony of life of the Rift
Looking at the Rift from above, we see arborescent (tree-like) structures everywhere. The Rift itself is an arborescent structure. This symbolic graphic is at the core of our project.
Listening to the Rift Valley 10 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
12 million-year-old petrified trees of the Rift Valley
We travelled to the Turkana Basin Institute and together with artists and scientists explored the connections of the petrified forest to their changing environment
Listening to the Rift Valley 13 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
A performance celebrating the continuity of life of the Rift
Performance RE-LIVE inspired by connection and communication with a petrified tree of the Turkana Basin
Listening to the Rift Valley 5 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
Connecting to a Petrified Tree - Age and Memory Rings
Performance BEING TIME celebrating connections and continuity of life in the Rift Valley.
Listening to the Rift Valley 11 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
How can we listen to a tree better?
The "Listening to the Rift Valley" project is using the equipment developed by the EDEN project to collect information from a tree about its wellbeing and then codify the received signals in an artistic performance.
Listening to the Rift Valley 1 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
Beach installation - interpreting baobab data
More than 500 khangas have been used to lay out a message captured by sensors from a baobab tree and then colour-coded for a beach installation. The Swahili title of the installation comes from a saying written on the broad rim of the khanga.
Listening to the Rift Valley 9 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
Lamu children performed a message sent by a baobab tree
Students from the Anidan Centre performed with khangas a message captured by sensors placed on a baobab and then decoded.
Listening to the Rift Valley 7 (2021) by Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu, and James MuriukiOriginal Source: https://eaman.org/
Viewers of the performance becoming participants
Choreographer and dancer James Mweu standing in front of the Turkana children who started as audience and then became participants.
Listening to the Rift Valley (2022)
Authors and performers: Olga Kisseleva, James Mweu
Choreographer: James Mweu
Photographers: Ian Kathurima Kinyua (SwiftLab), James Muriuki, Margaret Ngigi
Video editing: James Muriuki, Emmaus Kimani, Federico Debetto
Curator: James Muriuki
Project & Technical Coordinator: Emmaus Kimani
Project Director: Maria Amelina
Commissioned, co-created and co-produced by EAMAN
Participation of the TURKANA BASIN INSTITUTE and THE ANIDAN CENTRE FOR CHILDREN are gratefully acknowledged.
Listening to The Rift Valley Project: https://eaman.org
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