African Art Featured in Union Art Gallery
By
Published 1-25-2008
Like Wyoming, neighbouring Nebraska is not a state many would associate with traditional African art. But Wednesday afternoon, the Wyoming Union Gallery was filled with a wide array of unusual artefacts, from intricate Ghanaian wood carvings to brightly coloured batik mud paintings from Kenya. Whilst the pieces on display were all crafted by East African artists, they now make their home in a hair salon called Seth Styles on a corner of 25th Street in Omaha, Neb.
The exhibition arrived at the University of Wyoming as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Days of Dialogue events and was accompanied by curator and manager of Seth Styles, Godwill Mock. The Kenyan-born art collector came to America with his family ten years ago. Godwill is a native of the Luo tribe, and his father settled in Nebraska after working as a pastor in African refugee camps. Since then, Godwill and his brother, Seth, started their business in the centre of Omaha and it has since become a place to go for African art and culture in the region.
But Seth Styles is much more than an art gallery. It is also a barber shop for men, women and children that specialize in African and African-American hair styles. The store also provides services for African communities in Omaha, including aiding with immigration and homelessness and dry-cleaning. The store event sells the latest African music and films.
For Godwill, the art he collects represents hope and reminds him of his homeland. “The things that I see bring back life to me,” he said. “I have a love of art, I want people to know what art is. You can look but you are missing something. Art is something from the heart,” he said. The paintings and sculptures are imported from Kenya and Ghana by Godwill’s sister, Christine, who still lives in Nairobi and works with local artists.
For Godwill, remembering the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. is important both as a Kenyan and a black American. “He had a big impact on the African people,” Godwill said. “When he said he had a dream, he spoke back to the days of slavery in Africa, but there was no person at that time to sacrifice himself like that.”
The recent violence and rioting in Kenya following the controversial re-election of President Mwai Kibaki is also something that weighs heavily on Godwill he said. Many men, women and children have been killed in the crisis since January and Godwill said he worries, as he one day would like to return home with his family. “It affects me, but Kenya has an opportunity to recover from this,” he said. “It was not a surprise because there has always been tension between the tribes, but in the history of Kenya this is the first time this has happened.”
Godwill has been touring with his exhibition and said he thinks African-Americans can take great inspiration the art. “I want the American population to realise the depth of Africa, and the art can take you far, far away,” he said.
Godwill, however, said he sees himself as a ‘black American’ and thinks the two communities, African-Americans and black Americans, need to come closer together. “We misunderstand each other but we came from the same place.
“Pride is a downfall of the African-American community,” he said. “They think that they were born here and they are better than those who were not born here. A few have an understanding of their background, where they came from and how to treat other Africans who just came here. I could call it ignorance but ignorance is not a defence. The cultures are different. My perspective of respect is not their perspective of respect, my perspective of disciplining my family is not their perspective of disciplining their family.”
Godwill said he is not at odds with white Americans or African-Americans, but all American culture equally. He does not, however, see himself as a refugee. “The term refugee does not matter to me because all people in America are refugees; it is just a figure of speech,” he said. “You came here yesterday, others are coming tomorrow. An immigrant and a refugee is the same thing.”
Although Godwill has made a life for his family in America, he said he would love to return to Africa. He has three children in America and recently got married. He said he would like his children to see their homeland some day.
“Everywhere you go, home is best,” he said. “You even go to the moon and build your castle there, but you will definitely come home to your family. Home is best.
“There are two sides to everything. There is a good side to Africa and a bad side to Africa. The media is just feeding off the negative things about Africa. They show naked women walking the streets and men with spears. This is not true. Kenya is a civilised country. It is like we have North Omaha and West Omaha; poverty is everywhere, AIDS is everywhere.”
Professor Gracie Lawson-Borders, director of African-American studies, helped organize Godwill’s visit to UW. She said she was happy with the positive turnout for the exhibition.
“I’m glad AAST was able to join with MIL-DOD committee to invite Godwill here for this exchange of culture with the University community. The mud art from Kenya and Ghana offered us the opportunity to see the art pieces from the perspective of the African artists,” she said.
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