“I actually got my answers that I have for a long time fought to have. Solutions to my problems were found in the short discussions. It was just helpful to me.”
Felix Johnson (Artist & Participant).
“Mimi ni msanii, mimi ni biashara. Eat from your art, don’t let your art eat you! And it is not rude to demand your worth.”
Kenyan_Little_Man (Artist & Participant)
Many good things can be said about the county of Mombasa – County 001.
From its rich cultural heritage, to the stunning architecture found in old-town situated on the south-east side of Mombasa Island, to its charismatic people and most importantly, to its flavorsome food. Of course, we cannot forget the ever present, very beautiful picturesque backdrop to the county being the Indian Ocean.
Whereas the County is known as a top tourist destination the world over, however, we had a slightly different agenda for visiting it this time.
We went down to the Coast for a two-day legal aid/workshop under the auspices of the Creatives Nest Foundation, a Mombasa-based creative organization whose mission is to help creatives thrive. Both our organizations have an uncanny alignment – the belief in the strength of community. Because of this, we extended an invite to partner with other legal practitioners practicing within the creative field; more specifically to IP Garage and MMS Advocates (Mombasa Branch).
The objective of this two-day exercise was to provide and empower creatives within Mombasa town with the legal knowledge necessary to handle present-day challenges within their various fields.
The event was hosted by and at the SwahiliPotHub, Mombasa, a Community space that nurtures youth talent and skills in technology, creatives/arts and heritage, who were gracious enough to go a step further to provide beverages and meals to our participating creatives.
The two days proved a great success as different types of creatives showed up to not only learn but to also articulate their various challenges in practice; musicians who had experienced issues with contracts, scriptwriters who wanted to know about protecting their rights, dancers who wanted to understand how to protect their works and other creatives all showed up and voiced these issues to our capable panel of lawyers composed of Immaculate Juma, Agnel Nadida, Lilian Makanga, Ndeto Kay, Mildred Mwanyika and Felicia Tunje.
Our greatest take-aways were the feedback from the attendants as well as the stirred possibilities of collaboration within this sector between lawyers and creatives.
P.S If you are a practicing artist based in Mombasa, please visit the SwahiliPotHub to find out more about the ‘Sanaa Kama Biashara’ program being run by MMS Advocates for creatives.
Thamani ya taa ni giza kiingiapo
