1. Creativity of African Youth and a Change in Narrative.
In the end we will all become stories – Margaret Atwood
It was in 2014 that I read for the first time, this sentence which would become a fundamental
pillar of my creative thought process. At the time it seemed pretty ordinary and would just serve
the purpose of another well-picked Instagram caption. But fast forward to a couple of years
later, it has become the basis of one of my most cherished projects called Through Thy Lens. You
see by contemplating this idea that once we leave this world, what’s left of us will not just be
memories and pictures, but the stories told by the ones we’ve left behind, I was compelled to
look into the art of storytelling. Not just any type of storytelling; but the stories we tell about
ourselves. In other words, our personal narrative.
If I were to ask you the number of people you know who own a journal or diary, chances are they
would be less than the number of people you know who own any social media account or a blog.
Simply because over time we have moved from writing about ourselves and our lives in
confidential books, to writing about ourselves and our lives in 140 characters, captions and
blogposts which can be read by virtually anyone. Does sharing our narrative affect its content, its
reliability and honesty? Probably, or maybe not. But that’s not why I’m interested in the stories
we tell about ourselves. The reason I am so interested in people’s personal narratives is quite
simple. It’s fascinating! From reading interviews, to autobiographies or stories collected by
Brandon Stanton for HONY, I realized that human beings, in all their shapes and forms,
regardless of where they come from, are more or less the same. Mind you, by “the same” I mean
“fascinating”. And this realization only came up through having access to a countless number of
people’s personal narratives, and through the stories these people tell and are willing to share
about themselves.
For the past two years, I have been particularly interested in the personal narratives of a certain
group of people – young African men and women whopursue creative endeavors such as
photography, visual art, music, poetry, dancing, writing, design … you name it. Perhaps my
interest in these individuals was rooted in my sense of belonging to this group. Nonetheless, the
stories young creative African minds tell about themselves all seem to have one thing in
common: a relentless emphasis on change. A change in their personal identities as well as a
change in their collective African identity.
Like most persons in my generation, I spend a ridiculous amount of time scrolling the internet
and it has allowed me to come across the work, art and stories of so many African creatives. This
is how I first detected the ‘pattern of change’ as I like to call it. In order to explain what I mean
by the ‘pattern of change’, I have come up with a typical timeline of events in the lives of most
African creatives. Please remember this does not apply to all. Very often, the creative endeavors
of young African creatives, begin like hobbies or ways to escape the stresses of college,
university, jobs they loath or being a hundred miles away from home (in the case of young
Africans living abroad). Quickly these hobbies evolve into passions which often lead to
reevaluations of their life goals. Some quit their jobs, or drop out of college in order to pursue
these creative endeavors full time. The consequences of these actions can be so tremendous that
they ultimately change their sense of self and identities. Some cut ties with significant others
who do not understand their choices, some are left completely clueless about what they really
want out of life and some are confronted to the realities of true solitude for the first time.

2. Fortunately, the pursuit of one’s passion does not only bear rotten fruits. With time and
resilience, most young African creatives find a new understanding and validation of their
identity via their creativity and the pursuit of their passions. Thus the changes in their personal
narratives and the stories they tell about themselves are intricately linked to, caused by and
result to their creativity.
In an attempt to confirm this, I decided last year to interview a series of young photographers,
and artists among which 13 were African. By engaging them into conversations about
themselves and their art, I was able to observe the role creativity plays in their perceptions of
themselves, and how it shapes the way they present themselves. These collection of interviews
can be found on the following platform: Through Thy Lens. What I learnt from this experience
was that some but not all young Africancreatives go through identity crises, however their
creativity remains an important component of who they are, and how they talk about
themselves. In other words, their personal narratives and the stories they tell about themselves
are heavily influenced and shaped by their creativity.
When it comes to the idea of a change in their collective African identity, I am referring to the
different ways in which young African creatives are pushing for a different narrative about Africa
by Africans. We know all too well, the western stories of poverty and malaria- stricken Africa
and although these are true of the African narrative, they are not all there is to this narrative.
Thus by using their creative platforms to tell different stories about Africa, most young African
creatives are shining light on other aspects of the African narrative and ultimately changing it.
I would love to hear / read your opinion on how creativity can alter the African narrative as well
as the personal narratives of its youth. So feel free to leave a comment.