Ethnic identities and cultural commoditization in the jua kali art world of Lamu, Kenya

This thesis employs an ethnographic approach towards the study of jua kali (Swahili, "hot sun") art in Kenya. One group of artists on the island of Lamu---the Culture Boyz, as they call themselves---provides a case study of non-Western artists who primarily sell their work to Western tourists. Although tourist art was once disparaged within the discipline of art history, the Western consumption of non-Western art and analyses of the way culture is commoditized in touristic settings have become significant topics in the last few decades. The importance of ethnicity to Lamu's informal sector artists and the ways that ethnic identity is expressed visually in their artwork offers a unique approach to analyzing processes of cultural commoditization.; The introductory chapter establishes the theoretical framework for my research study, provides background information about the jua kali sector in Kenya and the island of Lamu, and details the methodology that guided my fieldwork. Chapter 2 explores how culture is defined and commoditized in Lamu, and analyzes the effects of a touristic audience on the artwork created and sold there. Chapter 3 discusses the central role of ethnic relations in Lamu society and examines various ways that ethnicity is represented by the island's informal sector artists. Chapter 4 argues that the island's sociocultural networks are rooted in ethnicity and considers how these networks comprise Lamu's art world through apprenticeship training and systems of distribution. Chapter 5 investigates the use of materials in the construction of culture and how the economic climate of Kenya has spawned an artistic genre centered on recyclia and creative reuse of found media. Finally, chapter 6 evaluates a special exhibition that was organized in Lamu for a group of U.S. Marines stationed on the island as an encapsulated example of the cultural interactions between Third World artists and First World visitors. Chapter 6 additionally concludes the thesis by analyzing the sociopolitical implications of the Culture Group's artwork.