Cultural Video Foundation has been working since 2008 together with the Ukoo Flani music group on the Maskani Project, a project about public art and public space in Kenya. The first idea of the project was developed during the Urban Wasani Workshop 2008 in Mombasa, where CVF and Ukoo Flani produced together a song about public space (Maskani) and a video trailer for a future film documentary project. During the African Maximalism exhibition at the Goethe Institut Nairobi in February 2009 CVF released the Maskani song music video. In May 2009, in occasion of the Urban Mirror project kick off at the Goethe Institut Nairobi, CVF finally released the participatory film documentary Maskaniflani, a documentary about public art and public space in Kenya.The documentary has been selected among the 30 finalists at the Videopolis International Video Festival about urban space representation, Padova Italy, November 2009.
- First prize winner of Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli, International Human Rights Film Festival, Naples Italy, November 2009.
Maskaniflani - Doc trailer
Maskaniflani is a journey into Kenya public space and public art scene. This participatory documentary tells the story of a group of Kenyan musicians, Ukoo Flani, that decided to support the cause of Public Space and Public Art in their own country. The documentary starts with the story of the 3 main characters: Richie, POP and Fujo. They decided to record a song about Maskani, to share with other Kenyans their opinions about what the word Maskani really means for them. The documentary follows the 3 main characters before, during and after the making of he song and the music video. In the second part of the documentary Rchie, POP and Fujo will interview artists, citizens and activists to understand better what and how public space and public art is important for Kenyans. This documentary will finish with 2 crazy "public art live performances": a Maskani funeral in Mombasa and a public oath in Uhururu park in Nairobi (2009)
