As is the norm, I tend to get moments of insight in which I go off and shoot in the dark about some topic that affects artists. For as much as i am an artist, I am also a critic of the arts. I had promised to give an insightful piece on the commercialization of poetry so here goes…
As previously mentioned, many an artist has gotten to the open Mic stages that are constantly expanding the realms of performance arts. However, at the end of the day, we all go home to the same arguments that there is no monetary value in the art… Why??
As is the common trend now, we have all gotten into the “giving” artistic spirit. Few artists who seek to create platforms have organized events in which other artists come in to “support” the venture. I have no problem with the complimentary entrances, the bitings and even the mad “intros” and “shoutouts”.. PAY ME!!
Many are the events that we get invited to, skip the entrance charges “VIP style”, give our all on stage and still go home empty handed. GET THIS RIGHT! Its not about money. Its about SUSTAINABLE GROWTH!
If the said event is making money out of entrance fees, minus the expenses, it is my firm opinion that every artiste be compensated for their efforts in making the event a success.
Before I come out like a greedy poet (both of which I am not), lets attack this logically
Every artist gets into the game to make a name through their poetry, get a few followers and get recognition and a reputation for his/her work. Over time, this “name” becomes a BRAND, the followers grow into a FAN BASE/ SEGMENTED MARKET, the poetry becomes a product, the reputation becomes a BRAND IDENTITY and the recognition becomes WORTH. (Not too shabby, huh??)
CURRENTLY, the brands are getting an expanded segmented market of willing consumers who are constantly becoming brand loyal. This loyalty leads to the increase in demand for the product. Several events are created but the product is limited, monotonous and boring. Why?? Because the BRANDS CANNOT AFFORD TO MAKE NEW PRODUCT! ITS BAD FOR BUSINESS!!! The artists are making all these efforts yet the money is going to the wrong pockets!! There is demand for audio CDs, books, cards and the occasional performance but what most people do not realize in that all of this is a cost to the artist! So if I was making a loss, would I make an effort to keep new material flowing? As a business oriented artist, HELL NO! Hence the reason why there are artists who perform the same material over and over again! They do not see the need to take it further!!
What is wrong?
1. Too many events that focus lesson the artists and more on the hype
2. Too few resources for poetry to look like gainful art
3. Too many overzealous event organizers who still take advantage of the fact that poets are not business savvy
4. Lack of business savvy poets
So I guess its now in your hands. I may not have covered all the ills but I am determined to make this a topic towards the improvement of the state of affairs. In the next installment of this article, I shall be discussing the way forward. Look forward to “HOW IT SHOULD BE: POETRY RESURRECTED”
**Read part one of this article here
© Jemedari (His work, His twitter)
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5 Comments
denis
nyce
3 Nov
Sarah N
Well spoken.
3 Nov
Orato Kevin
An insightful piece of writing, this one is though quite overdue. I was discussing the same with a close Poet friend of mine recently but from a different, if opposing angle – the subject matter, the issue of money being detrimental to this great art form.
It’s true, poets like other human beings who strive at their daily labours require some form of monetary compensation or should I say, appreciation for their talent and hard hard-earned effort. Too long various events organizers have given verse artists the short end of the stick while exploiting their beautiful ability to market themselves and/or the establishments where such are are hosted.
The benefits of accruing cash as gratuity is not debatable considering how motivating a factor it can be to the general growth of the poet as you’ve rightly highlighted in your article above. I’m in whole agreement with you on that!
My line of thinking however, which shouldn’t be confused for going against progressive and profitable thought by all parties involved concerns the essence of Poetry. While a good thing to have poets lining their pockets with fairly reasonably sums of cheda, I fear the very nature of this venerated art is in danger of loss. Make no mistake, poets elsewhere have made good income performing while staying true to themselves and the art and while that is possible here, it is only prudent to note that we risk turning it into the crap that is Kapu-poetry where flashy but vacuous stuff is churned out for the sake of publicity and voracious greed.
I think it’s worth brainstorming on this issue some more but I still agree with your sentiment.
Great!
3 Nov
Wamathai Warugongo
You have raised some very valid points here & even though I’m a poet myself also i feel it’s better if i comment as an event organizer.
Now as you well know, it costs money to put together an open mic event (at least in case the Wamathai Spoken Word) & the gate charges goes towards settling that & sometimes the gate charges are not enough since the entrance fees are only Kshs. 150 & sometimes the attendance is low and i have to pay some of the expenses myself.
A situation where the poet gets paid is ideal but we are not going to get there by relying on entrance fees because in my opinion that is not practical. If we relied on gate charges, to be able to pay all the poets an event organizer has to charge a lot of money & i don’t think people would attend if that were the case. If a sponsor were to come on board however it would be very easy to pay the poet. It doesn’t have to be a large sum to begin with, i know most would be content to be refunded their expenses to begin with.
Something else i feel we need to do is nurture upcoming poets & teach them how to better the art & their performances & that’s where poetry workshops come in.
8 Nov
Simon Njoroge
I totally agree with your all your comments but i tend to think that for poetry to be of monetary gain to the artists, it has to move to the level where it can stand by itself. To elaborate this take into consideration that most open mics are staged in clubs where a good number of the audience are never out to enjoy the poetry but just their normal day out. A good start should be to have poetry staged in more cooler venues like theatres as this will encourage more artists to participate. Nothing puts off a poet like reciting a poem in a noiseful house. If poetry can attract a full theatre audience then poets should expect to gain. But anyway open mics are a good start in a country where poetry was unheard of in the entertainment world
23 Mar
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