Kenya to open cultural center

Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau

The Kenyan Ambassador to Korea learned a hard lesson in June.

Korean Air released a new advertisement for the launch of its Incheon-Nairobi flight in which Kenyans were described as “indigenous people full of primitive energy.”

“I got so many phone calls that day, so I had to call Korean Air to take it (the advertisement) down (from its website),” Ambassador Nagovi Kitau said last Monday during an interview with The Korea Times.

Things didn’t end there.

During a business trip to Kenya together with the president of Korean Air and journalists, he had to pacify government officials in Nairobi who were so angry that they refused to meet the delegation.

“I personally didn’t take offense,” the ambassador said. “They were trying to capture original, natural and genuine traits of the Kenyan people and landscape.”

Al Jazeera, an Arabic broadcasting company based in Qatar following the story, labeled the incident and Korean Air’s new route as a “Failure to launch.”

Twitter was inundated with outrage. –– olivahochichi –– RpbertAlai wrote, “Koreans talking about primitive energy is disrespect of the highest order, Kenya we need an apology.” One Sympathetic Twitter user wrote, “They probably made a direct translation.”

The situation finally wound down with an official apology from the company.

“You can’t judge Korea by an incident like this. I don’t think it’s right. Koreans have a lot of respect. That I know as a fact,” Kitau said.

What became clear to him is that there’s a serious gap in understanding between the two countries. But, with the introduction of a Kenyan cultural center, he is certain that this gap will narrow.

The center will be located inside the embassy building across from the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

One section will be a library. More than 100 books had been ordered from Kenya including “Father of Harambee” by former President Jomo Kenyatta; “Master of Mass” by Tom Mboya; “Mother of Tree” by Wangari Maathai; and “Yes We Can” by U.S. President Barack Obama.

It will also have five Kenyan books translated into Korean: “Weep Not, Child,” “Petals of Blood,” “Decolonizing the Mind,” “A Grain of Wheat” and “Moving to the Center,” all written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a Kenyan writer who wrote novels, plays, short stories and essays.

Books in Swahili have also been ordered, the ambassador said, and he intends to “teach the language.”

Swahili has been taught at the Hankuk University for Foreign Studies for a few decades but Kitau thinks it’s insufficient. He is planning to invite a small group of young volunteers who are to depart to Kenya.

Maps, coffee beans, folk songs, wooden zebras and textiles will be on display, and space in the basement will be used to accommodate 20 to 30 people at a time with a bar and a small kitchen behind it.

“Once the culture thing is sorted out, our relationship will further boom,” he said, projecting to open it by September.

Kenya doesn’t have one defining culture. It’s a combination of unique elements shared by 37 different ethnic groups in the country, such as the Massai warrior culture, which is the most well-known with tourists.

Kitau is striving to make the center an authentic and comprehensive window into his nation’s culture, complimenting existing venues that have permanent African cultural presentation.

A number of African museums in Korea aren’t up to much. The Museum of African Art on Jeju Island maintains a lavish exterior but lacks easy access due to its location. The Africa Museum of Original Arts is relatively close, located in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The African Art Museum of Yeongwol in Gangwon Province is directed by former Korean Ambassador Cho Myung-haing, who displays artifacts he collected when he was working in Africa.

He has a long business background. He was aggressive in cultivating business opportunities between Korea and Kenya, and achieved a lot. But the culture-related project is a new endeavor, he said, and hopes for the cultural center are high. <The Korea Times/Kim Se-jeong>

news@theasian.asia