Express Yourself: Changing Perceptions Through Art

They are Wicked

South African musician Fiesta Black is fed up with corruption. She releases a track with an unflattering message about the elites who have gotten rich at the expense of others: They are wicked. 

“Corruption is destroying everything. It’s destroying the country as a whole. People have lost hope. They just don’t feel there can be change.” 

Follow her journey as she urges millions of South Africans to stop paying bribes and fight back. 

“I want to remind them that it’s either we do something about it or just leave it to get worse than it already is. I think music is the best way to do it. It’s a powerful tool.”

Indonesia’s Unlikely Shutterbug

Twenty-four-year-old Dzoel has no hands or legs, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of his photography.

“It’s ridiculous when people see me as disabled. I have my own way of doing things.”

In a vehicle he designed himself, he cruises around Banyuwangi, photographing engagements and weddings and teaching photography classes.

“In the beginning, it started as a hobby. The slowly, people started using my service. Nobody had the slightest idea that I would go this far.”

Eastleighwood

Hollywood, Bollywood and now … Eastleighwood. Iman Burhan and a collective of young Somali filmmakers in Eastleigh, a neighbourhood in Nairobi, are tackling the question of how to correct negative perceptions about their culture head-on.

“In Western media, whenever they cover Somalia, they usually cover war. [For] Somalis, there was a positive story to tell. We felt that we needed to communicate to the world.” 

The group are taking on the roles of writers, directors and actors to make their first feature-length film using only one camera, hoping it will change perceptions of Somalis in a neighbourhood blighted by attacks blamed on al-Shabab.