2017
Chromogenic colour print
120 x 150 cm
Osborne Macharia‘s storyline revolves around the Mau Mau movement, which began in 1959 during Kenya’s struggle for Independence. Militant activists revolted against British colonialism, its policies, and its local supporters. Although defeated, their rebellion set in motion Kenya’s freedom from colonial rule. In 2015, a memorial was erected funded by the British government to commemorate the Mau Mau fighters, thereby acknowledging the brutality of this anti-colonial initiative.
Macharia’s fictional Mau Mau warriors belong to a special unit of five opticians who wear special hand-crafted spectacles used to spot the enemy at night. This fictional photographic series reimagines the Mau Mau movement, set against a landscape of alternative realities.
Chep is second in command and always behind Bobo. Being the arms bearer, she was a crafted fighter with more than normal night vision. Her work was to smuggle knives and other blunt weapons for sharpening to and from the Mau Mau hideouts as well as a fresh supply of weapons inside her hair.