The Transients

The Transients is a performance piece I conceptualized and developed in the framework of the Kampala Arts Festival 2021 created by 32 Degrees East. It draws inspiration from Kampala city vendors and hawkers, whose resolve and resourcefulness in the face of ever-changing rules is the only way they can make a living in Kampala city. They often creatively carry their merchandise on their bodies. For the hawkers, ‘you wear your hustle so it can’t be taken away’. In a performance of commerce as second skin, set to a soundtrack of the bustling sounds of downtown Kampala markets, I aimed to draw our attention to how vendors physically carry the weight of their survival as they circumvent expensive rent and over-policing in a city where they seek to earn a respectable living. Through this piece, I sought to engage a grassroots audience on the dire state of the capitalist construct in which we live in drawing attention to their ingenuity in the face of constant denigration by the city authorities.

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The Transients was created in collaboration with:

Dancer: @noelkay2

Poet: @midnight_tsunami 

Composer: @koojotheartist

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