Community Selection Process – L’Arche Kenya by Peter Gakunga

Late in 2013, L’Arche Kenya core members got involved in an interesting art presentation. This was an invitation from the International Federation of L’Arche’s 50th anniversary celebrations to showcase the diverse and artistic talents and illustrate the gift of L’Arche through the vision of people with learning disabilities.

After a series of artistic activities, L’Arche Kenya was faced with choosing one item for the online exhibition. There were  many entries and it was not easy to choose. Finally we settled for a work by Michael Kariuki; a core member of L’Arche Kenya since 2009. The title of the work is ‘MY COLOURFUL COMMUNITY’.

Reflections
The community members were asked to reflections on the work which they did on January 22, 2014.

The process asked three questions:

1. What could the members see in the artwork?

• Flowers
• A vehicle
• Iron box
• A cross
• A television set
• Many colours
• A gun
• A man on a tree
• A cockroach
• Many people near the cross
• A church
• Oranges
• Rabbits
• A grave
• People crossing a bridge
• A murram road
• Letter “ A”
• A computer
• Sky
• Sheep
• A guard
• A dog
• A house
• Bees
• River

2. What do the items drawn represent in the members’ understanding?

What the artist may have meant and these are a few of the comments:

• The grave represents the many people who have died in L’Arche over the years.
• Many dots near the cross represent how L’Arche has been trying to come closer to God in its own way.
• The many colours on the work represent the diversity in talents, origin, religion and cultures of people in L’Arche.
• L’Arche is and has been on a journey represented by a road and a bridge.
• The television represents technology and how L’Arche communities have been communicating.
• The cross represents spirituality which is a key pillar in L’Arche while a white background represents peace.
• The gun represents times when we have disagreed in L’Arche.
• The journey of L’Arche has not been smooth all the way and this is represented by a murram road.
• The sheep represent humility which is a necessary ingredient of our life in L’Arche.
• Many people have rested in the shade of L’Arche as represented by a tree and a man.
• Letter “A” is the first letter of the alphabet. Therefore at 50 years, L’Arche is beginning a new chapter.

3. What did the artist have in mind?

Finally Michael had a chance to tell us what he intended to communicate. Below are some of his comments:

• The television set reminds him of when members of the community visited his family and watched television.
• The cross represents the death and resurrection of Christ and calls us to repentance.
• The house is a representation of the various houses of L’Arche.
• He also drew a waterfall which is a famous landmark and tourist attraction near L’Arche Kenya and is visited by many people.
• He also drew a laptop that he uses at home.
• The cross represents the love of Christ for all; both assistants and core members.

The exercise has given us an opportunity to see another side of our core members which we did not know. It has also ignited debate on many pertinent issues as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of L’Arche.