Same Love: A Kenyan Gay Music Video as an African Queer Imaginary
In February 2016, a group of Nairobi-based artists under the name Art Attack released a music video titled Same Love. They described it as ‘a Kenyan song about same sex rights’, while at the same time claiming that the song had a pan-African scope. The banning of the video by the Kenya Film Classification Board could not prevent its online distribution, and since its release the video has provoked considerable public debate. In this paper I give a close reading of the images and lyrics of the video, focusing on the references to religion, the claim towards a Christian notion of love, the pan-African and global framing of its message, and its representation of queerness. In other words, I examine how Same Love presents a particular African queer imaginary and is a world making device.

Please refer to our website for further information www.africanstudies.ox.ac.uk/events
Date: 16 February 2017, 17:00
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Pavilion Room, Gateway Building
Speaker: Dr Adriaan Van Klinken (University of Leeds)
Organising department: Centre for African Studies
Organiser contact email address: african.studies@africa.ox.ac.uk
Part of: African Studies Seminar Series
Topics:
Booking required?: Not required
Cost: Free
Audience: Public
Editor: Millie Oates