Street Art on COVID-19 Reaches Remote Communities in Northern Niger
Although Niger is not well-known globally for its graffiti artists, local businesses rely heavily on their community painters to assist with decorating their shops. Agadez-based artist Chamata, for example, has been lending his skills to local restaurants in his city for years, while Arlit-based painter Omar is often seen embellishing the neighborhood shops.
For years, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been using street art as a key outreach activity based on “human-centered design” to engage with migrants and community members. In 2019, IOM in West and Central Africa launched a street art initiative alongside its partner Street Art Sans Frontière attended by more than 1,000 people in Niger only.
This year, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, IOM continues the initiative in Senegal, Ghana and Niger with the objective to improve relations between migrants and host communities, while stimulating the debate surrounding how to reduce the spread of misinformation and xenophobia, two particularly sensitive topics during COVID-19 times.
According to discussions during focus groups organized by IOM’s community mobilizers in targeted neighborhoods, street art allowed the participants to engage with people they might have never had the chance to talk to you otherwise. These activities in Niger were organized in the framework of The PlayWall, a Dakar-based initiative comprised of street art artists, reunited this year under the tagline “Xibaaru Mbedd” (Wolof for “The news on the street”) describing the realities of a pandemic lockdown, translated to “Irma Fondey Sambou” in Zarma and “Mou Daoutchi Hangna” in Hausa, two languages used in Niger.
Under the guidance of Eric, an established Nigerien painter, two Togolese artists living in Niamey who had received training on street art during the 2019 edition, participated in this month’s activities to put to the test what they had learned last October. With the blessing of the mayor’s office in Niamey, one mural was painted at the entrance of the national hospital while a second one was painted under one of the capital’s most popular highway interchanges.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” says Alkassoum Halilou, the principal of the school CES Mai Manga Oumara in Agadez. Halilou has been the school’s principal for the past three years, and is excited that his school has been chosen for the street art activity on COVID-19.
After discussions with Chamata, local authorities and community members, the team drew a traditional Touareg man wearing a turban along with the message “Protect yourself against COVID-19” written in Hausa. “The feedback has been very positive so far. Several people have approached me asking for similar work to be done in their neighborhoods and the principal now wants the entire school painted!” Chamata laughs.
“Here in Agadez, the turban represents our cultural identity,” the school principal declares. “It all started with our ancestors who wore it because of the windy and dusty environment we live in. People should think twice before complaining they don’t have a mask because we all own turbans.”
More than 4,000 students attend the school, 14 to 21-year-olds who now proudly take selfies with the new mural decorating their school. One of them is Youssouf, a 17-year-old student, who promises the photo will go straight to his Facebook page.
“I think this perfectly represents our community. Our parents and teachers regularly talk about the COVID-19 prevention measures, but I don’t think they are respected nearly enough. It is actually us who often remind the adults that they need to protect themselves,” Youssouf adds.
Mayaki Sanoussi, leader for the Youth Council in Arlit, certainly seems to agree. “Messages spread through images can generate conversations about important topics such as COVID-19 and can have a powerful impact on our youth. They are the ones who will post them on social media and keep the discussion going.”
Mayaki had already seen the street art activities organized by IOM in Senegal this year on social media and wondered how such a project could be implemented in Niger’s far north. In Arlit, under the authorities and community leaders decision, the gates at the youth council took center stage.
Deciding to put a temporary end to the traditional handshake as a way of greeting people within the community, the youth council and local authorities proposed the alternative: the elbow bump, an already internationally recognized salute amid the pandemic.
“Shaking hands is deeply entrenched in our culture,” says the mayor of Arlit, Abdourahmane Dalahine. “We know that changing the mentality of those around us is difficult, but we believe that nothing is impossible. This initiative has generated a lot of excitement within our community and we hope that this is only the beginning.”
At Arlit’s local MJC bar, several messages such as “Vive buvette!” (En. “Long live the bar!”) and “Buvette, je t’aime!” (En. “Bar, I love you!”) have offered inspiration for Omar’s stencil which says “Vive Bavette!” (En. “Long live the face mask!”) and “Bavette, j’adore!” (En. “Face mask, I adore you!”).
The stencil is now displayed at several locations around town, including bars, ghettos, IOM’s office and the transit center. “And they say we don’t have graffiti artists!” Omar scoffs.
IOM’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa in Dakar is implementing various awareness-raising activities in the region with support from the Eu-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration through the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, which aim to increase social cohesion between migrants in transit, returnees and community members.
This story was written by Monica Chiriac, IOM’s Media and Communications Officer in Niger.
