Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o has urged guardians to support children with talents in arts. She attributed her success in the film industry to a distinctive and motivational pattern that fanned her passion.
Speaking to students and artists during a session dubbed “Arts in Education” at the KICC, Lupita, the Oscar Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress, said she grew up in a community that fosters creative self-expression and around guardians who “validated her dreams.”
“Without their constant and vigilant belief in me, I wouldn’t be where I am…a dream can only be realised when it is validated. First by yourself and then by those around you,” said Lupita.
The actress frowned upon the fact that “arts education is often dismissed as non-essential” in Kenya and called on parents and teachers to create room for children’s self realisation.
Reflecting back at the times that made her as an artiste, she credits her teacher, the late Mutegi Njiru, and her debut role as a passerby in the play Oliver Twist at Rusinga Schools as an epochal moment that kicked off her life on stage.
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Mr Njiru, an English teacher at Rusinga and an ardent thespian, died in the 1998 bombing of United States embassy in Nairobi. The following year, Rusinga introduced the Mutegi Njiru Memorial Shield to recognise students with exemplary contribution in the field of theatrical arts. Lupita Nyong’o was the first to clench the award.
The actress emphasised reinforcing children’s abilities and talents as opposed to imposing careers on them. “Self-expression is the most pure part of self; the part that yearns to communicate in a different way,” said Lupita.
Lupita also lauded the Government for making Kenya an attractive film-making destination through zero-rating film equipment and wooing Hollywood to shoot movies in Kenya. Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario confirmed that Richard Leakey’s story in the upcoming movie Africa, which features Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will be shot mostly in Kenya.
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