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THE MAKING OF THE PIGGY BANK FOR OCCUPY PARLIAMENT RELOADED

The MPIG's piggy bank

 Introduction      

 

On Tuesday 11th June 2013 there was a demonstration in front of the Parliament Buildings in Nairobi dubbed 'Occupy Parliament Reloaded' which was an uprising against MP's greed. At the protest,there was a big dummy of a pig to symbolize the greed of MPs together with a small piggy bank was used by the protestors to collect their contributions to members of parliament who were demanding for a salary rise even before they start working. The piggy bank which was regarded as the piglet of the big dummy pig,was designed by a young upcoming artist by the name Paul Ndiang'ui aka Ndiangs. On this blog Ndiangs tells us the story behind the making of the piggy bank and takes us through the process itself.

Mother Pig and her piglet

Who or what inspired you to make the piggy bank?

        Apart from being an artist, I have been a human rights activist for quite some time now. It was a friend and fellow activist who upon telling him that I love art suggested that I could use my artworks to put across my message during demonstrations. I realized that he had a good point and thus sought out to come up with an good idea of a design for the 'Occupy Parliament Reloaded' protest which was in a week's time. As I was doing my research I came across an article in the Daily Nation by Macharia Gaitho dated 3rd June 2013 which was titled 'Next time the people protest against MPs, the Executive should step aside'. A part extracted from the article read as follows:

'Yes, if we do not stop the greedy legislators who want to ride roughshod over the wishes of Kenyans in order to loot and plunder, we can say goodbye to democracy and allow a handful of thugs to turn the Treasury into their own piggy bank.'

       It was after reading that section that the idea of making a piggy bank came to my mind.

Ndiangs and his piggy bank

So what materials did you use?

I used simple and readily available materials such as:

• Carton/Used boxes
• Drinking straws
• Office Glue and 2" Masking tape
• Scissors/Razor blade
• Tissue Paper/Used paper
• Rulers and a protractor
• Pencil
• Water colour/Acrylics 
• Paint Brush 
• Water

 What's the procedure?

1. I,first, made sketches of the body and faces of the piggy bank

2. I,then, tried to find out which solid forms would be appropriate for the model I was intending to make.For instance,I used truncated icosahedron(football) for the body and dodecahedron for the head.I learnt this in my 3 Dimensional design class at K.U. and got the templates online from www.korthalsaltes.com

3. I used the carton as my main material and using a protractor and a ruler made the necessary measurements when drawing.I later cut out the shapes using the scissors.

4. I joined the shapes together using the masking tape.

4. I attached all the models together to my desired form

5. I made a mixture of water and office glue.I then placed tissue or used paper on the model then pasted it with the concotion using a paint brush.I later left it to dry.
Once dry,I coloured the model using water colours.I also cut out pieces of carton to make the eyes,ears,teeth and others.

and there you have it,the piggy bank with my message to the Members of parliament encoded on it.

 

 I know the piggy bank was small though to accommodate all the contributions you had for your MPs. Next time I will make a bigger one hehe. I now leave you to watch what went on at the protest.Thanks for your time!

STORY BEHIND 'THE HAND OF PEACE'

     The second semester of my first year was almost over meaning that my exams were getting closer and closer. I realized that it was about time that I started working on my 3-Dimensional Design project which I was expected to exhibit on the day of the exam. I was required to create a form from either clay, plasticine, Styrofoam or any other material. Therefore, I took time to think of  a creative idea that would capture a great message and of course,one that would hopefully please the examiners.

The Hand of Peace

      Apparently we had just reported back to campus from the elections,and there was so much tension in the air. I sincerely did not want to see a repeat of the 2007-2008 post-election violence. It was for this reason that I had to stop feeling sad that the candidate whom I believed would have made a good president had lost the elections and instead shift my focus on preaching peace. I did not care anymore about who had won the elections,all I wanted is that whichever way the outcome would go may there be peace since in my view the elections were conducted free and fair. All my messages, Facebook posts and tweets were about maintaining peace. One night however,there was unrest in my university after I.E.B.C. election materials were found in the campus which was a tallying center during the election period and was mistaken by some students to be an attempt to rig the poll results. My messages of peace came in handy and I shared with anyone I came across that night. Eventually it was over and calmness returned to the university the following morning.

One People,one Country

    So after much thought a brilliant idea for my project had come to my mind. I had decided to make a composition that would express togetherness as a country. I made,out of plasticine, a base of the map of Kenya from which a hand emerges and signifies 'One'. The point I was trying to put across is that we are one people,one country. You know,most of this clashes come about as a result of tribal divisions caused by politicians ,but the truth of the matter is that no one chose to be in the tribe that he is .It is God who decides. Belonging to a particular tribe is something good and that one ought to be proud of since it attaches you to some kind of culture but it does not mean that a certain tribe is better than another or that we must fight each other. God put as all,of different tribes and different backgrounds that we learn to coexist as one country,one Kenya.

From Bird's Eye-View,the hand of peace seems to be pointing at you

    I am proud of my country and my fellow countrymen since we heeded the call to live in harmony. Thus, my artwork which I commonly like to call  'The Hand of Peace' together with the efforts of others to bring peace in Kenya ,before and after voting, were not in vain. This unity should not cease. We should also be united as one in fighting vices as impunity, poor leadership, corruption and tribalism in our country.Najivunia kuwa Mkenya.

Proudly Kenyan

 

Incase you haven't watched this music video by Juliani pls do...makes you feel patriotic.Enjoy!

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

I wish to welcome you all to my new blog. My name is Paul Ndiang'ui Mwangi aka Ndiangs. Art is my talent and my passion. On this blog, I will be sharing some of my artworks and designs as well as my experiences as I go about drawing and designing since most of my works are inspired by the events in my life.Please feel free to comment and share my posts. Thank You!