Goma was no easy place
Goma was no easy place to be in 2009. Armed UN troops and tanks lined its streets – the legacy of years of civil wars that took the lives of millions – while roads, buildings and vegetation were stained black after the eruption of the nearby Nyiragongo volcano, which saw rivers of lava engulf the Congolese city. “I’d never seen anything like it,” says Ruth Daniel. “It looked like something from a disaster movie.” But amid the suffering and destruction, the people of Goma found a way to come together, to express and enjoy themselves. Daniel recalls a thousand-strong crowd gathering to watch an outdoor theatre performance. Young and old alike sat and stood in the dirt around a makeshift stage, enthralled by the spectacle and relishing the opportunity to interact around the experience. “The context may have been extremely challenging, but the will of the people to engage in art was incredibly exciting,” says Daniel. “This was art in action, really making a difference. For me, it was the beginning of a journey.” Daniel had been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a University of Manchester research project looking at the role of art in places of conflict. Titled ‘In Place of War’, that research project has since grown into an organisation that uses creativity as a tool to generate positive change in conflict zones. Daniel is its CEO. In Place of War works with local community leaders and artists in more than 20 countries to set up cultural spaces like music studios and theatres, train creative entrepreneurs and promote artistic collaboration. It has attracted high-profile supporters, including Brian Eno and Desmond Tutu, and taken Daniel and her team to some of the world’s most dangerous places. She recounts her visits to the impoverished neighbourhood of Lavender Hill in the southeast of Cape Town, where In Place of War was invited to see the work of reformed gang leader Turner Adams and see if they 42 / Jaguar Magazine
World People power Far left: Ruth Daniel working with young Ugandans. Left: A 2018 collaboration project brought international musicians SYMBIZ to Uganda. Previous page: Ghanaian pop star Wiyaala is part of the GRRRL music initative could help the community. “There are no jobs, no public transport. It’s dominated by violent gangs. Murder rates and drug use are high. Walking around there was an intense experience: the constant sense that something could happen at any moment.” Yet most people were simply happy they were there at all. “They came over and just said, ‘Thank you for coming; nobody else does’.” This is a pattern she’s seen often. Despite the violence that prevails in many of the areas in which she works, Daniel says she has encountered very little resistance to her efforts. “Yes, there have been some diffcult moments – I’ve been held at gunpoint. But it’s alright. We’re always with locals who are very well respected in the communities we visit. A lot of people just feel forgotten – they appreciate us showing solidarity, trying to help.” Daniel says she’s wanted to make change since a young age. “My parents were very politically active. I was about 13 when my dad told me a quote he’d heard: ‘You can either make money, make history or make art.’ That really resonated with me.” At university age, Daniel immersed herself in Manchester’s vibrant music scene. She toured with several groups, including cult punk band The Fall, before setting up her own music label at the age of 22 and helped establish an alternative music event called Un-Convention. “The industry was starting to undergo a digital transformation. It was exciting: we could reach new audiences, encourage collaboration. Soon we had visitors from different countries saying they wanted to take the festival to their hometown, and we got musicians like Jarvis Cocker and Billy Bragg involved.” Then came a major turning point for Daniel. Un-Convention took her to Bogotá in Colombia, where the artist Martin Giraldo invited her to Medellin – dubbed ‘the most dangerous city in the world’ in the 1990s by Time magazine due to its drug cartel connections – to explore the impact of hip-hop on the gangs of the Comuna 13 neighbourhood. “There I was, about to enter this area with Andrew Loog Oldham, a big figure in British music, former manager of The Rolling Stones, and we were asked to sign forms about » Jaguar Magazine / 43