Githinji Patrick Wilson
Main Prize - 2009
Female Circumcision
Artform: Painting
Through his painting, this Kenyan artist tackles a taboo subject in his country - female circumcision. "This practice makes these communities proud to feel they are helping these young girls, claiming that it reduces immorality in society by reducing sexual desires. But to me, this is an out-dated cultural practice, painful to the girl who loses a lot of blood and often dies," he writes. He adds that the tradition occurs in communities where they make decisions for very young girls and force them into early marriage.