I've just read a text about the Tanzanian diaspora where the author uses the concept of "cargo cult" to analyse the relationship between the diaspora, the Tanzanian state and the international development community. Making sense. Cargo cult is a sidetrack - for me - but it's hard to resist not to look further into. Typical cargo cult activities include "the setting up of mock airstrips, airports, airplanes, offices, and dining rooms, as well as the fetishization and attempted construction of Western goods, such as radios made of coconuts and straw".
It made me think of all the recent helicopter constructions and the graffitti I have photographed in Tanzania, and of a previous interaction with Wachata Crew, who document the first graffiti in Tanzania, i.e. here:
I may be completely off, but I do wonder if this type of early graffiti also can be linked to both diaspora, cargo cult and what cargo cult represents in terms of the belief that a more technologically advanced society will deliver goods?
More on cargo cults here.
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