The language of yoga is universal. This is the message from Robert Sturman, an artist from Santa Monica, Calif., who traveled across the United States to capture the tranquility and beauty of yoga. A month earlier, Mr. Sturman traveled to Kenya to document the work of project Africa Yoga, an organization nonprofit that teaches and employs more than 70 local yoga teachers and leads up to 300 courses of yoga free for more than 5,000 people per week in the orphanages, jails and other locales throughout the country.
I recently spoke with Mr. Sturman his time in Africa, how it has changed his view of the practice and the universal language of yoga. Here is our conversation:
Last time we talked you on the property, it was for a series of pictures of yoga to the United States. Why did you decide to focus on Africa for this project?
As an artist, I am more interested in humanity than any other thing. Yoga is a beautiful, poetic body expression. I wanted to go to Africa to celebrate human beings humans who aspire to reach their full potential. Often, we see images from Africa, pointing to suffering, but I wanted to create a corpus of works that pointed to something positive and stimulating.
What attracted you in the Africa Yoga project?
I found the online Africa Yoga project, and I was inspired to create visual poetry with what they are doing in Africa. Their generosity interests me deeply. For example, they have a sign language to many of their classes interpreter because there are some people who are deaf in their community of yoga. It was one of the many things that touched me on their work.
Are there differences in the practice of yoga to the Kenya and the United States?
In Kenya, people walk out of the yoga class to feel good, just as they do in New York. The only difference that I liked, however, was that children who took the classes always broke into a spontaneous singing or dancing in the middle of class. Then they would return the postures of yoga.
Speaking on the children in the photos, several of your most striking pictures were taken into orphanages. How are these children benefit from yoga?
Through the practice of yoga, children are given the opportunity to express themselves, be creative and open up physically and mentally. It was more clear to me at the time wherever their hourlong class is over, they feel loved.
You visited yoga classes also in women's prisons in the Kenya. What was that experience like?
Visit the Kenyan prison has brought me an unexpected joy. The detainees, some of whom are HIV-positive, told me that yoga has become a rare source of happiness in their daily lives.
What did you take away from your trip to Africa?
After a course of yoga, I watched people in the class and I saw hope in their eyes that they could be part of something positive. Students leave the empowered class to be leaders in their communities. It was great to witness their enthusiasm and to have the opportunity, as an artist, to show them this part of themselves.
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