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Thanks very much for staying with us. Time now for Iron Africa with me, Georgia Calvin Smith. Tonight, a scramble to get through rubble to trap survivors after a more than 10story building being built in Nairobi goes down. Police and rescue workers clash with crowds in the busy business district as frantic Kenyans try to get through to loved ones who they think may have been inside. Also, Switzerland says that one of its nationals who is Ugandan born and married to a Swiss diplomat was Nigeria's first Ebola patient.
Meanwhile, Kenya's logged nine cases so far and all traced back to the first Ebola patient announced earlier this month. Nairobi says it's on high alert, but is counting on the public to also do its part. And as International African Art Fair, also known as Africa, showcases dozens of spectacular works from African and Afro descendant creators from around the world. Back in Paris here for the 11th time, I am joined by Kate Verdian Amado Cavalio to speak of the emotion that he pours into his powerful pieces on show in Portraits of Absence. But first, rescue workers in Kenya have been struggling to work around crowds and limited room to maneuver as they try to get to people still inside a huge building that went down in Nairobi on
Friday. Emily Bole tells us more. For several chaotic minutes, a thick fog hung over the streets of Eastley in Nairobi on Friday. When the dust cleared, residents found a shocking site. A multi-story apartment building had collapsed into a pile of rubble. The building was still under construction, but it was reportedly occupied even though it had no occupation certificate. Authorities quickly launched a rescue operation despite difficult access to the area. Rescue machinery has been deployed to support debris removal and facilitate access to potential victims. The relief officer has been notified and efforts to mobilize additional resources are ongoing.
Local rescue teams do not know how many occupants or construction workers might be trapped beneath the rubble. There could be people who are trapped inside the debris inside the big boulders and rescue effort is ongoing. Whoever authorized the building, all of them will be charged properly. But that will come after thorough investigation is done. Nairobi is in the middle of a construction boom and high-rise buildings are appearing all over the city. But safety is a growing concern. According to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research, there were 86 building collapses between 2009 and 2019, killing an estimated 200 people.
Now, Kenya says that it has logged a second Ebola death. Earlier this week, it had announced nine cases, all traced back to its first Ebola patient who died earlier this month. Now, Dr. Congo is at the epicenter of the continent's outbreak, which has claimed more than 4,830 lives there since the outbreak was discovered in miday. Nairobi says that it is doing what it can to contain the risks and is on high alert, but it is also counting on the public to do its part. Our regional correspondent Bastian Wenry tells us more. To prevent an Ebola outbreak, it's first very important for doctors to treat the sick. That's obvious. But it's also very important to talk to the population so
that people know what Ebola is and how to protect themselves. And it's even more important now at the age of social media. You know, people talk and there is a lot of disinformation online, especially here in Nairobi. Many people believe that there is no Ebola in Kenya at the moment. That's why health authorities are doing their utmost to make sure that people are aware and that they know the symptoms. We even have experts that are concentrating on what we call social listening. So they're looking at papers, they're, you know, newspapers, they're looking into social media, through different media, through individuals to see what are people saying about this.
So then that helps now to be able to develop the messages that we need to have when we are um when we are engaging the community and so far it seems to be working. Many people who experienced symptoms visited hospitals across the country and they all tested negative. On Sunday, a first group of uh contacts who were put into quarantine will be allowed to go back home after 21 days of monitoring. So, the government is also trying to communicate about them. It's currently explaining why they are allowed to leave the hospital. It's important for communities to welcome these people and not to um stigmatize them and also to appreciate them because the fact that they were cooperative that they stayed in quarantine
um has been because they wanted to ensure that they are protecting others and also themselves. They were part of a wider group of 130 people. For the government, it was important to cast a wide net to make sure that there is no chance to see an Ebola outbreak in Kenya. And so, even though it's important not to declare victory too early, it seems so far that the government's strategy is working here in Nairobi. Now, it's that time of the year again when Paris is filled with African artists, artwork, and artistry. Starting from Friday until the 25th of October is the 11th edition of the iconic contemporary art festival, also known as
Africa. Now, every year I get a bit giddy with the choice of creatives who I desperately would love to speak to and get on the show, but this time I've been lucky enough to convince Amado Cavalio to join me here on set. Now, he's a Caboian artist exhibiting a show titled Portraits of Absence. And uh Amad, if I understand it correctly, it uh explores ideas of uh identity, the loss of it, and the handing down of it. And you know, from what I've seen, no, first of all, let me be polite. Welcome. Thank you so much for your time cuz I know it's a crazy um uh period for you and your first time in Paris. Um, you know, but just looking at some of your work, one thing that really struck me
was how imposing it is and this kind of weird tension between um like a very like the capturing of humanity, but also like a very like visceral, messy, uncomfortable um element that it kind of made me feel like, you know, when you stare when some you catch someone's eye and you're like, do I look away or do I keep staring? I don't know what to do. That was my impression of it. So what is happening on your side? You know um sometimes for you to um connect with a face you don't need to know the story of the people. It's just a connection. So for me to be able to um work with um human figures um I had to explore this type of um uh identity fragments and memories and
all these um these ideas. Um I have to uh find um my anat. So I discovered the volcano pigments who helped me to um to connect with the with the people the landscape because I'm doing a research. So while I'm doing the research I'm talking with people because I'm not I don't live in cave ver. So it's very important for me to go there often to um to explore the landscape and understand how the pigments going is going to be in my surface. What is this volcanic pigment? So basically it's the rocks. So it's the rocks of the volcano because when you smash them you have this it's a pigment. It's like a powder. That's crazy because when I was looking at it, it was it that texture that you
could almost you could almost feel it. It's very um it's very dense. It's dense. Yeah. Um when you're talking about um so you are actually you are diaspora. Yes. Um so why is it so much so important to you that the cabian um element is reflected in your work if so much of your own personal life assumably has been lived outside of the country? That's actually a great question because um cert is reflecting the way I paint. So the way I see the world is through cver because I born there. So I have all my memories is from there. So for me to be able to go there and connect and bring this type of energy bring this the a little piece of cavari
to Paris for people to feel and to see it. I think it's amazing because you live in London at the moment. Yes. How long have you been there? Uh um I've been there for 10 years because I have um two daughters you know and they study there. I use I like to think artist needs to have few bays for me to move between those base. So I have one base in London. I have a studio in Lisbon and often me and my wife we create residents in K ver to empower artists there to show how artists can show the art with dignity. So residency is the best tools we have there to create because cer when you arrive there I'm from CI when I arrived there I start to think a lot how I'm going to do this how because all the smells
the voice the ocean start to bring me a lot of ideas so when I'm k actually I paint a lot I discover that because Um I am in my root in my hoods you know my analogy is there the way people talk the crea I listen is how I protect myself so uh I don't paint that much in Europe especially London Lisbon um Lisbon is my second home so I paint a lot in Lisbon too that's so interesting so your you your creativity is directly a reflection of your comfort with yourself the environment that you find yourself in. Yes, that's amazing. Well, we're very lucky to have you here in Paris sharing a bit of your work and your experience and Kabul, literally bits of Cape Fie with us. So, um if anyone is in Paris and lucky enough to be able to
find time to head down to also known as uh Africa, make sure that you have a look at Amado Valor's work at the here at Paris. I um Amado I wish we had more time to break everything down. I just want to thank you to Kazafi senses to believe in this project to believe we can bring artists from diaspora for these big platforms aka and aka is doing great. The production is incredible. They treat artists like we deserve it. Thank you. Thank you so much. That's a lovely way to end the show. Amadeo Cavalio, one of the artists being exhibited at also known as Africa. That's also where I have to leave our eye on Africa. Thanks so much for joining us. See you sir
again. Take care. All right. Thank you. Serious.
