Peter Kawa and Cecimercy Wanza who produce Sanaa Talks
YOUNG KENYAN
CREATIVES GO ONLINE AND ON AIR
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 1st March 2018)
Peter Kawa
is best known to me for his leading roles in plays like ‘Eduta’ where he starred
in the title role, and most recently, in Hearts of Art’s ‘All I ever wanted’
where he was the Judge who had to make tough decisions affecting other people’s
lives.
I hadn’t
seen him co-starring as Yusuf inBiko
Nyongesa’s feature film ‘Get Some Money’ which premiered at the Garden City
IMAX a year ago. Nor did I know how fully he’d shifted his focus, as have so
many other Kenyan stage actors, from live theatre to film and TV.
But it’s not
just that he’s acting in other people’s film. Kawa is also making films of his
own, both shorts (like ‘Nazif’ and ‘Witness’) and features (like ‘Njamba’ and ‘My
First Story’). Ever since he started Spearhead Media Entertainment in 2016,
he’s been producing and directing his own films, including ‘Torture’ which was
nominated to win a Kalasha award for Best Local Language Film in 2017.
He’s also
been showcasing the stories of other young ambitious Kenyan creatives on ‘Sanaa
Talks’, the weekly KUTV talk show that he co-produces with Cecimercy Wanza
who’s a KU graduate from the Film and Theatre Arts Department as well as a TV
producer and director in her own right.
‘Sanaa
Talks’ premiered 22 November 2017 and the half-hour (26 minutes) program has
been on Facebook live every Wednesday night at 8:30pm ever since. Hosted in
Kenyatta University’s television studio and anchored by Gilbert Lukalia
(acclaimed film and stage star who also authored and directed ‘Edufa’ two years
back), ‘Sanaa Talks’ was screening its tenth episode this past Wednesday night.
“We featured
producers Martin Kigondu, of Prevail Arts Productions, and Lucy Mwangi who
produces ‘Aunty Boss’ and its spin-off show, ‘Varshita’,” Peter told BD
Weekender just hours before the program aired on Facebook on its Sanaa Talks
web page.
“The following
Wednesday will be the Finale episode of Sanaa Talks so we’ll be having music
producers like Jackie B, who produces gospel hits and Brian Oluoch, who
produced Sauti Sol’s ‘Live and Die in Africa’ album,” added Cecimercy who met
Peter on the set of ‘Get some money’ where she was assistant director.
“I call Ceci
my producer but actually we co-produce Sanaa Talks,” added Peter whose
background in Information Management is a perfect fit for his media work at
Spearhead.
“But I don’t
just co-produce and direct Sanaa Talks. I also market the show through YouTube
where every episode can be found, as well as on Instagram and of course, on Facebook,”
he adds.
Ceci chimes
in that there will be two more ‘mashup’ episodes after the finale which will
feature the most memorable moments of Gilbert’s interviews with everyone from
local filmmakers, screenwriters and spoken word poets to musicians,
cinematographers and actors, including the current chairman of the Kenya Actors
Guild, Chris Kamau.
“We want
people to understand how difficult to be in the arts in Kenya today,” says Ceci
who believes that if the public understood all the challenges and obstacles
that creatives face, they’d be far more supportive of them.
“We plan to
begin our second season in May. That’s when we hope to put the program on
live,” adds Ceci who admits the programs are currently pre-recorded to air
Wednesday nights. “But we get such great online feedback from our viewers that
it would be great if those on camera could answer viewers in real time.”
That may not
be possible from a logistical point of view. But both Kawa and Ceci would love
to see conversations at Sanaa Talks not be only between those in the studio but
also engage their viewers.
In the
meantime, Kawa draws a multitude of local eyeballs to his Instagram page, Sanaa
Post where he puts up slews of photos of what can easily be called Kenyan
celebrities. The snaps are mainly taken at high styled media events, featuring
the nouveau ‘who’s who’ of those who know where it’s ‘happening’.
Many of them
have already been interviewed by Gilbert Lukalia. Many more will most likely be
invited to chat during Sanaa Talks’ second season.
In the
meantime, the movement of local media activism is currently taking social media
channels by storm and the swell of activist artists is refreshing to watch.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 26 February 2018) Dream Kona
provided a ‘dream come true’ this past weekend when scores of elders, artists
and youth joined hands and hearts to celebrate the arrival of Elkana Ong’esa’s
multi-ton granite stone sculpture, ‘Elephant Family’ to Uhuru Garden.
The
sculpture had been delivered, courtesy of TICAH (Trust for Indigenous Culture
and Health), from the Nairobi National Museum where it had lain on NNM’s front
lawn for the last four years.
Originally,
the work had been scheduled to go to Washington, DC as part of the Kenyan cultural
showcase during the Smithsonian Institution’s biannual summer festival. But
that was never to be.
Despite
promises having been made to one of Kenya’s most esteemed and venerable artists
and teachers, Elkana’s sculpture had been left behind literally on the runway
as the plane took off for the States.
The museum
was kind enough to give it a temporary home. But now, thanks to TICAH the
‘Elephant Family’ stands proudly in the heart of Dream Cona, like the
monumental national icon it was meant to be.
But that
dream wasn’t the only one that came true last week. The whole idea of Dream Kona, according to TICAH’s founder-director Mary Ann Burris, is for Kenyan
creatives (whatever their genre or age) to have a venue where they can work,
play, perform and share ideas in an open, arts-affirming space.
And that’s
what was happening last Saturday all around Dream Kona where artists and elders
from no less than 15 Kenyan communities came early to prepare for the open day.
They’d been invited from all across the country, from the Sabuat, Ogiek, Kuria
and Pokomo to the Maasai, Luo, Kikuyu and Kisii among others.
The elders
(many of whom were artists in their own right) had been together the whole week
prior to Saturday, courtesy of TICAH. In fact, many had been participants in
the four-month exhibition, Hekema and Urembo at the Nairobi Museum which TICAH
had organized and which closed the day before in a grand ceremonial style.
‘Hekima’ had
been all about elders from a wide range of Kenyan communities giving programs
where they shared their wisdom related to everything from traditional medicines
to cultural practices and philosophies.
‘Urembo’ on the other hand, exhibited
aspects of indigenous beauty, both contemporary and traditional.
So while the
twin exhibitions closed the previous day, Saturday was when aspects of both
shows came out and illustrated what indigenous Kenyan culture looks like on the
wider ‘Dream kona’ platform.
There were
demonstrations (and teaching) on everything from beading by Maasai mamas and
weaving by Pokomo men to pottery-making by Luo ladies and carving by Kisii
stone carvers.
There were even elders on hand who specialize in preparing
natural plant products to heal assorted maladies. They were sharing some of
those skills on Saturday.
And as Health (as well as culture) is one of the key
concerns of TICAH, these ‘medicine men’ have inspired the Trust to document
their indigenous knowledge (including their ‘dawa’ recipes) so that their
wisdom won’t be lost. (One of the ways elders’ wisdom is also shared is through
TICAH’s annual calendar which contains one indigenous herbal recipe every month
in a year.)
But as
important as the elders were on Saturday (especially as they prepared bottles
of dawa said to heal), it was the painters who seemed to dominate the day since
they had one gigantic wall on which to paint colorful images highlighting the
theme of wildlife and humans’ relations and responsibility to endangered
species like Elkana’s elephants. The painters arrived from assorted art centres
in Nairobi, including Dust Depo, GoDown, Kuona Artists Alliance and Brush tu
Art Studio.
Meanwhile, art classes went on for children from several Nairobi
‘informal settlements’ where TICAH also works.
But the day
would not have been complete if there hadn’t been plenty of music and dancing.
Some of it was especially designed for the youth while there were also music
and dance performances by groups like Kenge Kenge and the Pokomo Vuggula
Cultural Dancers who wore leg rattles that they’d woven themselves out of dried
palm leaves filled with noisy granite stones.
TICAH’s
engineering of the whole event at Dream kona, especially their giving the
‘Elephant Family’ a permanent resting place, is all part of the Trust’s larger
vision. Appreciating indigenous culture and the arts and their role in healing
people’s bodies and minds is something we hope the government will strive to
emulate.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 23 February 2018)
Nairobi has
got a number of Italian restaurants. But none offers quite the same authentic
Italian experience as La Salumeria (situated just behind Valley Arcade in the
Dhanjay Flats). There everything from the wines and cheeses to the cured meats
and porcini mushrooms are regularly flown in from that high-heel shoe-shaped
country.
“Even our olive
oil comes from Tuscany, our Balsamic vinegar’s from Modena and our salt from
Sicily,” says Stephano Rusticali, the proud owner of La Salumeria.
“Of course,
we get our fish flown in from the Kenya coast and our vegetables come in every
week from one farm in Limuru,” adds Stephano who has only owned the restaurant
since 2016.
But ever
since he came to Kenya in 2013 and opened his first restaurant, the Geko Resort,
he’s made it his mission “to bring the original authentic Italian dishes” to
the country.
It isn’t only
the vast array of pizzas, pastas and pesto that Stephano serves fresh at La
Salumeria that makes his menu authentic. It’s also that his Top Chef Murielle
Minchella has trained all the kitchen staff in the finer points of Italian
cooking.
What’s more,
just last month Stephano flew in a Top Chef from Sicily to help him launch his
new Sicilian Special menu, featuring several new fish and pasta recipes.
“He even taught
our pastry chef Margaret [Kasude] how to make a Caprese cake with chocolate and
almonds which also come from Italy,” says Stephano who insists we try a bit of
everything on the menu.
I was
tempted to try either the vegetarian lasagna, parmigiana (made with eggplant)
or lobster Spaghetti.
Then again, the
range of pizza made my head spin. There was the classic Margherita (with
tomato, mozzarella and oregano), Capricciosa (with mushrooms, artichokes and
parma ham added), Bresaola, Funghi, Formaggi and Diavola to name a few more.
Shadrack serves my friend Robert his Chicken scaloppina
But
ultimately, I settled for a delicious grilled red snapper garnished with a
garden-full of fresh vegetables. My friend Robert had the Chicken scaloppina (chicken
breast sauted in lemon sauce) although he too was tempted to be more
adventurous and try either the beef Tangliata, grilled lamb chops with honey or
mixed seafood platter, including crab, calamari, prawns and fish fillet.
My grilled red snapper served with fresh veggies from Limuru Stephano
himself had a sumptuous serving of fresh Burrata cheese dressed with leafy
lettuce and tomatoes. “Our cheeses are flown in every fortnight. They arrive
from Milan on Saturday and we serve them from Sunday through Friday. By then,
there usually all gone; otherwise, since we add no preservatives, they’re only served
that week,” says this cheese connoisseur.
After that,
he has a platter-full of assorted salamis, which again are another Italian
delicacy. The bread, accompanied by whipped garlic butter, is made fresh every
day, says Stephano, who explains it’s the same delicious dough used to make
their pizza.
An etching of St. Marco in Venice, one of many Italian images on Stephano's wall.
Wines are
also flown in from his mother land. “It was actually my friend Flavio who has a
home in Watamu and also a wine shop next door to the restaurant, who told me
about the owner’s plan of retiring,” says Stephano whose Italian wine list is
extensive.
But wine is
not my weakness. Chocolate is. So when he tempted me with tiramisu, chocolate
mousse or gelato, I didn’t hesitate to comply: mousse was my favorite.
Meanwhile, my friend tried both the tiramisu and the hazelnut parfait which are
both Margaret’s specialties.
And as no Italian
meal is complete without an espresso, macchiato or cappuccino, I was happy to
have a macchiato freshly made with Stephano’s Buscaguone espresso-making
machine.
But there
was one more surprise that our host wanted us to try before we left. He called
it Limoncello, which sounded innocent enough for a teetotaler like me,
especially when Stephano explained it was made with lemon rind imported from
you know where.
Like an
espresso, a sip or two of limoncello at the end of every meal is the test of
its truly Italian authenticity. So I took a sip of this delicious liqueur which
he served in a short-stemmed goblet. And our meal was complete.
Did I mention
that throughout our meal, the Italian tenors, Il Volo gently crooned in the
background? Or that on every wall hung a painting or print by an Italian
artist, be he Leonardo di Vinci or Gian Paolo Tomasi whose art is currently being
featured in Stephano’s Artistest Gallery, just next to La Salumeria which
itself has its own intimate, artistic ambience.
By Margaretta
wa Gacheru (posted 22 February 2018)
John
Nottingham was an anomaly. He was a Briton who became a ‘Kenyan at heart’. Some
Brits must have considered him a traitor to his roots, to his race and to the
government that brought him to Kenya in the first place.
Yet John was
a man of conscience. A scholar who majored in Philosophy, Politics and
Economics at Oxford University, he was only 19 years old when, following his
father’s insistence, he got a job with the British Colonial Office. It was 1952
and he was posted to Nyeri as a new District Officer.
But early
on, he felt uncomfortable about his work and indeed what he was doing in Kenya
at all. He arrived just as a State of Emergency was declared. That meant rather
than assisting Africans in areas of development, he was advised to shoot them
on sight. Shortly after
he arrived, he witnessed one DO assault on old African man. He went to the
resident District Commissioner named Hughes and registered a complained against
his countryman. The DC vowed to see the DO was punished. But John quickly found
that nothing came of his complaint.
But that one
assault was insignificant compared to the torturing of Africans that he found
once he was reposted to the Mwea Detention Camps. The scale of cruelty toward
the indigenous people finally compelled John to resign. But instead of the
Colonial Office accepting his resignation, they reposted him the North Tetu in
Nyeri.
“That’s when
I decided to secretly help the other side,” he said in an interview with
Citizen TV. It was the British, he said, who’d given the pro-Independence
activists the name Mau Mau. But to him, they were aggrieved people who had a
just cause.
Sympathy,
and indeed, stealthy support for Africans’ independence struggle eventually led
to John joining the Mau Mau Veterans who filed a law suit against the British
government several years ago. Serving as a witness in support of the claims
that British troops had tortured, raped, wrongly detained and forced labor from
Africans, John stood for the human rights that the British government claimed
to uphold.
Noting that no
more than 32 white settlers were killed during the anti-colonial war, over 13,500
Africans died in the same period according to official figures. However,
according to unofficial figures, it was more than 50,000 Africans who died and
many more who were tortured and maimed for life. But many of them lived to tell
their stories to historians like Dr. Caroline Elkins (who wrote the
award-winning ‘Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya’)
and Dr. David Anderson (who wrote ‘Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in
Kenya and The End of the Empire’)
After Kenya obtained its Independence in 1963,
John stayed on and founded Transafrica Publishers which came out with more than
300 titles. They mainly focused on African history, politics and education. A
number examined the lives African leaders like Nyerere, Kenyatta and Dedan
Kimathi. And at age 85, he could still be found pouring over manuscripts in his
offices in Runda.
Ironically,
John’s own book which he co-authored with Carl Gustav Rosen, entitled ‘The Myth
of Mau Mau: Nationalism in Kenya’ was not one of his Transafrica book titles.
Instead, it was published by the prestigious New York-based book house, Praeger
in 1966. Since its publication, it has served as an important antidotal text
aimed at refuting the racist claims that Kenyans’ anti-colonial struggle was
atavistic, barbaric and so brutal that it justified all the human rights
violations the British inflicted on the African people.
John
Nottingham was a humble, soft-spoken man who was alarmed by the hypocrisy of
his fellow Britons which he witnessed first-hand during the Emergency as well
as in the aftermath.
When he
arrived in Kenya, it was only seven years since World War Two had ended and
Britain had signed the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Yet the
degree of human rights violations that he saw perpetuated by his own countrymen
against Kenyans clearly had a profound impact on his life.
His
accompanying Mau Mau veterans to London in 2016 to advance their law suit
against the British Foreign Office made him the only white-Kenyan to stand with
the Africans. Yet because his cause was just and his conscience was clean, John
Nottingham lived a grand and noble life. He remained true to his conscience and
his convictions to the end, and he deserves to be reckoned a hero by both the
Kenya Government and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 21 February 2018)
Lupita Nyong’o
isn’t the only Kenyan acquainted with Oscar-winning potential.
It was just a
month ago that the German-Kenyan film ‘Watu Wote’ was nominated for Best Live
Action Short Film by the American Film Academy.
The film’s producer
Tobias Rosen and director Katja Benrath are both Germans from the Hamburg Film
School. They heard about the Al Shabaab attack on a bus in Northern Kenya that
was foiled when one Muslim man on the bus refused to disclose identities of
Christians, thus saving many lives.
That act of
heroism and humanity inspired them to come to Kenya, link up with Lightbox Film
and Ginger Ink and create a heart-wrenching film that might again earn Kenyans
an Academy award.
The
scriptwriting of Watu Wote (All of Us) was headed by Julia Drache, another
German who consulted with Kenyans’ Brian Munene and Alexander Ikawah to create
a captivating story line.
“Katja and
Tobias originally came to Kenya to make a different film. But then they changed
gears, got in touch with Lightbox’s Blamuel Iro who assembled the Kenyan cast,”
says Justin Mirichii who plays James Ouma in the film.
“I play the
guy who gets shot running away from the terrorists,” he adds.
Based on a
real life story, the film revolves around a young woman who’s been widowed by
Al Shabaab who also killed her daughter. Jua (Adelyne Wairimu) is taking the
bus to Mandera and lets her hatred of her family’s killers be known to one
Muslim man, Salah Farah (Abdiwali Farrah) who tried to befriend her.
As it turns
out, it’s Salah who saves her life and those of the other Christians on the bus.
After the terrorists arrive, he and the other Muslims are given the option to
live if they disclose the identities of the Christians. But his refusal in the
face of impending death sparks similar behavior from the other Muslims.
In fact, the
Muslim woman sitting next to Jua immediately covers her in a headscarf once the
gun-slinging terrorists attack.
Watu Wote is
a timely story about respecting the lives of our fellow human beings
irrespective of their creed, race or color.
One can only
hope the Academy judges love the film as much as Kenyans do. I saw the film in
Lamu where Blamwel Iro fielded a Q&A session for an audience appreciative
of the film and especially its powerful message.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 21 February 2018)
All the hype
that we’ve heard about ‘Black Panther’, the new Black super-hero film by Disney’s
Marvel studio has not been hyperbolic as was proved this past weekend when BP broke
all box office records, earning USD241.9 million in North America alone and
USD426.6 million globally (excluding China, Russia and Japan) since it opened a
week ago Tuesday.
So it’s not
an overstatement to say the film’s sheer genius and a joy to see a nearly
all-black cast, including Kenya’s own Lupita Nyong’o, in roles that are noble,
well-rounded, regal and complex.
The film is
dazzling in every detail. From costuming to makeup, cinematography, casting,
gender-sensitivity and story line, all are exquisitely well-crafted.
One can
hardly detect the comic-book element in the film, apart from when our hero
T’Chalia, the new King of Wakanda (Chadwick Boseman) acquires his fantastic
super-powers and Black Panther metamorphic skill once he drinks the High
Priest’s (Forest Whitaker) enchanted potion. After that, he takes a dive into
the ancestral realm where he meets his father for assurance and consultation.
For sure,
Black Panther’s got elements of sci-fi fantasy combined with action-adventure,
a touch of romance and comedic wit as well. It’s also an adrenalin-infused
drama that makes ‘Star Wars’ look like old school technology. The fact that
it’s all wrapped up in African tradition and exquisite interpretations of
continental culture makes it all the more appealing, particularly to African
audiences.
What’s also
clear about Black Panther is that it’s a film that transcends a merely racial
classification. True, all the characters apart from two, Andy Serkis and Martin
Freeman, are black. Also true is that the story is set in a mighty African
kingdom which has managed to keep itself hidden and intact for centuries, unbeknownst
to the rest of world.
That feat of
historical stealth has been achieved through the wisdom of peace-loving elders
and a super-strong metal Vibranium that’s only found in Wakanda. The magical
metal has been used extensively by Wakanda’s scientists (including the King’s
sister) to improve and advance the quality of life for their people.
The
Wakandans love peace but they’re also realists. Consequently, they maintain a
powerful standing army led by a General who’s a dynamite woman. They’ve also used
vibranium to make virtually invincible munitions to ensure the self-defense in
their kingdom.
That
stability is sorely threatened however once King T’chalia’s ‘cousin’, Eric
Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) arrives on the scene. He’s a half-caste ‘lost
child’ of Wakanda since his father was brother to the former king, T’chalia’s
dad.
The
discovery of Killmonger’s existence only comes after the King, assisted by
Lupita’s character Nakia and the General go to Seoul, South Korea, to catch the
culprits who not only stole the kingdom’s artifacts from the British Museum.
They’re also complicit in the death of the late king.
T’Chalia’s
committed to bringing the artifacts and the killer Klaw back for trial in Wakanda.
His failure to achieve that goal is only explained after the young king compels
the Priest to tell what happened when they went to retrieve the late king’s
brother in America.
Turns out the
bro had fallen in love with an African American woman and they had a son Eric.
But there was an argument and in Cain and Abel style, one brother killed the
other. The king survived after saving the priest’s life.
After that
tragedy, the king left his dead brother’s son behind. But Eric had already been
given a ring and tooth grill of vibrantium to protect and empower him by his
dad. Unfortunately, the boy grows up embittered and intent on revenge. His singular
goal in life is to reach Wakanda somehow, claim the kingdom’s crown and then
conquer the world with Vibrantium-fueled fire power just as the white man had
done centuries ago with his shock and awe-styles of conquest.
Nicknamed
Killmonger by his cousin the King, Eric turns out to be a brilliant strategist
and ruthless killer. Once he reaches Wakanda, he challenges and ‘kills’ the king,
seizes the crown and starts preparing to rule the world.
That’s when
Nakia’s moment arrives. She leads a band of women to the rival kingdom, finds
the king’s still alive and thereafter, her fate is set.
King T’chalia
never forgot his father’s mistake of leaving his blood kin Eric behind in
savage LA, USA. So he returns, buys a city block and set up a multipurpose
centre for enlightening inner-city kids, all in memory of his family legacy and
reconnect with the Black world.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 20.2.2018 but written 4.2016)
Don’t let
her diminutive and delicate demeanor deceive you. Anne Mwiti is no ordinary
doctoral candidate in fine art at Kenyatta University. She’s actually an
award-winning Kenyan artist who’s exhibited her work both locally and
internationally, and on one occasion even shared gallery space with no less an
imminent person than the late, great South African Head of State Nelson Mandela
who’d occupied a fair amount of time while incarcerated on Robbin Island
learning to paint. He also managed to assemble a substantial collection of
works which the Belgravia Gallery in London managed to obtain so as to include
in their 2014 World Citizen Artists Award Exhibition.
Anne Mwiti
was also in that exhibition, only she had first taken part in the Awards
Competition as did hundreds of other artists from all round the world. The
difference between them and her is that she was one of the top 15 finalists
selected to feature in the prestigious global arts show.
Another
difference is that she was the only African (and one of the few women) to be
among those top 15. But probably most important of all, Anne earned First Prize
for her highly symbolic abstract painting that depicted her perspective on war
and peace, including her deep-seated feelings derived from her personal
experience of Kenya’s 2008 post-election violence.
Using
multiple layers of white and black acrylic paint, Anne’s painting looks
deceptively simple. The upper half is white symbolizing peace, justice and hope
while the lower half is jet black, symbolizing the antithetical themes of
death, destruction and war.
There are
two more colored lines in her painting which she includes where the basic black
and white colors converge. One is red, symbolic of the bloodshed in times of
war generally, and specifically, during Kenya’s 2008 post-election violence.
The other color line is green, again significant of the fertility, lush
abundance and prosperity that can come once there’s peace and reconciliation
established among the former adversaries.
The key to
the painting’s meaning is first in the title ‘A Stitch in Time’ and then in the
threaded needle that’s been used to cross-stitch across the antithetical colors
but which has been left dangling half-way through the color lines.
Explaining
that her painting (which she’s now selling for Sh1 million in her Karen Village
studio) has an interactive feature to it, Anne said that peacemakers are meant
to pick up the needle and complete the cross-stitching.
“It’s meant
to signify that the reconciliation process [on both a global and a local level]
has yet to be completed, but there is a way forward if people will only
continue working to make it happen.”
Anne went to
London to receive her award in late 2014, after which she returned to KU where
she’s been teaching, mentoring, mounting art exhibitions and mothering her two
children ever since. She’s also married to man who she says is extremely
supportive of her work and the sort of hours only a workaholic can keep.
Anne admits
that she could be called a workaholic except that she’s been a high-energy
activist all her life, especially from age five when her father, the head
teacher at her Rwanderi Primary School in rural Meru County first put a pencil
in her hand and got her started drawing and painting.
Her father
also taught her Mathematics and English, but since he was an artist in his
spare time, he’d sit with his first born child for hours, prodding her to paint
and advising her on how to enhance her drawing.
Anne loved
the rural life and took part in all the domestic chores that other little girls
had to do, like fetching firewood and water from the river. The only difference
between them and her was that the land on which they played belonged to her
family, so she really didn’t have to work that hard. “But it was so much fun
since we all saw it not as hard work but as play,” she said.
From her
mother, Anne learned to stitch, crochet and knit. “I used to make my own dolls
out of maize husks and then stitch clothes for them.” That early experience is
partly what inspired her painting “A Stitch in Time”.
But as much
as her imaginative upbringing prepared her to become both an artist and mentor,
Anne is curious about what changes make children lose their early spontaneity
and inhibit their imagination. That’s what she’s currently researching for her
doctorate, which is why she spent the last six months teaching art to children
in Kibera slum.
BY
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 20 February 2018)
Traveling to
Lamu to attend last Sunday’s Mad Hatter Dhow Race was a journey and a half.
As I didn’t want
to miss my 9am flight from Wilson airport to Manda Island (where all Lamu-bound
visitors must land) I first took Kimani’s boda boda taxi to the airport gate;
then Maingi’s four-wheeled taxi into my airline entrance.
In fact, I’d
almost missed the flight since police stopped my boda man who, as it turned out,
didn’t have his license with him. I pleaded, implored and finally we got away
(no chai given), but Kimani was spooked and dropped me before we’d reached the
gate.
Fortunately,
Maingi came to my rescue and I made it in time to board the flight, first to
Mombasa, then to Lamu where it was already after noon and scorching hot.
Again, I was
blessed when my friend Herbert sent Captain Nasir and his dhow Lady Gaga to
collect me and the German sculptor Joachim Sauter to take us straight to Shela jetty
and the Peponi Hotel, the favorite watering hole of ex-pats and Kenya cowboys
who come periodically to Lamu.
Peponi is
where I met Herbert and the three judges of the Shela Hat Contest, one of three
competitions involving locals and promising substantial cash prizes to the
winners that weekend. On Saturday the 5th Shela Hat Contest would
stimulate more grassroots creativity than ever before, in part because all of
the top thirty winning hats would win a minimum Sh2000 and a maximum of
Sh50,000. Then while the judges were deliberating on which hats were the most
imaginative and well crafted, there would be five Tug of War contests with the
three winning teams also getting cash prizes of tens of thousands per team.
And then on
Sunday, all classes of Shela citizenry would show up at the seashore to watch
the Mad Hatter Dhow Race which also promised major cash awards to the winning
dhows. The dhow crossing the finishing line first would win sh80,000; the
second one, sh60,000 and the third Sh40,000, so there would be lots of tension
in the air.
Herbert had
also called in two young Kenyan filmmakers from Routes Adventure to cover the
Hat Fete, but they would stick around through Sunday so they could shoot the
Dhow races. Herbert kindly lent his media friends, including the filmmakers,
photographer Eric Gitonga and me his speed boat so we could quickly follow the
dhows all the way around the race.
This was the
most thrilling feature of the weekend since the dhows are propelled by wind. But
we had the advantage of a proper engine and speed that could make our boat
virtually fly across the water. We also had an excellent pilot and navigator
who both had experience following previous dhow races. They both understood
instinctively where the boat needed to be to get the best shots of the dhows in
motion. They also knew how to crisscross between the dhows while keeping
sufficient distance so as not to interfere with the wind on which the dhows
relied.
Both the
navigator and pilot are local guys so they, like everyone from the village had
a personal preference and cheered on their respective team. In fact, emotions
ran so high that when we went back to shore to see how the race would end, we
found there were already rumors of who would win and who had cheated so they’d
appear to be first.
Ultimately,
the judges would sort of the winners and losers. But they would have help from
Herbert’s filmmakers who’d brought along a drone that had been following the
race. Hopefully, its footage would rise above the high-pitched emotions and
provide visual evidence of who really won.
Meanwhile,
bystanders were busy dancing on the beach to the electronic sounds master
minded by the Chinese female DJ Qiu Qui who’d come all the way from Beijing to attend
the Dhow Races.
After the
emotional high-pitch of all of these contests, our evening was relaxed and
low-key. By dawn I was set to board Lady Gaga again and fly back home to
Nairobi.
My one
regret was not taking the chance when I had it to ride a donkey, the preferred
mode of transport in Shela. But the moment passed while I was preoccupied
watching the way drones have a peacetime utility, following the dhows and
seeing if it was the dhow called Lady Lulu or Galaxy who ultimately won this
year’s Mad Hatter Dhow Race.
BY
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 20 February 2018)
The Martins' house is a twin to what will be the fabulous CASBAH designed by Uwe Rybin with Herbert Menzer
Retired
German restauranteur Herbert Menzer landed on Lamu Island some ten years ago.
It was apparently by chance. But today, it seems more like fate. For once he
was there, it took him less than a week to buy 62 metres of supposedly useless
land atop a sand dune in the fishing village of Shela.
It might
have looked impulsive, but Herbert already had a plan. “I immediately called my
[life-long] friend Uwe Rybin who’s an architect and asked him to come help me
design a house on that land,” says Herbert whose been working closely with Uwe
ever since.
Herbert knew
Uwe had built gracious homes all over the world, but never before in
sub-Saharan Africa. And never on a sand dune, and never with the stipulation
that Herbert needed the design to have a distinctively Swahili architectural
style.
“So I went
to work, did my research, drafted my design and sent it to Herbert who brought
in local artisans and masons to enhance the Swahili style,” says Uwe who commutes
between Germany and Kenya whenever he can.
Both agree
the construction was very much a joint effort although Herbert has always been the
master mind and man on the ground more months of the year than Uwe. Otherwise,
they both have their base in Hamburg.
That first
joint effort resulted in construction of Bembea House, a stunning four-story
Swahili style home that became the first of six luxury town houses. The sixth,
the Casbah, is still under construction. But it already stands out on the Shela
shoreline as one of the most spectacular constructions, built like the rest
with traditional coral stone, stucco and sand as well as with modern building
materials of steel and nero cement.
But after
Bembea came Fishbone, then Hibibti and Yaha Houses followed by Uwe’s twin
designs of the Casbah and a private home built right next door.
“Herbert didn’t
mind my completing the Martin’s house before we finished work on the Casbah
since it allows people to see what ‘s coming once we complete our work on the
Casbah,” says Uwe who can’t help admiring the garden terraces, pools and overall
elegant Swahili style that he created for Casbah’s neighbors.
Herbert also
hopes to create a new up-scale neighborhood with the Casbah and the Martin’s
house being a central focus of that luxurious community.
Shela is
actually filled with remarkable homes owned by European aristocrats and
corporate elites who come to spend their winter months in Lamu. The beauty of Herbert’s
and Uwe’s designs is that they can be rented, suite by suite or house by house
through Herbert’s company, Lamu Holiday.com. So someone need not be a prince,
CEO or countess to experience the delight of luxuriating on the side of Lamu
where life is leisurely, and the sun and sea breezes have a soothing influence
on life generally.
Meanwhile,
since Casbah isn’t quite complete, construction continues, and Herbert and Uwe
agree to show me around. What becomes clear as we walk from one magnificent
suite to another is that Herbert is a visionary who was able to envision
mansions and mini-castles where others could only see sand.
With five-metre
high first floor ceilings covered with traditional mangrove poles and mangati
wooden beams, reinforced with steel and concrete, the Casbah’s four stories
make the twin-structured site (connected by the pool deck, baraza lounge,
library and restaurant) one of the tallest in Shela.
All the
spacious suites have glorious views looking out on the sea or the elegant green
gardens and splendid snowy white Swahili homes. For instance, the Channel Suite
looks out on the water separating Shela from Manda Island. The Dune Suite
offers a glorious view of the sandy mounts that had once included the land on
which the Casbah and Herbert’s five other ultra-modern Swahili houses now
stand.
Herbert’s
right-hand handyman, Mafreezer tells me a bit more about the Casbah’s
construction. “What Herbert initially did was remove all the sand from the site
and then build the basement out of cement and steel,” he says.
The basement
extends the length of the two sites and will contain the elegant Baobab Suite
which will look out on the garden and ancient Baobab tree that Herbert wisely
refused to chop down.
It will be separated from the laundry room and gallery
that Uwe suggests should be filled with paintings created by the European and
Kenyan artists who attend the biannual Painters Festival that Herbert also
founded a decade ago.
FRANCIS
IMBUGA’S THE SUCCESSOR REVIVED TODAY AT KU
BY
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 14 February 2018)
Despite his having
passed in 2012, Francis Imbuga cannot easily be referred to in the past tense.
He was and still is a literary colossus whose contribution to Kenyan
literature, performance, scholarship and education is immeasurable.
Immortalized
by his plays, poetry, novels and even his children’s story books, Professor
Imbuga was an esteemed academician and guru who inspired countless students to
love literature, writing and especially the stage.
Imbuga is
undoubtedly best remembered for being a playwright, especially as his play
‘Betrayal in the City’ (which represented Kenya in 1977 at FESTAC in Lagos) was
just reinstated as a set-book for schools. He also wrote plays like Aminata
(commissioned to represent Kenya in 1985 at the UN International Women’s
Conference in Nairobi), The Married Bachelor, The Successor and Man of Kafira.
But Imbuga
was also a brilliant actor, director, producer and satirist whose scripts concealed
gems of genius and insight not easily seen by the naked eye or the corrupt
human beings who he consistently exposed in his writings.
‘The
Successor’ is one of Imbuga’s most profound and politically-provocative plays.
It’s also one of his most important and timely scripts which is as relevant
today as it was when he wrote it in 1978, the same year Kenya’s first President
Jomo Kenyatta died. The question of political succession was (and still is)
such a hot topic that Imbuga’s play has rarely been produced since it was
published in 1979 when Imbuga himself starred as Emperor Chonda.
Yet this is
one reason to celebrate – and attend --today’s performance of ‘The Successor’
at Kenyatta University’s Harambee Hall from 3pm. The play is being produced by
KU’s Department of Film and Theatre Arts, performed by KU students (including
James Andare, Mark Maina and Lucy Oruta) and directed by its Chairman Professor
Emmanuel Shikuku.
The
performance is meant to honor and commemorate Professor Imbuga. But it’s also
meant to rouse Kenyans’ awareness of their incredibly creative theatrical
tradition embodied in the writings of Imbuga.
What also
makes his plays so fresh and timely is his mastery of the subtle yet slippery
skill of satire: saying deep and disturbing things with such a light, witty
touch that only the pure in heart and those with profound insight can
appreciate the hidden depths of Imbuga’s words.
Kudos to
Professor Shikuku and his KU cast for bringing us back to appreciating one of
Kenya’s greatest man of letters.
By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 13 February 2018)
It was a
killer weekend for anyone wanting to keep up with the local Nairobi art scene.
In the past,
we’ve described the art scene as ‘exploding’ but what we saw this past weekend was
more like a tsunami whereby an unbelievable range of Kenyan artists (and
several artistic non-Kenyans) got swept up in the spirit of creative expression
that’s moved among us of late.
For us who
appreciate the arts, one needed either a helicopter or dedicated boda boda
driver to make it round to see all that was going on.
If you started
late Friday afternoon and stuck to the city centre, you could’ve made it to several
events, starting with Coster Ojwang’s one man show at the Fairmont Norfolk
Hotel. A French company with appreciation for fine art just took over the
Hotel. So they were open to William Ndwiga’s suggestion for the hotel to host
Coster’s exhibition in the hotel lobby for two weeks. That means there’s still
time to see how rapidly this young Kenyan from the Lake has morphed into being
an accomplished painter in a relatively short time.
From the
Norfolk, you could have run to the Nairobi Gallery next to Nyayo House to see
the marvelous exhibition of works by Yony Wa Ite. The original co-founder of
Gallery Watatu had planned on the gallery’s curator Alan Donovan preparing her
show. But as Donovan has been unwell, Yony was left to curate herself. This she
did ingeniously, including her Nude on the Sofa which she originashowed at Polka
dot Gallery last year. Yony’s exhibition is warm, intimate and reflective of
her persuasive appeal in black and white. She does landscapes and wildlife in
her own inimitable way, but as her show is all about ‘Ecco Homo’ and ‘Migrants’,
she includes androgynous stick people whose ties to the environment are deeply
drawn. It’s a fabulous show, which has gotten little publicity. But it’s her finest,
embracing not only her paintings and prints but her wall hangings and
provocatively painted nude sofa.
After that,
you had to reach Alliance Francaise where, in the name of ‘Afro-Futurism’ the
funky photographer Osborne Macharia teamed up with fashion designer Kevo Abbra,
graffiti artist Kirosh Kiruri and DJ Blinky Bill for an overwhelming night. It
was packed with young people fixated on taking selfies and climbing into the interactive
exhibition. Blinky Bill’s [Ms1]music
were even more addictive, making it difficult for AF’s Harsita Waters to shut
down the night.
Then
Saturday was bound to be hectic as I not only needed to head to Circle Art’s ‘New
Threads: process and material’ show (where a dozen outstanding mostly female
artists are exhibiting) and also get to One Off Gallery where Rashid Diab’s
desert delights are on display. I also needed to get to Sankara Hotel where
OO’s Carol Lees had also put together the trio show of painters featuring David
Roberts, Olivia Pendergast and Linda Furniss.
I also
wanted to get to Kobo Gallery to see Gemini Vaghela’s ‘Broken Illusions’ and
then, if I’d had a helicopter I would’ve flown to Banana Hill where Samuel
Njoroge is exhibiting at Shine and Rahab Tani’s Gallery.
All that was
the ‘to-do’ agenda before lunch. After that, the big issues of the weekend were
reaching two all-day events: first was Kikolacho starting Saturday through
Sunday at the British Institute of East Africa where Craig Halliday and Joost
Fontain had coordinated the third ‘Remains, Waste & Metonymy’ phenomenon.
Then came the all-day Sunday Open Day at Brush tu Art Studio in Buru Buru.
But in
between, I spent the weekend helping adjudicate the first phase of the Kenya
Ismaili Arts Festival at the Aga Khan Pavilion in Parklands. That’s why I had
to dash from BIEA in Kilileshwa to Parklands on Saturday; then Sunday I dashed
from Parklands to Buru Buru, finding the core Brush Tu artists and devoted
friends still celebrating the events of the day.
What made
all three events so compelling is that Kikolacho and Brush Tu’s open day were
for one weekend only events. The same was true of the adjudication. Thus, they
were all not-to-be-missed.
BIEA’s
Kikolacho was all about food and the city. The 15 artists took over the
Institute’s facilities and grounds, filling them with phenomenal installations
(featuring live goats and goat roasters), storytelling, painting and
provocative films. It was the best out of three “Remains, Waste and Metonymy’
that have been held at BIEA, largely because the concept has been taken over by
Kenyans who embraced it with heaps of energy, imagination and ingenuity.
Craig
Halliday and Joost Fontain of BIEA managed to assemble an amazing array of
artist-intellectuals including painters like Wycliffe Opondo, Elias Mungora,
Kevo Stero and Onyis Martin. Those who preferred creating installations like
Wambui Kamiru Collymore, Mwini Mutuku, Joan Otieno and Gor Soudan. Filmmaking was
also an art form on display as Craig made two short ones that featured
different aspects of street food culture while Joan Otieno’s video was part of
her Fast Food installation which critiqued the way westernization has afflicted
Kenyans with multiple maladies.
I couldn’t see
everything at BIEA although I admired Mwini Mutuku’s installation which, like
Joan’s, was cautionary and multimedia. Sounding the alarm on cassava, the new ‘wonder
food’ that’s supposedly the perfect staple when drought afflicts. But it can
also kill if not cooked properly.
I missed the
writers, photographers and animating energy that built throughout the weekend.
But I did partake of the popular makeshift kibanda (designed by Joost) where
visitors hung out and tasted freshly roasted Kimiko mbuzi and drink Ethiopian
coffee.
My early
departure was my loss, but at least I managed to make it to Brush tu Sunday
night where I met the core artists still there. David Thuku, Boniface Maina, Michael Musyoka,
Waweru Gichuhi, Elias Mongora, Abdul Kiprop, Emmaus Kimani and Boniface Kimani
all had transformed their studios into gallery-like spaces. They’d even
reclaimed a portion of land adjacent to their studio-house, clearing out illegally
dumped garbage and transforming it into a garden and hospitality space.
It was a
perfect way to end the weekend: witnessing the powerfully transformative power
of the arts at Brush tu, a place reflect of what’s really happening among bright
young Kenyans right now.
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 12 February 2018)
Wajukuu Art
Project got its name from the Swahili proverb, “Majuto ni mjukuu huja baadae”. It loosely translates: The
grandchild suffers from the mistakes or regrets made by his forefathers.
“For
instance, if a grandfather sells off the family land, he’ll leave his grandchildren
poor and landless,” explains Josephat Kimathi, a long-standing member of Wajukuu
Art who was introduced to the project as a child.
“I learned
to paint when I joined Wajukuu’s Kids Art Club,” he says.
The kids
club is still running on weekends and school holidays. Only now Kimathi (aka
Kim) is one of the art teachers.
“The kids
come from all over Mukuru [slum] and most of them are around six years old,”
says Lazarus Tumbuti who’s been with Wajukuu since it started in 2004.
“We started
it with Shabu [Mwangi] soon after we’d both finished training at MAC [Makuru
Arts and Crafts],” says Lazarus who is one of several Wajukuu members who had
the benefit of studying art at MAC, a two year art program started by an Irish
Catholic nun, Sister Mary, in 2002.
Wajukuu was
officially registered in 2007. But by then, not only the kids’ art club had
taken off. Aspiring artists like Ngugi Waweru, Joseph (Weche) Waweru and Paul (Pablo)
Njoroge had also joined. The project had equally inspired a number of more-established
Kenyan artists to run training workshops at Kuona Trust and GoDown for Wajukuu’s
emerging artists.
They
included Peterson Kamwathi and John Silver, both of whom shared their skills in
printmaking. The fruits of that training are clearly manifest in the prints
that Wajukuu artists have tucked away upstairs in their Lunga Lunga Road
studio.
“We don’t
have a printing press per se,” says Ngugi. “Instead we make blocks [covered in
plastic] and use them to press by hand.”
It looks
like a long and laborious process. But what Wajukuu printmakers like Ngugi,
Waweru, Lazarus, Pablo and Sammy Mutinda produce are impressive prints that will
hopefully be on display in public quite soon.
The crew
also paint, with their works most recently shown this past year at Kuona Trust and
in Circle Art’s ‘Young Guns’ exhibition. Meanwhile, Shabu’s art continues to
evolve while he’s in New Orleans attending an art residency.
But the best
place to see the newest works by Wajukuu artists is at their upstairs studio.
For instance, works included in Waweru’s ‘ant series’ are lovely, but they also
conceal cryptic socio-political and personal commentaries on the realities of
poor people’s lives.
In fact,
nearly all the artists at Wajukuu were born and raised in Mukuru. “Most of us
are sons of single mothers who couldn’t afford to send us to secondary. So we
were fortunate to find ourselves learning to be artists,” says Lazarus who
notes that MAC was free, and so is membership in Wajukuu.
“But when
one of us sells a painting, he contributes ten percent to [the collective kitty],”
Waweru says. “And if a [sold] artwork was made with materials provided by
Wajukuu, the artist contributes 20 percent of his sales,” he adds.
Initially, Wajukuu
was helped both with training and obtaining art materials from fellow artists
like Patrick Mukabi, Kaafiri Kariuki, Anthony Wanjau, Mary Ogembo and Wambui Collymore.
ISK also
collaborated with Wajukuu artists after art teacher Liza MacKay met Shabu.
Parents from ISK even raised funds to help construct Wajukuu’s facilities.
Waweru adds their
project has been assisted by many more generous supporters. But most notably, it
was the Italian NGO, Movement for International Cooperation (MOCI) that also helped
construct their double-decker centre.
“MOCI was impressed
with our kids’ art program so they invited us to do art therapy with
handicapped children at their vocational training centre in Makueni,” adds
Ngugi.
They helped
build a library in an adjacent building. “We also helped us buy land so we now
own the art centre and library next door,” adds Waweru.
Wajukuu
artists have exhibited in various art centres in Nairobi. But right now, the
best place to see the rich treasure trove of Wajukuu artists’ work is at their Lunga
Lunga studio.
You might need
help finding the place, but the city block on which the studio resides is
conspicuous for the colorful mabati and wooden wall murals painted on people’s makeshift
shops. Plus there’s a huge Graffiti sign reading ‘Wajukuu’ painted outside the centre’s
second story window.
‘Wajukuu
really belongs to the whole neighborhood,” Ngugi concludes.
Shabu Mwangi’s life story on canvas and mabati
Thursday, June 5, 2014
By MARGARETTA WA GACHERU |
Like so many Kenyan visual artists, Shabu Mwangi has an amazing story to tell. It’s a story well told through his paintings currently up at One Off Gallery.
Covering everything from his views on international (Evolve Observer) and local politics (Acceptance and Abreast) to more intimate and autobiographical accounts of his family (Family Post mortem and My dream), his former life as a ‘bad boy’ and righteous rebel (Black Moon) and his realisation that he had a higher calling (My shadow) which now inspires him to assist children, the disabled and aspiring young artists through teaching them art.
The challenge of fully appreciating Mwangi’s paintings has to do with his consistent use of subtle symbolism which is not easily deciphered.
Metaphors
He describes his symbols as ‘metaphors’ which make loads of sense once the artist shares his interpretation of his work, something that he graciously did for me during the first days of his show at One Off, his second solo exhibition there and his third overall with the first one held at Le Rustique in 2012.
Having lived most of his 29 years in Mukuru ‘slum’ in Nairobi, Mwangi has had the good fortune of doing art in school from the time he was in pre-primary.
He learnt the skills of print - and mosaic-making while attending the Rubin Centre in Eastlands where he discovered early that an artist didn’t necessarily need costly materials to be creative. He made mosaics with raw maize, beans and glue, and created prints using banana stalks and leaves.
Drop out
But as much as he learned early that he had a knack for the arts, Mwangi was rebellious, having unmentionable troubles at home which led to him to drop out of school. Getting an education on the streets of Nairobi, he eventually made his way to the Matrix Education Centre in Buru Buru where he was able to study on his own, take the necessary exams and complete his ‘O’ levels with good marks.
At 17, he had the good fortune of meeting Kaafiri Kariuki at the Mukuru Art Centre together with a number of aspiring young artists. It was an encounter that shaped the rest of his career since Kaafiri (who founded MAC) saw Mwangi’s potential and gave him a job working in the Centre’s gallery and shop that sold the students’ art.
“But once we’d graduated from the Centre [in 2004] we didn’t have anywhere to go,” recalled Mwangi who decided there and then to start his own Wajuku Project where he and other MAC artists would explore ways of making and marketing their art.
That’s also when his work of teaching art to Mukuru’s children began, work that he’s continued in his Kids Club every weekend since.
ISK art club
Wajuku Project opened up many opportunities for Mwangi. He began working with art students at the International School of Kenya, which led to the Project mounting an exhibition to fundraise for its own centre and workshop.
The funds raised were more than matched with ISK art club’s contribution to building Wajuku’s mabati-walled art centre and studio.
Then in 2010, Mwangi’s work with slum children attracted the interest of an Italian NGO, MOCI or Movement for International Co-operation.
Wajuku
“Through MOCI we’re also teaching art to disabled youth in Makueni. The group also helped us build a second structure for the Kids Club,” adds Mwangi who noted that the new building not only has space for teaching the children but also has an art gallery and library which will be officially launched on June 16 by Carine Ouvry, wife of the Belgian Ambassador, who has helped fill Wajuku’s shelves with art books and books on many other subjects.
Fortunately, running the Wajuku Project isn’t all Mwangi does.
His painting style has evolved significantly since his first one-man show at Le Rustique. He uses far more colour in his work now than he did previously; but he continues to tell sensitive (albeit cryptic) stories through his art.
Most of his work at One Off is mixed media on canvas, although two of his paintings are on the burnt mabati he salvaged from the 2012 Sinai fire that devastated a whole section of the Mukuru slums.
One hallmark of Mwangi’s art is his sensitivity to the plight of the poor, the disabled, the abused and discriminated against, including the Somali population which he feels have been unfairly stereotyped.
Mwangi did an art residency in Germany in 2012 which enabled him to travel all over Europe. But he never intended to stay abroad.
“My home is Mukuru and that’s where it’s always been and always will be.”
Shabu Mwangi’s paintings will be up at One Off Gallery up to June 24th.