By Margaretta wa Gacheru (written 15.2.2015)(posted 2020.1.9)
Charcoal
artist Nadia Wanjiru Wamunyu has been painting practically all her life. From
the time she was three when her Nubian mother Buthaina first bought her water
colors she’s had a paint brush in her hand.
Coincidentally,
that was the same year Nadia lost her hearing due to a misdiagnosis by a doctor
who prescribed the wrong antibiotic. The family didn’t realize her problem
right away. Instead, they nearly accepted Nadia’s nursery school teacher’s
assessment that she was mentally handicapped and thus could not remain in their
school.
Fortunately,
her family had her properly tested and found out her brain was fine. She was
just as quick and gifted as her twin sister Wambui although from then on she has
worn a hearing aid.
But that
hasn’t hampered her development as a visual artist, especially as she’s had the
full support of her parents. There were the water colors from her mum and
drawing pencils from her dad who had seen her artistic talent early on and
aimed to nurture it.
All through
primary school Nadia was able to paint, however in secondary, art was not a
subject she could pursue in the classroom. That is why when she saw one of Kenya’s
finest contemporary artists, Patrick Mukabi on Saturday morning TV teaching art
to children, she and her parents went looking for him at his studio at the
GoDown Art Centre in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.
Nadia was 14
in 2010 when she first went to study with Patrick. She was in her second year
at a boarding girls school, but she spent all her time with him during school
holidays and once she completed her O levels, she was at the GoDown full time.
In all,
Nadia studied with Patrick for four years; but he wasn’t her exclusive source
of inspiration since his studio was like an old fashioned guild where a horde
of other young Kenyans came regularly to learn from the Master, a gentle man
who could rarely turn any aspiring artist away.
\Yet Nadia
was different from the rest. Her parents paid for extra classes and Patrick
understood that she was special, not just because of her hearing problem but
because her artistic gifts were manifest in the many charcoal drawings that she
made.
Those gifts
were also recognized in 2013 when she won first prize in the student category
at the prestigious Manjano Nairobi County Art Festival. That would mark the
beginning of her exhibiting everywhere from foreign cultural centers like the
Goethe Institute, Alliance Francaise and British Council to up-market malls and
hotels to the University of Nairobi and the National Museums of Kenya.
Then just
before she received the invitation from Herbert Menzer to be part of the Lamu
Painters Festival, she heard from Patrick that he felt he had taught her all he
could and she was ready to go out on her own.
He was
right, of course. For despite being the only indigenous Kenyan painting at the
2015 Festival, her charcoal drawings were among the first to be sold at the
Baitil Aman Hotel in Shela where all 14 painters were being exhibited.
The Hotel’s
exquisite exhibition featured just the artworks produced during the festival,
so it was apparent Nadia had been working alongside professional painters who’d
come from all over Europe (from Germany, Holland, Russia and the UK) just to
participate in this unique, festive and sun-kissed experience.
At 22, Nadia
has her whole life ahead of her. Still undecided what course of action to
follow next, she may remain in Kenya or she may go for further studies abroad.
Either way, she’s got a bright future ahead of her and as she’d never been to
Lamu before, she said she was grateful and honored to be recognized by Herbert
Menzer.
No comments:
Post a Comment