LOCAL ARTISTS FLOOD PUBLIC SPACES WITH 'ART IN THE OPEN'

             LOCAL ARTISTS FLOOD VILLAGE MARKET WITH THEIR ART

By Margaretta wa Gacheru

Artists came in droves this past weekend to celebrate ‘Art in the Open’ at Village Market. More than 60 flooded both ends of one of Kenya’s first proper shopping malls with a wide variety of works.

Both old and new wings of Village were literally filled with contemporary Kenyan art. The scene wasn’t so much an exhibition as an eruption of artworks featuring mostly young, up-and-coming artists, like Sammy Soli, 18, who’s still a student in Thika at Mt Kenya University; Francis Muriithi, 24, whose role model is Leonardo di Vinci and who paints garden scenes on denim jackets and handbags; and Daisy Bilenzi, 25, who with Joyce Kuria, 27, and Husna Nyawira, 24, came to Village with not only paintings and prints, but also hand-painted fridge magnets, bookmarks, stickers, and pins.

There were several older, more established artists who exhibited as well, including Naftail Momanyi, who heads the Kenya National Visual Artists Association. “I came with a dozen of our members,” says the acclaimed sculptor who brought his own pieces, like the Kisii stone sculpture he’d entitled ‘Mutual Dialogue’.

Dennis Muraguri, (who also has his works in the ‘Anime’ exhibition at the KSPCA) is another well-established artist who showed his matatu prints and screen-printed bags at Village. His works were well-represented by his former intern and Kenyatta University graduate, Becky Bulimo, who displayed her miniature woodcut prints alongside his.

And even Daniel Njoroge, 67, the mature painter who several young artists said had inspired them to paint, was represented at Village by his son Elijah. “I was inspired by my dad, but I’m a graphic designer who prefers painting abstract works whereas his art is realistic,” says the son respectfully.

The vast majority of artists that BDLife interviewed on the last day of the four-day event identified themselves as ‘self-taught’. Yet once we suggested they must have been inspired by someone, they admitted they’d been mentored by more experienced artists, like Peter Ngugi, Patrick Mukabi or Michelangelo himself. A few referred to YouTube as their best teaching tool. While a few had diplomas or degrees from art schools like Kenyatta University, Creative Arts Centre, Buru Buru Institute of Fine Art or Mwangaza Art College in Kisumu.

The one thing they all had in common was an enthusiasm and passion for art. Most had exhibited before, in venues like Nairobi National Museum during the Affordable Art Fair, in commercial spaces like Tazama Gallery, and in other shopping malls like Sarit Centre which has a monthly weekend show similar to ‘Art in the Open’ only in Westlands, not Runda.

Several of the 60 exhibiting artists had shown their art in new art spaces that are small, struggling, but hopeful about their future prospects. These include venues like Studio Soko in South C and Kino Art Gallery.

“There are eight of us that started Kino Gallery because we wanted to try something new,” says Nephat Njihia, 25, a graduate of the now-defunct Creative Arts Centre. “We had thought of linking up with Banana Hill Gallery since we admire them a lot. But then, we decided to go it alone,” Njihia adds. “We also teach at Kino, since we want young people to be exposed and aware of the value of art as they grow up.”

One young artist who’s been inspired by Kino Gallery is Jimmy Mumbo who comes every month from Kwale County to show his art both at Kino and at Sarit Centre.

“It’s worth making the trip because I’ve been making a living with my art for several years,” Mumbo says.

And Mumbo is not alone. That is not to say, local artists are not struggling. But art rendezvous like ‘Art in the Open’ have enabled artists to survive the pandemic restrictions (by being outdoors and everyone wearing masks) and still earn a living.

“One way we’ve been surviving is by merchandizing our art,” admits Joyce Kuria who with Husna and Daisy aren’t the first local artists to find new and less expensive means of creating markets for their art.

Some make prints of their original works which they keep. Others like Joyce, Daisy, and Husna create personalized stickers, fridge magnets and bookmarks that most people can afford. Francis Muriithi hand-paints his art on denim bags and jackets. Muraguri does something similar only he screen-paints matatu images on his bags. So revenues may not pour in, but with patience and perseverance, many young and lesser known artists are making their way in the Kenyan art world.