NAHYA HELPS YOUNG ARTISTS GO PUBLIC FOR A DAY

                                                                                    Nahya Mando Mukuria
 

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted March 30, 2022)

Nahya Mando Mukuria found her niche last Friday afternoon after she’d booked space at Nairobi Garage to display artworks by five talented St. Mary’s School graduates.

Based inside The Watermark Karen, the Nairobi Garage had been looking for a ‘conversation starter’ for their members, most of whom rent space there for either a day, month, or more like a long-term basis.

Nahya had filled the bill effectively once before, blending conversation and visual art. Her warm, friendly, and slightly flamboyant style, combined with her interactive approach to art had worked well once, so why not invite her to do it again.

 “What they promised me was an audience among their members,” Nahya tells BDLife as those ‘members’, mainly young professionals in their late 20s and 30s, start trickling into her one-day exhibition, entitled ‘At a Glance’.

All five 19-year-old artists are also on hand to talk about their art to any of the members who are interested. Mature youth who are all getting set to start their university life in a few short months, they’re all natural-born storytellers who speak easily about their art.

Imani Mwakera speaks assuredly about how her one mixed media self-portrait combines acrylic paint with plastic paper, kitenge fabric, sand, and tree bark.

Njunge Heho says he splits his time between painting and photography, and how he uses photoshop to create fascinating effects from his cell phone!

His twin brother Mbiru Heho also photoshops on his phone since, he says “It’s faster!” He’s also an environmental artist whose painting of a zebra head is surrounded on one side by black and white-shaded leaves signifying a dying breed, while the other side is covered in bright yellow succulents that look vibrant and alive. He explains that the dark side represents the zebra’s near extinction while the brighter side represents its revival thanks to the efforts of environmentalists trying to turn the tide and save the lives of whole species.

Alfonce Kalove, like both twins had been bullied at St. Mary’s, and it showed in several works that depict victims who’ve been tortured, yet survived.

And finally, Matulai Muumbi explains how he portrays monumental moments in his life growing up on one side of his acrylic on wood panel painting while the other side is reserved for the 19-year-old self who plans to reach for the stars and explore the universe.

Their works are thoughtful and fascinating. That is how Nahya found them when she first saw them at St. Mary’s. At the time, none of the youth had given a thought to exhibiting their art outside the school where they had a final art exhibit as part of their IB (international baccalaureate) art exam. That is where the youth met Nahya who was doing consultancy work for filmmakers who were working out of the same school space as the young visual artists.

“I saw their art when I was at the school on another assignment altogether. But I was so impressed with it that I invited them to exhibit with me publicly,” Nahya says.

Initially, she says they were hesitant, but finally, they agreed. “I felt it would be good for them to step out of an academic setting and see how exhibitions work in a public space,” she says.

Noting that this time round, she is not taking a commission on any artworks sold, Nahya says it’s because they are students who will find out about monetizing their art soon enough. “And I didn’t want to scare them into thinking I was just doing this to make money, because I am not,” she adds.

Most of the works being exhibited by Imani, Njunge, Nbiru, Matulai, and Alfonce were selling for around Sh20,000, although Imani’s miniatures had sold for Sh7,000-Sh8,000 each.

“The most expensive piece in the exhibition was Matulai’s portrait of Abuela Claudia which was selling for Sh96,000,” says Nahya. Initially, the original painting was in the school’s 2021 award-winning musical ‘Into the Heights’ where Abuela was the warm-hearted grandmother who everybody loved and mourned when she died.

“I changed a lot of the original painting to give it more [urban] appeal,” says Matulai who also co-starred in the actual musical.

 Nahya has been doing this kind of personalized curating of visual art since 2017 after she’d returned home from music studies in voice and piano at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, USA. Now she’s using her voice to promote and display the art of young Kenyans like the five from St. Mary’s School.