TEWA TAPS INTO GLOBAL INTEREST IN PAN-AFRICAN ART

By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted August 28, 2023)

The internet has become a global art gallery where artists both interact with one another and with the public and prospective clients. Its main channels of exchange and public display are Instagram and What’s App. It’s most effective among the ‘youngsters’, those ingenious generations who have grown up with WIFI and cell phones and Instagram. They are also the ones who find Facebook passe, the space where their parents and occasionally their grandparents go because they think they can spy on the youngsters there. They’ve never heard of SnapChat which is one that an eight-year-old introduced me to and where I’m hearing from increasing numbers of artist friends who are mostly under 30. It was online, mainly on Instagram, that Thadde Tewa met all fifteen of the under-30-artists whose works he curated and is currently exhibiting at Village Market in the large assembly hall on the top floor next to the parking area.

The exhibition which he entitles ‘Unbound: A Glimpse into the Future of Figurative Art in Africa’ is actually a Pan-African affair, showcasing artists from Nigeria and Angola as well as from Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya. The majority of paintings are by Kenyans. And while he’s met all of them face-to-face, they still find the quickest way to communicate is online via What’s App. “I wanted this show to be about the so-called emerging artists, the ones who may be young but they’re gifted and eager for the exposure I want to give them,” Tewa tells BD Life the day before the show’s official opening rece And while many might want to be showcased in the older, more prestigious galleries like One Off, Circle, Red Hill, and Banana Hill, that time is likely to come if their talent endures and their techniques polished and improved. Actually, there is lots more attention being given to young gifted artists than ever before. There are more ‘Open Call’s’ being sent out from various platforms from all ‘round the world. That includes the galleries referenced above as well as institutions like the Nairobi National Museum, Kenya Museum Society, Mukuru Art Club, Wajukuu Art Centre, Brush tu Art Alliance, Kuona Artists Collective and also the newly-revived Kenya Arts Diary. All are paying more attention to up-and-coming artists who are gifted but under-exposed and wanting an opportunity to be made more visible.

“I’d been following a number of artists online and I’ve seen them put their latest works on Instagram to let people know what they are currently doing,” Tewa explains. “Quite a few already have clients who are collecting their art. The collectors are especially interested in seeing what their artist is working on right now,” he adds. What seems clear is that Kenyans are increasingly including themselves in an international online art scene. They might not yet be as notable as the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. But our more established artists are already logging into the pantheon of contemporary African art. For now, the young Kenyans in this show are all in their 20s and they’re mostly men, including Coster Ojwang, Eric ‘Stickky’ Muriithi, Kelvin ‘Kevo’ Wambugu, James Kagima, Munene Kariithi, Rasto Cyprian, Solomon ‘Solo’ Luvai, and Tim Ochola. Among the women in the show, there are two from Kenya, Muthoni Mwangi and Njeri Kagima James, two from Uganda, Babirya Erinah and Victoria Nabulima, two from Nigeria, Oluwatobiloba Fasalejo and Bridget ‘Bibi’ Van Grieken, one from Rwandan, Joso Pierre, and one from Angolan Benigno Mangovo. The show itself is impressive, especially as so many paintings had to be shipped in. And given Tewa’s ‘art gallery’ is also virtual, mobile, and practically a one-man show, one can’t help appreciating his initiative and commitment to African art.

There are many gems in this show. For instance, Bridget van Grieken’s ‘Blue Dream’ is haunting in its portrait of an African blue-black beauty while Victoria’s women in ‘The Waiting’ also seem to tell a story that their assemblage knows too well, and Blasto Cyprian’s ‘Baptism’ seems to be filled with expectation and hope. Kelvin Mwangi’s ‘Man, Go Unchained’ could easily be the most obvious expression (out of the over 40 paintings in the show) of the Exhibition’s title, ‘Unbound’. “The horse in the painting doesn’t have a bridle, yet he moves freely with the [shirtless] man riding him with ease,” says the painter who looks surprisingly like the horseback rider. There is a lot more to see and discuss about this show. One hopes Tewa will host an ‘Artist Talk’ or two before the exhibition ends.