A potter puts finishing touches on a ceramic, an artist works on an etching. Ms Ogot says the town is slowly embracing art. Jacob Owiti
Kisumu town is not the place to find dozens of galleries lining up streets, professional artists pencilling, carving or even etching their imaginations onto canvases all day long.
Invite-only art auctions are even rarer, if any, and so are dedicated art publications.
But that did not stop one lady from venturing into the arts, in the town. She saw an opportunity, entrepreneurs would say, and on display were a mere four pieces of art.
In 2007, Eunice Ogot was working on her thesis for her Master’s in sociology and part of her degree assignment saw her work for a non-governmental organisation in Kisumu.
On the side, Ms Ogot had a contract with a women’s organisation that worked with girls to find expression through art.
The programme went well but on completion Ms Ogot came face-to-face with the post-election violence. She had to stay longer in the lakeside town.
“My contract expired in January 2008 but this was at the peak of the poll chaos and I could not travel back to Nairobi”, she recalls.
Stranded and without a source of income, Ms Ogot turned to the one thing that had taken her to the town — art passion.
“I was in art work back in college and that was how I landed my contract in the first place. So, I thought that I could do something productive with my hands as I waited for the situation in the country to stabilise and return home”.
This was the beginning of Kisumu Art House, an organisation based in Kisumu that is made up of young artists who have come together to make the most out of their creations.
Despite this budding crop of talented artists, the city is yet to fully appreciate art.
And exposure to international art markets that support most of the continent’s artists is even harder to get.
Compared to Nairobi and Mombasa, Kisumu’s middle class that is known to indulge in arts is smaller.
But Ms Ogot has experienced gradual change in the last two years that she has been struggling with her new creation in Kisumu — in a way making baby steps.
She has seen various forms of fine art slowly find their way into estates, homes, resorts and institutions.
“When I started Kisumu Art House, people thought that I was crazy because I had only about four paintings and an overturned table which I used to display outside my house,” she laughs.
“The reception was harsh and heart-breaking. People used to pass by and give me funny looks since at the time art was an alien idea and many people did not think that I could pull it off,” she says.
With time, however, more people started stopping to have a look, in fact, find out, and later to appreciate her work.
When the visitors started commenting, somewhat criticising the art parade, she knew the plot was forming for a better future.
Four years down the line, Kisumu Art House has grown to become a community of artists, sculptors and potters who make a living using their creations.
Success has not been easy for Ms Ogot and her team who say that customer satisfaction has been the top most priority.
“Kisumu Art House grew on the clients’ expectations. We found out that it is very important to give the client what they want.”
Fine art, a discipline that is slowly getting a stable in Kenya is “a challenging commodity to market.”
The art lover says the complex part of marketing these works is getting tastes right because they are varied and particular.
Artists are into whatever they do because they want to express themselves, making it difficult to force them to embrace other people’s liking and style.
“Each artist has own style. The challenge lies in harmonising these two ends— to help a client find a piece they like.”
This relationship, however, depends on the artist making available his creation for display and critique for the prospective client to find. For this reason, galleries and showrooms are essential premises that guarantee artists the much needed exposure.
“Many artists have beautiful pieces that are valuable but they are stuck with them in their homes or workshops. This greatly hinders their growth and development and discourages prospective artists”, says Ms Ogot.
Apart from being a workshop and a centre for the art community in Kisumu, the Art House acts as a gallery where the dozen artists in the workshop display their pieces for the growing client list.
There are regular visitors to the hub, she says.
Artists display pieces and when they are picked, a 20 per cent fee is remitted to the centre. Those that do not get a buyer are returned to the artist after a certain period of time without a charge.
Arthur Onyango, 25, has been a member of the art house since graduating from Mwangaza Art College three years ago.
He was working on an image of a Maasai Moran when the Business Daily visited the centre.
“When I began creating three years ago, the response from the clients was demoralising. People did not like my work and I came to this centre where I hoped I would get some exposure and make some money from my paintings,” he says.
Mr Onyango has learnt at the Art House how to make different types of frames to complement his work and the response was more favourable.
“The value of a particular piece relies heavily on the finishing that it is given and it soon became apparent to me that frames could determine whether a piece stays on the shelf for months gathering dust or it is snapped up by a client immediately it is displayed”.
Mr Onyango covers a standard piece of canvas with oil-based paint and waits for about 24 hours for it to dry.
African jewellery
He uses a needle to slowly and carefully scratch out the paint to form the desired painting. Depending on the type of design, each piece can take between six to eight hours to complete.
The etchings go for between Sh500 to Sh2,500, a price that is dictated by design and the type of material used. “Most clients request for non-reflective glass on their pieces and this of course costs more. We can also make customised pieces depending on the wishes of the client.”
The Art House also specialises in creating aesthetic pottery, bamboo furniture, African jewellery and fabrics.
“Some of our clients include people who want to decorate their homes; they come to us with ideas and we work together to create interior décor themes that appeal to their tastes”, says Ms Ogot.
As the region’s economic outlook continues to improve, Ms Ogot is banking on a growing middle-class that is art-conscious to turn artists like Arthur Onyango into the next Giovanni Benedetto, the Italian master of engravings.
