Mike Kyalo’s ‘Tell n Sell’ art. Photo/Margaretta wa Gacheru
What you need to know:
So much going on in the city, art lovers are literally spoilt for choice on where to go and what to see.
The New Year hasn’t seen any slowdown in artistic expression among Kenyans.
This past weekend witnessed clear-cut evidence to that fact when Kuona Trust invited the public to attend its first Valentine Art Fair on Saturday, offering art works for as low as Sh6,000 and inviting people to have their portraits drawn by local artists. There was live music and lots of yummy homemade food.
That same day, the Kenya Television and Film Writers held their Inaugural Meeting at PAWA254.
No limits were set so not only established but also aspiring screenwriters were on hand to take up the challenge of exceeding the artistic excellence of both Nollywood and Bollywood as well as Hollywood, of course.
The idea being that everyday life in Kenya is filled with drama, comedy, mystery and satiric twists that deserve to become screenplays either for TV or film or even for live theatre!
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Visual art exhibitions that have already opened in the last few days include one man shows at Alliance Francaise, Kuona Trust and Que Pasa Restaurant.
At Alliance, it’s Mike Kyalo whose exhibition “Tell and Sell” features images of street vendors selling all sorts of items.
Based under umbrellas and in Kyalo’s mind, the vendors are often artisans available to explain and hold impromptu “workshops’ for prospective buyers of their wares, be they crafts, home furnishings or food of assorted types.
Meanwhile late last week, at Kuona Trust, Kevin Oduor mounted an amazing show of metallic sculptures that he calls Exhibition II.
Oduor is one of Kenya’s most prolific, conspicuous and versatile sculptors who’s best known for his life-size Dedan Kimathi sculpture that stands in Nairobi’s City Centre right at the junction of Kimathi and Mama Ngina streets.
His most recent work of public art is at the Makadara Railway Station and he has another magnificent piece out at the Syokimau station near Mlolongo. (We must applaud Kenya Railways for supporting Kenyan contemporary art and artists.)
Existence II is a stunning yet quirky exhibition of mainly men’s trousers which Oduor has created as if they’re worn by dismembered guys who like casual, slightly oversized pants.
Each piece is carefully creased and wrinkled to look lived-in, which makes them all the more interesting and fun. What was Kevin thinking? And why only the bottom half of all of these guys?
Dickson Kaloki’s solo show at Que Pasa in Karen is about to close next week so one had better slip by before the restaurant rotates his work back to Kuona where one may also find his mono-toned Mukuru ‘slum art’.
The other Karen restaurant that consistently exhibits Kenyan art is The Talisman where currently, another set of so-called ‘slum artists’ have their work filling all the available walls.
Maasai Mbili (M2) is a Kenyan artists’ collective that’s based in Kibera and includes a hard-core group of artists like Ashif, Gomba and Rabala, as well as another set of artists who come and go according to their moods and artistic aspirations.
It’s the hard-core M2 artists who fit in most comfortably at the Talisman currently, and if one hasn’t gotten over to Kibera to their new studio, I recommend a trip to Talisman to see the works of artists who were once considered ‘sign writers’ but whose talents have taken them all over Europe to exhibit new trends in Kenyan art!
Finally, the Nairobi National Museum’s Education Department launched its own Art Club for local art teachers and their students almost three years ago. Meeting regularly with any number of East African artists ever since, the Club is finally showcasing their art at the Museum’s Exhibition Hall all through this month.
One reason the Museum launched NANAMAC, according to Senewa Kinaiyia, was to give a nudge to the Ministry of Education by illustrating that there’s a genuine interest in the visual arts in Kenya, which the Ministry needs to support.
Opportunity
And next door in Uganda, a Kampala Art Biennale was recently announced with a Call for African artists to submit their work by March 31st for possible inclusion in the August 2014 Biennale.
One can find all the details at http://Kampalabiennale.org or on Facebook where the criteria are fully explained. Two-dimension art related to the theme “Progressive Africa” is preferred (not 3D, meaning no installation art or sculptures).
This sounds like a great opportunity for Kenyan artists to get involved in what looks like it will be a broad regional platform.
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