Kenyan art showcased at city fair

Life & Work

Kenyan art showcased at city fair

Thursday November 13 2014

Talk about a transformative cultural event; that’s the way the just-ended inaugural Kenya Art Fair will be seen in days to come.

Sylvia Gichia and her Kuona Trust team organised the hefty gathering of art centres, schools, galleries and solo artists into one amazing showcase, which some thought was ‘‘chaotic’’ while others saw as inspirational.

From the moment Syowia Kyambi smashed her ceramic ‘‘Big Mama’’ sculpture to smithereens on the opening night at Sarit Centre, to the stimulating daily art talks on everything from the dynamic growth of Kenya’s contemporary visual art industry to the question of ‘Who sets the agenda for Kenyan art?’, the fair felt like the first time artists sat down in public with curators, collectors and critics to chart the way forward to accelerating growth.

The amount of pertinent information shared over the span of four days was stunning. Details about digital, performative, installation and cartoon art as well as the business of art, copyright and even the sensitive topic of pricing were discussed. Audience interaction was also extensive during every session.

The art displayed was also impressive; including representative works from art centres and galleries like One Off, Banana Hill, Maasai Mbili, Bobea, Kitengela Glass, Kuona (through their Wasanii Exhibition including both resident Kuona artists and up and comers), PAWA254, the GoDown, Creative Garage, Bonzo, Photizo, National Museum, Railway Museum and the Little Art Gallery.

Works by solo artists were also well displayed as was the case with Bertiers Mbatia, Cyrus Ng’ang’a Kabiru, Wambui Kamiru, Geraldine Robarts, Tabitha wa Thuku, John Ndungu, Remy Musindi, Sijau Shah and Xavier Verhorst.

Even art institutions like Kenyatta University, Nairobi Art Centre and Academy of Graphic Technologies displayed their students’ and teachers’ art.

Three of the most exciting projects displayed at the fair were also discussed in detail during the ‘‘Art and Business’’ panel when Mali ya Mali’s Mutheu Mbondo spoke about merchandising local artists’ work; Artouch’s Maggie Otieno talked about her new personal brand Motieno Designs and GoDown’s Judy Ogana invited artists to sign up for the Centre’s newly expanded Art and Entrepreneurship Course .

Although one critic said the Kenya Art Fair couldn’t compare with those held in New York, London or Johannesburg; this is the Kenya Fair’s first year while the others have been going on for decades.

Besides, Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta didn’t seem to mind the colourful, overcrowded scene at Sarit Centre. In fact, on Sunday morning, she and her daughter Ngina stuck around for several hours surveying the art and feeling right at home. They even modelled pairs of Cyrus Kabiru’s C-Stunner glasses, the photos of which went viral on social media.

The Kuona Trust director confessed she initially had no idea how well the art community would respond to her call to take part in Kenya’s first fair. But with so many artists imploring Kuona to run another art fair next year, there’s little doubt the event met a crying need to open up dialogue and expose just how vibrant, energised and beautiful the local art scene has become.

Finally, exhibitions that opened this week include Zach Saitoti’s photography at Shifteye Gallery, James Njoroge and Patrick Kariuki’s paintings at ICRAF, Rahab Shine’s new works at Banana Hill Gallery and Gor Soudan’s art at Red Hill Gallery opening this Sunday.

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