Kenya’s visual arts have traditionally been dominated by paintings, mostly figurative and representational.
Generally, their skills development has been slow due to the low exposure to the global art world as overseas travel is unfordable to most Kenyan artists, even to those that have broken into international markets.
Though the internet and social media greatly enhance access to global art, there is much value to viewing art in the flesh and interacting with artists from other cultures.
Taabu Munyoki, a Kenyan artist and a member of the Venice Biennale Fellowship at Venice, Italy. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Renowned Kenyan-born American visual artist Wangechi Mutu seeks to change that with the Artists Travel Fellowship by the W Mutu Studio.
“For artists, travel provides the freedom to be who they are, to see things, be empowered and enlightened,” said Ms Mutu.
The inaugural recipients of the fellowship got a taste of other emerging trends during the premier Venice Biennale art exhibition in Italy last year between April and November.
The event has gained a reputation as the Olympics of art.
Nominated for the fellowship by a jury were Peter Ngugi, Sujay Shah, Taabu Munyoki, Churchill Ongere, Jonathan Fraser, and Neo Musangi, an arts writer and lecturer in literature and gender studies.
Sujay Shah says the opportunity was eye-opening.
“To see the tactile qualities, understand the importance of the scale, interact with art and see it from different dimensions,” he explains.
Ms Mutu says the fellowship is further aimed to highlight the importance of protecting and properly utilising Kenya’s artistic and cultural spaces “even if these exhibitions are not happening on our soil.”
Prestigious art exhibitions like the Venice Biennale are an opportunity for countries to present their contemporary art on a global stage.
Last year's exhibition included pavilions from 58 countries including nine African nations.
Since debuting at the Biennale, the Kenya pavilion has been dogged by controversy in its artistic representation, underscored by the lack of financial support from the government.
Sujay Shah, a Kenyan artist and a member of the Venice Biennale Fellowship. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Subsequently, it was left to individuals to raise funds, organise the show and select the artists.
In 2013 and 2015 the pavilion featured more foreigners than Kenyan nationals and drew condemnation as well for its poor execution.
It is not unknown for artists to self-fund their participation at big art events believed to boost career success, regardless of the venue.
Malindi-based Italian hotelier and artist Armando Tanzini was a key organiser both times and the pavilion was roundly criticised by Kenyan artists and writers including artist Michael Soi and acclaimed author, the late Binyavanga Wainaina.
Art fellowships are vital to career growth as they give artists alternative locations for learning and exchange.
“I would love Kenyan artists, writers, actors, filmmakers to be in the same league as athletes and those we consider best representatives of our country,” says Ms Mutu.
Leading contemporary art cities expose one to a breathtaking range of disciplines including sculptures, installations, paintings, video, sound works and more.
‘Overwhelming’ was used repeatedly by the fellowship recipients regarding the astonishing quantity (over 1,400 art pieces) and diversity of works, media, size and the number of exhibition spaces.
Mr Shah says he saw so much video art that he had to switch off it.
“There aren’t many video installations in Kenya but it would be good to open up possibilities, for artists to be more confident and build a repository of how others have dealt with these modes.”
After Venice, he is more conscious about the role of art events in growing skills and will be more deliberate about travelling to exhibitions abroad.
“They give a visual vocabulary of what is possible and how to incorporate some of these ideas into your own.”
Taabu Munyoki enjoyed the interactive nature of installations which transcend two-dimensional works for their immersion, and also how an exhibition space makes art an overall experience.
“Going forward, it’s not just about making art but presenting it for audiences to fully appreciate my work,” says Ms Munyoki.
Churchill Ongere, a Kenyan artist and a member of the Venice Biennale Fellowship at Venice, Italy. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Art technology in relation to humans was another stand-out for her, both from a critical perspective and to enhance her art practice.
Kenya’s visual arts are dominated by paintings, mostly figurative and representational. A small but growing cadre of artists produces abstract and nonrepresentational works or employs non-traditional materials.
While some artists define their practice as purely instinctive, Neo Musangi finds that “conceptually, and for personal growth, it is important to see other artists’ work and their process.”
However, Ms Musangi is saddened that Kenya lacks a visual arts festival and that art generally feels removed from the general population.
“It’s important to see art as a political dialogue, a way of learning or of reconsidering your position on things,” says Ms Musangi.
“I'm sure the people of Venice have gotten interested over the years.”
Peter Ngugi’s work has featured abroad but he had never travelled to Europe before last year.
One of his objectives was to better understand how artworks are presented in spaces.
“Curation gives me direction in my work and coming back, I’m more empowered in the approach to my practice,” says Mr Ngugi.
He explains that visitors to his Thika studio often think that art is merely portrait painting.
Travel exposure, however, has given him the freedom “to know that it’s OK to explore, think outside the box and do things differently.”
Churchill Ongere was interested in the interpretation of broader messages such as the Biennale’s theme called The Milk of Dreams.
“Coming out of a children’s book, it was good to see how that curation was corresponding to world needs,” says Mr Ongere.
With a background in international relations and political science, he was intrigued by the Estonia pavilion that unpacked concepts of de-colonialism, and the boycott by Russian artists because of the Ukraine invasion.
“It raises questions about the role and position of the artist in key moments.”
Art travels generate a repository of fellow artists, curators, mentors and a general database.
Neo Musangi, a Kenyan artist and a member of the Venice Biennale Fellowship at Venice, Italy. FILE PHOTO | POOL
Mr Fraser was impressed by the solo show in Venice of South African-born Marlene Dumas, how the “breadth of skill and thematic concerns an artist can achieve over decades of working through curiosity and experimentation.”
The geographic location of art spaces, as Mr Ngugi discovered, offers scope for creative reflection.
He was fascinated by Europe’s churches and historic buildings, and their influence on the arts over the centuries.
Coming back, he is more intentional about accommodating “religion, politics and everything that surrounds me in my art and in years to come, I want my work to be relevant.”
The fellowship organisers and supporters hope to continue the travel fellowship to the Biennale in Venice and other events and turn art into a space of empowerment and African knowledge.
“The less we know the easier it is to be duped about how our history has unfolded and yet Africa has the longest history,” says Ms Mutu.
“What we have learned about art and how to be human through art started on our continent tens of thousands of years ago.”
