Tapping art for economic gain

Hurdled under the shade of a tree at the August 7 Memorial Park in Nairobi, a group of artists attending a meeting called by Naftali Momanyi, Chairperson of the Kenya National Visual Artists Association in Nairobi on May 19, 2019, could not agree more with his opening statement: “With millions engaged in stable self-reliant jobs in the visual arts, the sector managed well, can become one of the major economic contributors to the country’s GDP.”

Economy and art are closely linked. In the previous article in this series, the authorship deliberated on the fleeting existence of local art galleries in Kenya, some of which have since closed down permanently. Factors responsible for this occurrence were pegged on lack of funding and an unsustainable local art market.