““I think probably my having to differentiate between weeds and dhania from an early age is the one thing that taught me to be as attentive to detail as I am today.” – Ngene Mwaura.
Welcome to the fifth edition of Nairobi Contemporary, a critical artist led platform commentating and contributing to the discourse of the regional art practice. It is a collaborative project formulated by like-minded individuals with a common goal of promoting public appreciation and advancing the study of modern & contemporary Kenyan art, both locally and internationally by continuing informative and critical discourse. Alongside our regular features which include critical texts, studio/ collective profiles, local news and opportunities available for artists, we have features from across the border – Uganda and Tanzania, and will endeavor to have more from the wider Eastern Africa region in the subsequent editions.
It has been a pleasure producing this edition following a series of critical art writing workshops in Nairobi and Kampala through collaboration with The British Institute In East Africa, 32 Degrees East – Kampala and Newcastle University.
It is our hope that NC remains relevant while informing & entertaining you and are excited to roll out this edition.
Happy 2020.
Editors
Craig Halliday | Ogonga Thom
Design
Ndeithi Kariuki
Printing
The Wandering Consultant
Contributors
Kui Wachira | Sebawali Sio | Andrew Ngurumi | Thadde Tewa | Donald Maingi | Roseline Olang’ | Asteria Malinzi | Matt Kayem | Peter Kariuki | Lilian N Nabulime |
All correspondence should be addressed to: editor.nairobi.contemporary@gmail.com
Contents
1. Cover Artwork
Khadambi Asaleche – Photo by James Balston
3. Editorial | Acknowledgements
4. All Lonely Together Thom Ogonga
6. Godown, In Transition
Thadde Tewa
8. Who Gets the Credit: Issues of Collaboration and Copyright Andrew Ngurumi
10. Artists Residency of Kigamboni (ARK) Asteria Malinzi
12. Down Memory Lane | The Godown Art Centre
Peter Kariuki & The Godown Art Centre
14. Reflections on Previous Drives for a National Art Gallery in Kenya
Craig Halladay is a PhD candidate at the University of East Anglia, UK. His research looks into the role art can play in creating social change. Prior to this, Craig completed a MA in African Studies, MSc in International Development and has worked and lived in Kenya, Malawi, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia
Photo Credit: Andrew Ngurumi
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Listening to the wrong voices by Michael Musyoka
All Lonely Together
Of Financial Dereliction & Substance Abuse In The Arts
Artists are a very vulnerable lot. Unlike other industries, the visual art practice is a very solitary one. This is not helped by the fact that most artists come from very humble backgrounds – those commonly highlighted by statisticians as large households often ‘surviving’ on less than a dollar a day.
At the beginning of their practice, most artists continue to live and work in this dire situation with many not getting any financial assistance from either family or relevant institutions. This in turn sets the stage for a disaster-inwaiting when most careers take off.
When artists start making megabucks, they are unable to make a gradual transition from being flat broke to suddenly (relatively) rich thereby acquiring high-risk lifestyles. This is not an exclusively Kenyan phenomenon. Creative geniuses like Kurt Kobain, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jacob Miller, Tupac Shakur and JeanMichel Basquiat happened to be victims of brilliance not carefully managed. Closer home, there’s trouble in paradise. Everybody is raving about the explosion in the local art practice but underneath it all, anyone keen enough will notice some deficiencies.
In the nineties, there were stories about the generation before us and certain excesses we’d presumed were stuff of urban legend. It was commonplace for artists to receive huge cash payments from galleries and disappear downtown for days on end enjoying the fruits of their labour only to reappear when money ran out. Some institutions ‘forced’ us to transact through bank accounts and even insisted on tax details, which was great. However, it has now become a common occurrence for artists to insist on cash payments from galleries (sometimes running into
thousands of dollars) after sales of artwork. Often when this happens, what you have is a reckless grown up on a very risky mission. Most artists subscribe to the ‘self taught school’ and that loosely translates to - your life is a continuous experiment. No one taught you how to make art, but you are a brilliant artist anyway. You cannot manage your career but you think that so long as you can gather raw material, make art and sell, you’re doing well. No one showed you how to deal with fame, or the money that comes with it.
When the Godown Art Centre opened circa 2003 as the first multidisciplinary art space in East Africa, we were excited to be the pioneer resident visual artists working alongside dancers, acrobats and musicians. It was phenomenal. But this also exposed us to a kind of life we never knew existed. As relatively young artists starting to gain recognition, life was relatively easy. Art supplies, a rent-subsidized studio space, a warm bed, a hot meal, Saturday football and the occasional beer at K1. All these were quite attainable on a shoestring budget. Then the money started pouring in and the trips to the pub became more frequent. Happy hours were replaced by late nights. Suddenly, there were too many girls around. Without realizing, it was difficult to separate artistic practice from a life of alcohol, drugs and debauchery.
This has not been without consequence and is probably the one major reason most artists ‘work very hard’ - to fund these lifestyles. There
Your interaction with people outside your art practice makes you have a realistic look at life outside the art bubble.
have been numerous incidents where artists have been victims of lifethreatening encounters as a result of showing off ‘their riches’ and mocking ‘broke patrons’ in dingy bars after one too many. Every artist knows of an artist or two who has been drugged and robbed on a night out. We have all received that late night phone call to go bail out an artist friend from police cells for offenses ranging from misdemeanors like being drunk and disorderly to serious crimes like possession of banned substances.
People work for different reasons. I believe in working towards a better quality of life - whatever that means. Most of my peers are more about quantity of life. Make a lot of cash and spend it with reckless abandon. Drink as much as you can as frequently as you can. Only sleep at home when you’re flat broke. And bed as many people as possible. Though we may not have a Kenyan in Club 27 - a list consisting mostly of popular musicians, artists, or actors who died at age 27 that remains a cultural phenomenon, documenting the deaths of celebrities, some noted for their high-risk lifestyles - we have lost a handful of artists prematurely. Artists in their prime. Some (still in a very productive age) are in a very sorry state and are not able to practice anymore due to substance abuse.
Most artists also don’t have friends outside the arts. This means that most of their adult life interactions are limited to contact only with fellow artists or art industry professionals. If these are the people who see your downward spiral and cannot help you, your goose is cooked. I have always encouraged artists to maintain friendships from school as this ensures your contacts will include that random politician, doctor, engineer, bus driver,
the sector including policy, education, training, marketing, arts administration and the Creative Economy and a creative entrepreneurship course for artists and creative entrepreneurs across all creative arts disciplines. This program led to creative partnerships and exchange programmes that have fostered cultural and artistic growth.
In the sixteen years of its existence, the GoDown Art Centre has played its part in the regional Scene, often plugging a gap that exists in the local culture industry.
It recently closed the iconic space for demolition to be replaced with a modern art centre. The Godown Art Centre transformation project is a partnership between the GoDown Art Centre, White Arkiteker (Sweden) and Planning Systems (Kenya). The concept won a prize in this year’s World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam in the Culture Future Category. Broad conversations of the transformation began in 2011 involving architects, city planners, artists, residents, city officials and students. The new Godown Art Centre which is set to be completed by August 2021, was a dream that never existed until 2005 when they bought the space where its located and the team began to think of an upgrade of the giant art centre to a more sustainable cultural and arts centre for the Nairobi community.
The new GoDown vision plans to have a welcoming courtyard space connecting artists’ studios, galleries, a library, auditorium, museum, offices, restaurant, underground parking, film and music studios, craft workshops, conference rooms and training labs. According to Joy Mboya, the new GoDown Art Centre Vision is estimated to cost Ksh 2 Billion. The ambitious sum was divided into four phases in their fundraising campaign chart. The amount in the first phase was to be raised from local philanthropists and corporations. The Godown Art
Centre board and staff have raised a total sum of Ksh 100 million. The amount in the next phase was to be raised from public subsidies and concessions. The third last phase was from low interest debt financing and equity options while the last phase was from Kenyan diaspora and international partners. I honestly have no idea how much has been raised by now, but the GoDown Art Centre’s director, Joy Mboya, believes this vision is achievable and sustainability of this project won’t come from international donors. The Godown Art Centre team has been running fundraising campaigns and initiatives with hope that it cultivates the culture of envisioning and owning the dream among the cultural and arts community. Everyone is eager to see the end product of this transformation. Like most ambitious projects, some people are confident that the transformation is needed, while others doubt The GoDown will maintain its uniqueness as an exclusive multi-disciplinary art centre. Well one practitioner in the Nairobi art scene and lover of the GoDown Art Centre events mentioned that they might introduce charges to some of their events like the monthly gig. One young artist also mentioned his fear of not being able to afford high studio rents and general facility access fees. From my own understanding, the old GoDown Art Centre was accessible to anyone as long as you stated your intentions and where you were going.
Some artists who were based at the centre or directly benefited from the centre were a bit frustrated by this transformation plan mentioning that it will stagnate their careers because they benefited from studio walk ins. You could hear some openly questioning this transformation move by the Godown Art Centre team. I personally believe this transformation is necessary and it will position the Godown Art Centre at a better place in the african arts and cultural events or platforms. Also if GoDown Art Centre manages to achieve this ambitious dream
that they will have managed to make a loud statement to Kenyans and our ever sceptical government that it is possible to grow and sustain our cultural and arts scene from within without depending on international donors. I also think an art space of that scale will definitely create more opportunities for creatives and jobs for the local art community. For instance, think of me as an emerging curator and art dealer; I could be hired to curate a contemporary art exhibition or hire an exhibition space like the Village Market mall business model. I’m not sure if the GoDown Art Centre has made moves to seek some funding from the Kenyan government but I think waiting or depending on the Kenyan government will slow down this great project.
It’s often misconstrued that physical infrastructural development translates to progress. However, we must be realistic with how things function on a day to day basis. The old space - as it waswas under manned and had been under programmed. Personally I would have loved to attend an art exhibition opening at least every month just like I did with the centre’s monthly gig. Also some artists based at the centre went months without selling or holding shows. I believe if the old GoDown Art Centre had a permanent curator there would be a lot of difference in terms of more
exhibitions which would translate to more art sales. An artist once shared his frustration while trying to get information on how to apply for a studio space. The artist went further and explained how he got a response that there were no available studios which he couldn’t understand because he had seen a free studio while visiting a fellow artist based at the centre. I think if there was someone in charge of studio spaces to offer resourceful guidelines or explanations it would have been a different experience for such a young artist whom I assume represents many who haven’t had the opportunity to share their experiences with the old GoDown Art Centre. Multiplying the plinth tenfold would bring more challenges. Therefore I think a project of this scale should come with specialized training and programs for art curators and art administrators. This side of the globe, it often happens that institutions are built to support the marginalized and when the same institutions come of age, they get gentrified and lock out those they were meant to work with. For example, the Kenya National Theater
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Who gets the credit in issues of collaboration? Kenya Copyright Law Perspectives
Specialization in different skill sets in the 21st Century breeds and demands for mutual collaborations. These collaborations in visual art are varied and can include those between a photographer and a visual artist, a videographer and a performer, a good welder and a good concept developer, an artist and another in a commissioned large-scale project. Collaborations are established at any point from when the initial idea comes into being and is developed, right the way through to its execution. In these collaborations a visual artist may elect to engage services of employees as assistants, independent contractors (sometimes a fellow visual artist) or persons with specialized skills - for instance photographers.
Recently, Matt Kayem exemplified this collaborations in his ‘Cool Africa Vol. 2’ exhibition (2019), held at Kioko Mwitiki Gallery in Nairobi. The exhibition contained a series of photographs in which Kayem posed as a model and images of him were taken by the photographer Saidi Stunner. Writing about the exhibition and series of photographs, the art journalist Frank Whalley commented:
“One awkward little fact gets in the way of my praise for the photos, however: Kayem did not actually take them. Most feature Kayem himself as the model while the shutter was clicked by one Saidi Stunner, a professional photographer with a studio in Kampala, here reduced to using his finger as though it were a timer. The underlying ideas, the compositions, props, poses and the lighting were all Kayem’s work but the photographs themselves were taken by Stunner. In very sharp focus, I might add. This of course raises the interesting question of, apart from legal and copyright issues, whose photographs they are. If I had a great idea and paid, say Monet, to execute it for me, would it be my painting or his? Does the credit go to the person with the idea or the one who makes it happen?” (Frank Whalley, ‘GALLERIES: A clash of cultures and the moral maze’, 2nd November, 2019, The EastAfrican Newspaper)
Collaborations in visual art have existed from time immemorial. Communities in pre-colonial Africa created art in collaborative and apprenticeships settings such as the practice of lost-wax-casting taking place in Ife and Benin. The communities sought to ensure certain skills were passed on from one generation to another. In contemporary times collaboration in the arts has continued and can be seen, for example, in the art
practice of the Ghanaian visual artist El Anatsui who employs assistants to intricately stitch together metal bottle tops to create drape-like sculptures akin to Kente cloth. Anatsui, conceives and directs assistants in creating these sculptures but it is his name which appears solely on the artwork’s description card. In reality, the assistants are mere executioners while Anatsui is the author of the artwork.
In another form of collaboration, visual artists may jointly create artworks. In the 1980s, Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat contributed to the creation of House Eye (1984–1985) and Amoco (1984) artworks. In the description card of the artwork both visual artists are listed as authors of the artworks.
Certainly, as a result of collaborations claims over authorship may arise regarding who came up with the idea or who executed the artwork. Often the claims have to do with whose name should be attributed as the author of the work. Copyright law rewards authors with incentives to continue creating works. These incentives are the exclusive rights in a work to control any reproduction of the work, distribution of the work, any public display, or repurposing the work in new forms. The author can even allow third parties to enjoy some or all of these exclusive rights. These rights are exercisable for a limited term of the lifetime of the author plus fifty years. A pre-requisite for a work to enjoy the exclusive right is the work should be original and fixed in a tangible medium. These are the main functions of the author: to make something from their skill and labour and express in a tangible medium. For instance, get a concept or idea for an artwork and execute the idea on a canvas. In that way copyright protection attaches to the work.
In the advent on artworks created using artificial intelligence, it has become debatable whether an author should always be a human being who exercises subjective judgment in composing a work and who controls its execution. Typically, an author is a human being. It is the person who conceptualizes and directs the development of the work (that is exercises control over its execution) rather than the person who simply follows orders to execute the work. In so doing mere execution of a work does not make one an author. Thus is the reason why the assistants in El Anatsui’s studio cannot claim authorship. Thus, as a result of their subjective judgment authors, like El Anatsui, are entitled to recognition, payment, and artistic control over their creation.
The effect of being identified as an author of a work is that you get first ownership of copyright. In that,
In order for one to be classified as an author it is necessary for them to be able to show that their contribution to the work is of the type and amount that is protected by copyright - that is, their contribution would be sufficient to confer originality on the relevant work. In my opinion, a person who merely photocopies or traces a work would never be an author.
In respect to multiple authors like Warhol and Basquiat in the work Amoco (1984), generally the contribution of each author should not be distinct from that of the other author or authors. The multiple authors must, first, show that each of them expended their own skill and effort that it is substantial or considerable or non-trivial other than aesthetically. It is not necessary that the contribution is of an equal proportion. Secondly, the work must have been produced through a
In my opinion, a person who merely photocopies or traces a work would never be an author.
copyright protection is exercised by the first owner. In terms of works created in the course of employment, the employer initially is the first owner of any copyright in the work. The employer and employee may, however, agree in writing that either party retains copyright in a work.
In a commissioned work the author/ artist initially gets first ownership of copyright. A commissioning party only gets copyright protection in a work if there is an agreement with the author. The agreement may transfer copyright to the commissioning party or let the author/artist retain copyright.
process of collaboration between the authors. That is, when setting out to create a work there must have been some common design of cooperation that united the authors. Thirdly, the respective contributions must not be distinct or separate. This speaks to the parties contributions merging to form an integrated whole. In reality, a person cannot point to a substantial part of the work and say it is mine.
Therefore, works created in a collaborative environment can only be vested in a sole author or owner through agreements. In a case where assistants are engaged in creating artworks, an employment contract is quintessential. Multiple authors
with the intention of allowing one party to be a sole author, a licensing/assignment agreement is essential. Depending on the agreed terms, the person who now owns the work may offer royalties to the other author. These royalties can be one off payment or instalments.
In instances where an artist develops the concept but uses the services of another professional (independent contractor) to help execute this concept then it is advisable to get a release agreement. The purpose of the release agreement is to acknowledge the role of the independent contractor whilst transferring copyright to artist.
Returning to Whalley’s question, “whose photographs are they?” If I had a great idea and paid, say Monet, to execute it for me, would it be my painting or his? Does the credit go to the person with the idea or the one who makes it happen? We cannot conclusively determine the fate of the prints but give several pointers to inform any judgment metered on them. Who conceived and arranged the work? Who executed the work? If it is the same person, that person is the author and gets copyright protection in the work. If they are multiple persons, what contribution did they make? If both persons contributed a proportion that forms part of a whole, then they are joint authors. What engagement did they have? If a person who created the prints was employed, the employer is not the author but still owns the work and enjoys copyright protection.
“Andrew Waithumbi Ngurumi is a Visual arts writer and Intellectual Property Lawyer.
Photo Credits: Andrew Ngurumi Page 8:
“Bad Muganda Good Afrikan”
Artists Residency of Kigamboni (ARK)
Artists Residency of Kigamboni (ARK) is an artist development program for visual artists dedicated to supporting the development of the Tanzanian art scene by providing local artists with the space and materials to push their creative career and new ideas in their practice.
ARK is located on a picturesque 140acre beachfront property nestled in the heart of Kigamboni in Amani Gomvu, 31km from Dar es Salaam city centre. The eco-friendly estate is surrounded by 550m of white beach and cool azure waters; and is home to black pepper, vanilla, clove and palm tree plantations; a protected sanctuary of sea turtles; as well as a sleepy fishing village that economically benefits from the exposed coral reefs; all working together to provide artists with a unique setting away from the hustle and bustle of Dar es Salaam. Our
residency program also shares its home with The Overhang – a collection of charming and cosy self-serviced beach cabins.
Artists are invited to live and work within the untouched eco-system that surrounds the estate and are encouraged to create work that responds to the environment or experiment with materials found on the property. Artists reside and work in the unique cottage villa and studio that offers unrivalled panoramic views of the Indian Ocean. This opportunity allows for artists to add their mark on the space.
ARK offers an inclusive environment that allows for complete immersion in the creative process, as well as an opportunity for artists working in various mediums to exchange knowledge, ideas and skills with the ultimate goal of creating a flourishing artists’ community.
ARK aims to promote and grow the Tanzanian art industry by:
1. Providing artists with the benefits of time, space and materials to fully commit themselves to new and existing projects while living and working in the provided environment.
2. Providing expert support to residing artists through one-on- one sessions from Artistic Programmes Coordinator available on site.
3. Initiating dialogue amongst residing artists, promoting collaborative work through cohabitation and sharing of working spaces.
4. Building a collection of contemporary artworks produced on site, by acquiring final pieces and recording processes.
5. Encouraging community outreach and engagement through art workshops with residing artists and the local community.
6. Promoting artists to new audiences digitally and physically through exhibitions and social media.
2019 was the pilot year for ARK, and they had four resident artists. In July, they hosted Mwandale Mwanyekwa (Big Mama), Sculptor (Tanzania) and Rhinold Ponder, Painter (USA). The two took on a mentorship residency with Big Mama teaching Rhinold about the Makonde sculptures and the method while simultemously working on her project titled Kunama. At the end of the residency, the two artists hosted an open studio where artists and art entghusiasts from the city were able to attend and ask them questions regarding both thier work and practice.
In August Valerie Amani, a multi-media artist (Tanzania) worked on her ongoing project titled Pathological Museum which consisted of video,
photography and an installation that was presented to an audience at the new ARK Gallery in the city centre of Dar es Salaam.
In December, Nafasi Art Space director Jan Van Esch, an artist from Netherlands, explored his multimedia project titled NipeNikupe//TakeGive// NehmanGeben which is an exploration of the gifting culture in relation to Mitumbas donated from the West to Africa.
ARK in the Community
ARK in the Community is an outreach program that takes art beyond the gallery walls and out into the community. The program seeks to positively engage, inspire and develop highly underserved local communities through art based workshops, interactive public art projects and commissions.
ARK aims to achieve social and economic progress by bringing together artists, youth and their communities, while providing them with support and guidance to explore creative passions, ultimately building strong relationships that
will positively impact their lives.
In 2018, ARK embarked on two projects for ARK in The Community, Wafanye Watabasamu (Make Them Smile), supported by the Karimjee Jivanjee Foundation, partnering with Nathan Mpangala Foundation on an art therapy project at the Nanyumbu District Hospital in Mtwara. The week-long project brought together local artists and volunteers from the community to renovate and create an art mural in the children’s ward at Nanyumbu district hospital in Mtwara.
Ongala Music Festival partnered with ARK to host a workshop for singers which took place in the beautiful settings of ARK. The workshop hosted musicians from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Congo.
In Feb 2020, we they will be opening their application for both local and international artists that will commence from May 2020 till December 2020.
For more information follow ARK on instagram on @arktanzania or email asteria@theoverhang.co.tz
Asteria Malinzi (B. 1991) in Tanzania, is a fine art photographer who uses historical and nautical references as devices to reflect on time, history, memory and psychological experiences in her work. Malinzi completed her BA (Hons) in Business Management and Marketing at the University of Derby in 2012. She then went on to pursue photography and relocated to Cape Town, where she graduated from ORMS Cape Town School of Photography in 2015. Since graduating, she has participated in several group exhibitions in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Egypt, She currently works as a hospitality manager, artistic program coordnator at The Overhang and as the co-founder of Artists Residency of Kigamboni (ARK), an upcoming artist residency located in Kigamboni.
Photo Credit: Asteria Malinzi
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Mwandale and Kunama art piece at ARK
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Valerie Amani’s Open studio at ARK Gallery
Down
direction for her artistic endeavours. Painting in a similar style to Gatu’s ‘social realism’, Patel launched into creating what she terms ‘protest art’. Exhibiting artworks in social halls in Mombasa during the 1980s, Patel’s work articulated narratives from colonial and postcolonial Kenya in order to depict the rising up of the people, and highlight injustices faced by the ordinary Kenyan.2 One such example is Patel’s painting ‘Hawkers’, which portrays women vendors in 1979 along Tom Mboya Street who decided that ‘enough was enough’ and rose up against city council askaris (guards) who regularly harassed them.
Despite the success of Utamaduni wa Sanaa, promises from the Ministry of Culture that this would become an annual event failed to materialise in a way that the committee of artists who worked in realising the exhibition had envisioned. In spite of this artists associated with organising Utamaduni wa Sanaa valiantly went on to initiate a series of exhibitions across public spaces in Nairobi (such as parks and markets) which would come to be known as Sisi kwa Sisi. The exhibitions of Sisi kwa Sisi saw some of the movement’s members (such as Etale Sukuro and Kahare Miano) continue to produce work in the style of ‘social realism’ and of themes which visually addressed ‘a culture of haves and have-nots, oppressed and oppressor, the hungry and well fed, the greedy corrupt and the poor’. 3
The artists and their work mentioned above chimes with Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu’s observation of visual art produced in Africa during the 1980s. These authors state that ‘realism was not only a representational device and method of picturing the malaise of crisis, it was also an important strategy of ethical identification and participation in the public sphere’.4 A number of
the artists mentioned in this article had recently graduated from art school and painting in the style of social realism was in response to the technical abilities that they had gained. However, there was another reason for this approach and that was because it was hoped that painting in this way would prove to be an effective means to raise critical consciousness at a time when civic space was curtailed. That this period in Kenya’s art history came about at a time when attempts to establish a national gallery were ongoing causes one to consider how they might be remembered and indeed integrated into the newly proposed ‘National Art Gallery of Kenya’. Additionally, support given by the Ministry of Culture to hold Utamaduni wa Sanaa shows the impact that State patronage can have for the visual arts and indeed the wider Kenyan public. That said, clearly a challenge for the proposed ‘National Art Gallery of Kenya’ will be how best to include such artworks and their histories especially when many of these are no longer traceable and a great deal have left the country. They are undeniably worthy of inclusion. By Mzalendo Kibunji’s own account (who is the director the NMK) the proposed national art gallery should be a place in which ‘the important role of art in documenting the social, historical and cultural evolution of the country can be appreciated.’ 5
Continued From Page 7 ... The GoDown In Transition
Craig Halladay is a PhD candidate at the University of East Anglia, UK. His research looks into the role art can play in creating social change. Prior to this, Craig completed a MA in African Studies, MSc in International Development and has worked and lived in Kenya, Malawi, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia
2. See the article ‘My Engagement with Protest Art’ by Zarina Patel in AwaaZ magazine, Volume 15, Issue 3, 2018
3. See the article ‘Sisi Kwa Sisi: an introductory note’ by Etale Sukuro in the book ‘Seven stories about modern art in Africa’, Whitechapel Gallery, 1995.
4. See the book ‘Contemporary African Art Since 1980’, Damiani, 2009, pg. 30.
5. See the East African article ‘Kenya in plans to create a national art gallery’, by Kari Mutu, November 16, 2019
went through a costly refurbishment and is currently inaccessible to the people it was built for. The country’s largest national stage refurbishment was completed in 2015 with an aim to stage more productions and give young performers a greater opportunity to fully exploit their talents within the modern standards. Sadly it’s not easy for a young performing artist to make it to the Kenya National Theater stage. As most Kenyans say it “You need connections.” Also most of the normal Kenyans who witnessed the refurbishment shy away from attending the theater’s shows and performances because of high charges.
The new GoDown Art Centre is certainly appealing, but the institute’s personnel have set themselves a tough task. It is an art centre, but how much of it will remain art? Is there a plan to recruit competent personnel? Or to find, and train people for specialized roles? It’s good that someone has been able to conceptualize this but we should emphasize on what happens when the doors open three years from now. The most unfortunate occurrence would be if we were building another
monument for the arts without focusing on development of the arts and having a comprehensive and relevant programme schedule. As people interested in the visual arts, we’re interested in the blueprint of the arts programme, not limited to, but including the gallery vision. We all support the GoDown, but with some reservations. The dream is beautiful, but we should work extra hard to actualize it.
Thadde Tewa is an emerging artist, curator and art dealer. He is a founding director of Tewasart & Patrons, an arts consultation platform focused on sharing East African art information through monthly newsletters and catalogues. He also organizes exhibitions and has been running a monthly online newsletter that focuses on the industry’s promising and established artists in an effort to open up the art world and give a more personal and relatable approach to artists and their practice.
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Photo Credits: Godown Art Centre
Painted wall next to the entrance to the old Gowdown.
L and McEwan C (2010) ‘Art as social practice: transforming lives using sculpture in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in Uganda’ Cultural Geographies 17, 4, 1-224
Dreaming is often considered an involuntary collection of memories, images and feelings that occur during sleep, and yet to experience a lucid dream is to be aware and in control of these images and memories: to wander, and fantasize while remaining bound to reality. How then can we envision the images, textures and recollections conjured in a lucid dream, and in the case of art and exhibition making, use this principle to strike a balance between formal control and letting the work have its own ambitions.
On the 11th of September 2019, the exhibition Lucid Dreams opened at Circle Art Gallery. The show, which was curated by Don Handa (his debut as a curator) brought together six artists working in drawing, painting, sculpture and video. Ranging from emerging, mid-career to more established artists, the show featured Agnes Waruguru, Lemek Tompoika, Sidney Mang’ong’o, Maliza Kiasuwa, Onyis Martin and Prina Shah.
From the outset, and uncharacteristic of a group show, it appeared that there was no common theme running through the exhibition, and rightly so, as the
curatorial vision presented the work together as an approach, an adventure even, but never any one thing. The challenge then was to resist the instinct to immediately reach for a clear narrative connecting the work, and instead foreground the ways the artists handled the materials and engaged with the process of art making. As a result, the exhibition nudged the audience to approach with curiosity, allowing them to question the journey that brought these artists together, each adhering to meditative, rigorous, and repetitive processes, yet emerging with such varied representations of this labour.
Solos and Duets
In viewing the show, I experienced the work through a lens of solos and duets, an organizing principal applied in Solidary and Solitary: the traveling exhibition of the Joyner/Guiffrida collection. Celebrating the work of individual artists and simultaneously the relation between the work of others: Prina Shah and Lemek Tompoika emerged as solos, Maliza Kaisuwa and Agnes Waruguru harmonized for the first duet, and Onyis Martin and Sidney Mang’ongo pairing for the second.
Prina Shah’s mesmerizing text-based paintings on canvas commanded the gallery’s longest wall. The three large canvases executed in a pallet of black, red and orange used meticulous calligraphy to create concentric forms that radiated outwards while effectively drawing the viewer in. Entrancing in their presence and intricacy, as a viewer, I was moved to try to decipher the text that overlapped in parts, obscuring its legibility prompting a slowed looking. Even more wondrous may be learning that Shah’s process doesn’t involve a stencil or search lines to create the perfectly rounded text forms, instead she begins with a center point and pivots from it in a trance-like state building up the multiple layers.
Working at his grandest scale yet, Lemek Tompoika exhibited three large drawings executed in pastel, graphite and charcoal on paper, alongside three smaller drawings in the same material. Tompoika is better known for his work on newsprint, merging headlines, newspaper text and simplified drawings of the human figure in chalk and pastel. This body of work makes a social commentary on the ways reported news is perceived as fact and yet is a constructed and often biased point of view. In his new series, Parmuain, the faint stylized lines alluding to the limbs of a human figure are further abstracted and obscured by large blocks of predominantly black chalk pastel, with accents of brighter colors, such as reds, blues and orange. The drawings come through as a more introspective exploration, a push and pull of what to hide and what to reveal, and in them, in a more subtle manner, still questioning our perception of the human figure not only through a socio-political lens but a personal one as well.
Most satisfying in their use of materials were the works of Maliza Kiasuwa and Agnes Waruguru that magnified the place of play and experiment in art making. Waruguru showed two abstract paintings on fabric; one presented on a frame, and the other loosely hanging on a bar, with the latter a more successful staging. Working with loose pigment, acrylic, natural and artificial dyes, while also including finer pen work and decorative knitting, Waruguru’s choice of media and painterly sensibilities produced brightly coloured organic marks fusing gentle washes with concentrated beads of color. Maliza Kiasuwa’s in part tightly bound and in other parts free flowing sculptures, transformed the ways we see recognizable materials: polythene mesh, red yarn, rubber, and raffia morphed into soft sculptures suspended in space, free-standing and hanging on the gallery walls.
Also playing well together, and installed side by side were Sidney Mang’ong’o’s Untitled triptych and Onyis Martin’s video work, A place to
remember, A place to make new memories, both produced in 2019. Restricting his pallet to black and white, a departure from work presented in his first solo exhibition in 2018, Sidney Mang’ong’o Untitled tryptch presented a flatter finish with starker edges and more clearly defined shapes while maintaining his signature style characterized by multiple layers of paint and paper creating textured surfaces. Furthermore, the choice to have the work clipped onto the wall instead of framed behind glass allowed viewers to take in the interesting and impressive surface quality underneath the flattened black and white finish. Onyis Martin’s triple channel video work took on the task of interrogating the artist’s personal memories and succeeded in mimicking the fractured and distorted ways memory functions. The video incorporated old family photographs morphing and blending different frames into one another, interrupted in parts by white noise, color bars and blank space.
In this exhibition that privileged the process, ideas and impulses shared by the artists over a particular thematic narrative, the role of programming around the exhibition, in particular, an artist talk was key to fully engage with the work presented. On the 8th of October, five of the six artists showing had an in-conversation with exhibition curator, which brought the show full circle, further interpreting the drawings, paintings, sculptures and video work presented in Lucid Dreams.
Lucid Dreams showed at Circle Art Gallery from the 11th of September to the 11th of October 2019. To view the exhibition catalogue visit the Circle Art Gallery website.
Rosie Olang’ is an arts writer, an artists’ book enthusiast and a Project Assistant at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi. She is still dreaming up connections between literature, visual arts and poetry. You can follow her on instagram @rosie_olang
studying architecture at the Royal Technical College in Nairobi (now University of Nairobi) in the early 1950’s. Experiences that inspired his first novel, The Calabash of Life, published in 1967, written to depict a cultured and poetic precolonial Tiriki traditional community from what scholars regard as ‘the manner of an Anglo-Saxon epic.’ In a manner that misled Hillary Ngweno to regard Asalache as a cultural elite who ‘lives in Britain and contributes little to the literary scene here in Kenya.’
Viewed from a global perspective, this widely travelled Kenyan born British citizen born in 1935 at the Western Kenya town of Kaimosi, embodied the old Swahili saying Kutembea kwingi kuona mengi (to travel a lot is to see many things). Sight here does not imply merely perceptual; sight but a morality akin to public cultured-ness that distinguished Asalache as the first child of a local chief who was educated at the prestigious Mang’u High School, where he attained the name Nathaniel. His erudite love for literature inspired him to read Shakespear’s poetry while herding his family goats in Kaimosi amongst the Tiriki. A matter that influenced his further studies in fine art in Rome, Geneva and Vienna before moving to London in 1960
where he taught Swahili at the Berlitz school before working for the BBC African Service. Having also studied his MPhil in Philosophy of Mathematics at Birkbeck College in the late 1970’s under the supervision of modern aesthetic philosophers Roger Scrotun and Ruby Meager, I could understand his source of inspiration in the aesthetics and poetry of architecture.
Living in London in the late 1960’s, Khadambi Asalache saw himself as immortally bound to a rock (heritage) as the Greek mythical Prometheus whose eternal punishment for cultural transgression, inspired him to expose his ‘captor’s repose,’ bearing the ‘will to crack his flame of vanity.’ As he became a civil servant working at the Treasury, Asalache internalised this ‘shock of being seen’ that Jean-Paul Sartre characterised as an anti-colonial cultural unveiling of negritude. A matter that Asalache further undressed as ‘the shirt covering his soul,’ thereby evoking what he regarded as his awakening from ‘white thoughts,’ in his 1964 poem ‘Metamorphosis. Such ‘nebulous affair’ inspired his ‘new seduction’ of critically interrogating the anatomy of Wole Soyinka’s poetry as he published this most important poem on the eve of Kenya’s attainment of political independence. Here, Asalache poetically unveiled his political claustrophobia for the sprouting neo-colonial ideological favelas that sought to ‘cleanse his heart of worldly corruption.’ This involved his astute critique of Kenya’s Minister, Tom Mboya’s conception of African socialism under the KANU regime’s de facto State nationalism, whose effect he countered by making the poetic claim that ‘From afar mountains are misty.’
Alienated from such political realities and conditions in Kenya - that also alienated Kenyan artists, Asalache also disavowed negritude’s theoretical premise of dialectic historical materialism. In
his 1964 poem Metamorphosis, he revealed, ‘I cannot question anyone’s right to hold on my naked flesh. But I had abandoned myself to the guide of radium explosions in my heart.’ In his search for creative freedom his 1968 poem Conversation with a Suicide also revealed his pessimistic prescription for Kenya’s political claustrophobia conceived within the reality of ethno-nationalism. Where, ‘the mind’s vault is walled like a lake that has frozen round its shore, looks pure.’ According to him, ‘the suicide sits on his own throne, unchallenged in his chair, released from expectations, grounded, away from the main path (in his own time), to stop in a pause frozen pure.’ Where he sang a ‘hermit’s song… like an awkward dancer,’ this avowed cultural suicide’s ‘focus on the feelings’ unveiled his indifference as ‘a legend selling second-hand love coming too late.’
What legacy and influence that Asalache’s cultural practice in exile presents to the historical relationship between Kenya and the United Kingdom is perhaps to me a critical postcolonial contribution within the ossified scholarship of diverse global formations of contemporary African art upon the constantly changing patterns of national heritage. As global and
local tourists continue to admire Khadambi Asalache’s masterpiece, antinomies of his conceptions of ‘home’ will continue to haunt our perception of his poetic architecture within multicultural Britain. Whether one accesses his cultural work as either history or creative heritage of Black Britain, upon which litterateurs consider his ornamented terrace house as one of the ‘writer’s house’ acquired by the National Trust, its magical presence will perhaps eternally impact multicultural policies in the UK.
Asalache’s ornamental decoration from 1986 to 2005 (a year before he died sooner than his plans to officially declare his home finished) is therefore much needed as we are faced by a complex legacy of his diverse antinomies of the idea of ‘home.’ Those, that poignantly impacted his autobiographical lifestory in an inexhaustible manner in Kenya and the UK. His predicament is echoed by Kenya’s first group of post-independent contemporary artists such as former ex-Mau Mau freedom fighters Edward Njenga and Samwel Wanjau, and Western Kenya modern artist John Diang’a who develop artistic narratives evolving from their everyday cultural conceptions of home within problematically emerging neo-colonial tendencies within post-independent Kenya. Khadambi Asalache’s poetic architecture is therefore highly significant in redefining global cosmopolitanism as the 21st century will envision a global post-biennale universalist conceptions of contemporary African art in Africa and its diaspora.
Donald Maingi is a Kenyan scholar. He completed his bachelor and master degrees at Kenyatta University and attained his PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he produced new research titled ‘Constructing and Deconstructing a Nation: The Emergence of Contemporary Kenyan Art (1963-1993).’ Donald is currently transforming his dissertation into a book. He continues to produce new research on Art and Transitional Justice in Kenya. He currently consults at the British, Red Cross.
Nairobi Contemporary Opportunities
1. Light Work Artist-inResidence Program
Each year Light Work invites 12-15 artists to participate in its residency program, including one artist co-sponsored by Autograph ABP and one artist commission for Urban Video Project (UVP). Artists selected for the residency program are invited to live in Syracuse for one month. They receive a $5,000 stipend, an apartment to stay in, a private digital studio, a private darkroom, and 24-hour access to our facility. Participants in the residency program are expected to use their month to pursue their own projects: photographing in the area, scanning or printing for a specific project or book, and so on. Artists are not obligated to lecture at our facility, though we hope that the artists are friendly and accessible to local artists and students. Work by each Artist-in-Residence becomes a part of the Light Work Collection and is published in a special edition of Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual along with an essay commissioned by Light Work.
Location: Syracuse, New York USA
Media: Photography or image-based media
Duration: One month
Website: https://www. lightwork.org/air/ Deadline: 1st July 2020
2. Göppinger Studio Scholarship Helmut Baumann (Baden-Württemberg)
Domain: Fine Arts
Services offered: Project grant , Accommodation and studio, 500 € per month, Duration of scholarship: depending on the project
Eligibility: International artists, no age limit, completed studies at an academy Application deadline: Application possible at any time. On April 15 of each year is when decisions are made.
Application documents:
• Project idea or concrete project
• Max. 1 page Short version of the project idea
• Biography, exhibition directory and bibliography
Address:
Kunsthalle Göppingen Marstallstr. 55
73033 Göppingen Germany
Tel. +49 7161 650-775 / -776
Fax +49 7161-27672
Email: kunsthalle@goeppingen.de
3. Back To Basics - Intensive Residency Program In Finland, Summer 2020
Back to Basics residency program 1 month residencies in July, August and September 2020. Back to Basics program gives artists the opportunity to clear their mind, get back to focus and (re)discover the very basis of their being. Take a break from your smartphone, reconnect with your creativity, be part of nature and learn to stay present again, doing only things you really want to be doing.
Periods: 1 Month
Months: July / August / September 2020
Where: Arteles Creative Centre, Hämeenkyrö, Finland
Derwent, internationally renowned fine art brand, are proud to announce that the fifth installment of the Derwent Art Prize is now open for entries. From the submitted artworks, approximately eighty will be selected for display at Gallery@OXO in central London and in a gallery in 20 rue Saint Claude in Paris, France.
• First Prize £4,000 plus a year’s supply of Derwent products
• Second Prize £2,000
• Young Artist First Prize (For artists under 25 years) £4,000
• Young Artist Second Prize (For artists under 25 years) £2,000
• People’s Choice Award £500
• Entry fee: £15/£5 (concession for artists under 25)
Deadline: 17th February 2020 Website: https://www. derwent-artprize.com/
5. Call For Apprentices
KAB20 - Call for young artists worldwide to participate in the studios that will be offered by 8 artists invited by Librettist Simon Njami
KAB20 is a story of transmission from one generation artist thus it will take on a master/apprentice format to allow the transmission of artistic skill from contemporary art masters to the future generation of artists.
Njami has invited 8 internationally renowned artists to open their studios in Kampala to young artists for a 20 day period.
KAB20 is a studios programme with simultaneous studio workshops that will run from August 1st to 20th, 2020, with an international exhibition that will take place from August 26th to September 30th, 2020, in Kampala, with a catalogue, a symposium and the Education programme. The opening week will run from August 26th to 29th, 2020.
Young artist currently training at an art school or at the beginning of your careers and are proficient in English are encouraged to apply. They should be able to provide their own travel, accommodation and daily expenses for their stay in Kampala. Artists from all over the world are eligible to apply.
Details and application form available on http:// kampalabiennale.org/ callforapprentices2020/
Call Open from 6th January and closes on 28th February 2019
