A collective approach to teaching art in Nairobi, Kenya.

After my meeting with at ARTLabAFrica with artist Beatrice Wanjiku and David Thuku, I went with  David to check out Kuona Trust which I had heard so much about and where David had a studio space. Set in a green part of town the artists’ studios are housed in long metal sheds/ hangars organized around a central gathering area. Most artists share small studios. Indeed David Thuku shares his space with another artist. I asked him if they got in each other’s way but he said no. They each have their corner. He works mostly from a large table set in the corner of the room.

These are open studios and I found the artists either working away in a variety of mediums – Dennis Muraguri was welding metal for one of his mixed media sculptures – many were painting  or milling around and chatting with each other. It was very informal and congenial. Some had held a studio for close to ten years, others were newcomers. Here artists are mentored, and Kuona Trust provides support, ressources and opportunities to experiment. There are technical workshops taught by senior artists, internships, residencies, and rented studio spaces. Artists sell their work from the studios and often are commissioned work.

Since art and art education sadly were never priorities for the Kenyan government – it was eliminated from the primary schools – and formal art training at the college level only happens at either Kenyatta University or the Buru Buru Institute of art most art teaching happens in workshops. This dates as far back as the 80’s. Kuona Trust is very much a reflection of that collaborative tradition and was instrumental in the development of the model.

Kuona Trust is part of the Triangle Arts Trust, which had been set up by Anthony Caro and Robert Loder in 1982 in England to create networks of artists, visual art organizations and artist led workshops in over 30 countries. It had the mission to  “counterbalance the tendency of the Western art world to put the emphasis on the object and its marketing rather than on the creative process itself.”

“ It was particularly successful in Africa” says Danda Jaroljmek, director of Circle Art Agency. “ It started off in South Africa where there was little connection between black and white artists and then it spread. Artists would go back to their home countries and say: ‘I want to do this as well!’ It was an extraordinary forum, I loved that it was artists doing it. It was not curators or collectors dictating who could get opportunities but it was artists talking to each other.”

Some other workshops worth noting are the Wasanii workshops, which happened during the 1990’s to 2011. In those workshops Kenyan artists would meet artists from around the world. Twenty-five artists – half from the host country half from around the world – would work together for 2 weeks in a remote place. Finally but no less important are the workshops led by the Kuona Trust artists that are held in the local communities where they teach art to the youth.

I liked this feeling of community and exchange. I also like that artists despite the lack of governmental support are out there helping themselves and others and are determined to make art a game changer.

Sadly since I wrote the first draft of this essay things have changed for the worse. Because of budgetary problems and lack of funding Kuona Trust is closing. It is very disappointing news but knowing the resilience and determination of some people in Nairobi I am optimistic that some new platform will take shape.