Conforming Art To Contemporary Times

Kenya Mon 15-01-2007

Conforming Art To Contemporary Times
By Wangari Mungai

“Forget about art galleries and exhibitions,” says Kwame Nyong’o, an upcoming illustration artist, animator, storyboard teller artist and character designer – all rolled into one.

“Artists today have to do more leg work of meeting their clients, being more aggressive, not just about marketing themselves, but more importantly how they market themselves” says Kwame.

The statement is not only a strong conviction that has now been an influence in the way Kwame draws, paints and does all his work, but it also is his word of advice and encouragement to other local artists.

“The only effective way of getting around as an artist is in taking the initiative and thinking outside the box of what everyone else has done for so long”

Given the status quo of the art scene in Kenya, - with most artists complaining that it is impossible to live on art in this country -Kwame’s words could not have come at a better time.

“It is about time that we as artists got some business sense to complement our talents,” he said. ‘Whatever kind of art we do, we have to find some mass market for it or otherwise not make any money from art at all”.

And true to his word, Kwame leads the way by example, and has taken the initiative on many fronts. In his latest project, he has put his talent in illustration art and written a children’s book: A Very Tasty Maandazi. This is a first for him, where in the past he has only illustrated other people’s work, in A Very Tasty Maandazi, he has both written and done the illustrations.

“I had always thought of writing a children’s book some day. I actually got started at some point, but could not publish and so I shelved the idea,” says Kwame in a recent interview. “Although writing a children’s book is not as simple as most people would imagine or as I had imagined, but it helps to know that my effort, put together here in a book, is duplicated and circulated more than any one piece would have done. It is mass producing the art and conforming it to contemporary life”

Kwame feels that artists need to look at the different ways in which they can make money from the same piece of art. “As artists we can still grow in what we do, using out intellect. And I guess it is better to grow in this way than to have to change careers altogether”.

But not all artists share in Kwame’s sentiments wholly. Take for instance Nancy Mwaura, a painter and a sculptor. She has been painting since her childhood and took a course in sculpting at the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts much later in life. But Nancy is also a full time civil servant.

“I was first inspired to draw and to paint at a very young age. This is not something that I have just picked up. And having been on Kenya’s art scene for quite some time now and I can say for sure that art more often than not does not pay well,” she says.

But it’s the reasons for not being able to make it in the art world that vary.

“One of the greatest hindrances to making money from art here is the audience that we create for. Most people here only appreciate realism art – as opposed to abstract art. If I can make a sculpture of an image that only exists in my mind, then I will definitely have a hard time trying to sell it to anyone who would not know what to do with it let alone know what it is.

But the artists – who for instance – make pots, and then paint those paints, are better placed to excel and see the fruits of their work. Its simply because someone buying the pot will have a number of options in its uses, and its aesthetic beauty, the painting on it only makes it more valuable to the buyer”.

This argument lends itself to the question of whether an artist should create for money or create art for art’s sake.
“If you have to solely depend on art, then at some point you will be forced to compromise what you really want to do with what can sell,” argues Nancy.

“I am a victim of this myself. I have made so many sculptures that I have not bee able to see. I have ended up taking them home but now, since they are from a part inside of me, I have become so attached to them that I wouldn’t even sell them. I guess every artist goes through this kind of dilemma”

‘Nancy agrees with Kwame that artists do need to get aggressive about marketing their work – whether it is functional art, as she puts it, or not.

A Very Tasty Maandazi is the story of a rural boy, Masu, who draws quick portraits of his villagers to make some money to buy maandazi. “This in some way is my story. I used to draw pictures of my classmates in school and did quick sketches of people while in university and made some money out of it!”

Kwame lived in both Kenya and the United States while growing up, getting the benefit of cross-cultural study. In his book, he wanted to present rural Kenya to the rest of the world’s children, especially the US where the book is also being marketed.

“Doing a children’s book is not as easy as it may seem because you have to say what you want to say in fewer words and be precise at the same time. The writing bit was the most challenging to me but I pulled it off eventually after working on the text and the illustrations for some six months.

I think that kids are a good market and good critics too. If they do not like something, there is no much hiding that fact!”

The 34-year old Kwame holds arts degrees from Haverford College and the Academy of Art University in the USA. While in the USA he interned in the art department of Industrial Light and Magic, as well as networked with other heavyweights in the animation industry, greatly inspiring and broadening his knowledge base. And this is just the beginning for Kwame.

He hopes to create a series to the storybook of about six books. In doing this, he will not only be telling the story of the rural African boy but of his way of life as well. And as the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka said in his last visit to Kenya late last year, “Art is a form of social commentary, telling not only of how a society lives but also about how it dies”

Kwame is one making such a commentary.

Posted By: African Colours

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