Monthly Archives: July 2012

Kuona News

Posted by kuonatrustblog on

Hallo Kuona Family,

Last week Kuona had a variety of events. It was a busy and exciting week. We started off with Ntando’s workshop at the space. Later on she had a talk at the Goethe institute on performance arts.

There was an artist presentation by Joel Lukhovi and Amunga Eshuchi who are photographers. They shared with the artists their experiences and work.  Cyrus Kabiru, returned from his week long trip in London. We had missed him very much.

As the week drew to a close, we had two exhibitions by the two international residents. That is Ntando Cele and Mario Macilau. The exhibitions dubbed “Ithumba” and “Living on the edge of the world” Ithumba is a ritual act of last recourse born of extreme anger, frustration, humiliation and failure of prior efforts to resolve a conflict. It is a chain re action of events. The Mozambican photographer Mário Macilau  worked during his artistic residency in one of the biggest dumpsters of Africa in Nairobi, capital of Kenya. His goal was to draw attention to the human failure in preserving the environment. The theater company entertained us as we had a bite right before Ntando’s performance.

Shabu from Wajukuu held a kite Workshop for children at the end of the week.


Renee, our amazing Programs and Marketing manager had a chat with our friend from Wilart. Promises of better things to come.

This week our highlight is a glass workshop by Tonny Mugo. For updates on this please join our Facebook page here. You could also follow us on twitter here. We guarantee a follow back.

Have a wonderful week.

Events in the Art World

Posted by kuonatrustblog on

Pawa254 would like to cordially invite you for Pawa Salon X Master Talk with Professional Photographer Teddy Mitchener on the 26th of July 2012.
Teddy Mitchener is a commercial and fine arts photographer with a varied background in the photography industry, having vast experience plying his trade in the USA, and now within the East African region. He is the founder and C.E.O of House of Fotography a company that combines technical expertise and art to bring you stunning visual imagery. Teddy Mitchener leads his team of highly talented photo and video professionals, who are dedicated to using their creativity to fuse art and science with breath-taking results.

The salon, held at Pawa254 Hub, will start at 4:30pm and run till 7:00pm after which refreshments will be served. Invite a friend, tell three others and plan to attend.

A resident artist at Kuona Trust will have an exhibition on the 29th at the One off Contemporary Gallery.

Time: 11am – 5pm. Don’t miss this.

Kuona News

Posted by kuonatrustblog on

Kuona Trust has been buzzing with activity this past week. Where do we start? We have new caterers at the space. We probably have added a few pounds, thanks to their wonderful cooking. The week begun on a high note, Ntando Cele, a perfomance artist held a workshop with local performance artists. Ntando Cele is an international resident artist based at Kuona for the past two months. Our newsletter is out. It is fun and exciting. to view it, please click here. As the week progressed, Mario Macilau held a day long photography workshop at the space. The week ended with a happy hour that brought HIVOS and Kuona Trust together. Nerema school graced the space with a visit and learnt a little more about art. Ntando Cele, had a talk at the Goethe Institute.View photos of that event here. The turn out was great. She shared her knowledge on performance arts. We had a presentation by Joel Lukhovi and Amunga Eshuchi on photography. Coming up this week, is an exhibition on Friday the 27th of July. You can find more details here.

 

Found in Deptford: An Afternoon with Cyrus Kabiru

Posted by kuonatrustblog on

Cyrus Kabiru is one of the most exciting and innovative artists living and working in Kenya today. Based in Nairobi and part of the Kuona Trust, a centre for visual arts in Kenya, Kabiru is a self-taught artist who works and creates using found and recycled objects. As part of Kabiru’s first visit to the UK this workshop will offer a unique opportunity to explore an artist’s relationship with found objects as the frenetic, heady backdrop of a dynamic and important African city, Nairobi, is replaced by the bustling streets of South London. This workshop is first and foremost a chance to explore the world of found material sculpture within urban spaces. Found in Deptford will be open to all but limited to 15 participants.

//

The workshop will begin in Deptford market, where the artist and resident of V22, Richard Parry will act as guide to one of London’s most vibrant and long standing markets. The market and its surrounding environs will be the site of collection for the objects to be used for the workshop which will take place at V22 in Bermondsey. Each participant, along with Richard and Cyrus will gather things to be used later in the workshop, the process of doing so providing the texture to a dialogue between, place, context and perception. The workshop seeks to explore the ways in which objects and sculpture are part of places, making comment on assumptions and perceptions as through interaction, naming and narration they can be transformed into new forms of social commentary.

//

Kabiru is both a painter and a sculpture and has gained a lot of momentum most recently around his series of eyewear sculptures ‘C-Stunners’. The signature sculptures the Stunners’ are a series of wearable eyewear sculptures made from the detritus of modern life in Nairobi, each with its own specific story. These sculptures create transformational metaphors for the way Africa is perceived by itself and by the outside world and appeal to a wide and varied audience as the work crosses boundaries between art, media and fashion, the artist himself writing about the work as though it were a brand. Recently awarded a TEDGlobal fellowship 2012, Kabiru’s work is due to be exhibited in London at the Fashion Space Gallery in September and to be featured in the Africa issue of Under the Influence Magazine.