Kenya

 _{In Prison Sex II Ato Malinda is at war, infact she is fighting two wars - the first is for better treatment of women; the second is selling a “new” art form to mesmerized audiences whom she says are simultaneously “confused and receptive.” Her message is a powerful one – and you have to contend with performance arts’ magisterial force – to appreciate that its elevations and condemnations are like final judgment. Writer David Kaiza finds out that perfomance arts have the capacity to burrow underneath and to speak to the soul. Read his report here}

_{80 x100 cm}

_{Weight acceptance Ride the claws (Drosie and me series) II 120 x 160 cm}

 Investment Opportunity….

_{Sale of the highly prestigious and acclaimed art of Richard Onyango}

_{Direct Inquiries to ed.r.cross@gmail.com or go to www.africanworks.co.uk}

_{Sale of works duly Authorised by the artist himself.}

_{Click here to see more images of works on offer}

<sub>A Workman applies the final touches to the new Kuona studios in Nairobi, Kenya

Kenyan based arts organisation Kuona Trust is still taking applications for their new artist studios in Nairobi. Artist are encouraged to apply for 6 shared studios (4m x4m) whose rent will be approximately Ksh 6000 per studio or 60 Euros per month for Kenyan citizens and a little more for residents. Supporters of the the arts in Kenya are encouraged to sponsor an artist at the new facility for a yearly fee. Visit Kuona Trust to see the space or click here to see images. Applications can be sent to ^{programmes@kuonatrust.org}</sub>

_{Bird of Peace By Elkana Ongesa}

_{Famed Contemporary African artist Elkana Ongesa  has been working  on a 3 ton sculpture in memory of his friends and mentors Joe and Sheila Murumbi in Nairobi's City Park for the last year and a half. The sculpture is now complete and was unveiled in a colourful ceremony in February by the Americann Ambassador to Kenya. The sculpture, commisioned by the Murumbi trust, whose aim is to keep the memory of Africa's heritage greatest collectors alive. Click here for more images of this magnificent work of art.}

_{All images by Andrew Njoroge/AfricanColours.net}

<sup>Glass Blowing

Kitengela Glass Research and Training Trust is inviting women artists to participate in a 10 day workshop of creating art at their glass studios from 14th to 23rd June 2009. This is the 4th women bush glass workshop to be held in Kitengela glass. Depending on the outcome of the workshop an exhibition or a sculpture will be unveiled at Kitengela glass. The Kitengela studios are located on Maasai land – Kitengela Plains adjacent to the Nairobi National Park which is an hour’s drive from Nairobi. Other available studios include stained glass, Dalle de verre, bead hut, metal workshop and pottery studio. Click here to read more.</sup>

^{The Changamoto Arts Fund believes that creativity and the arts are essential to the richness of people’s lives, to positive social change and development. The fund’s  aim is to help Kenyan  artists create new work and build new audiences through innovative, ,transforming and empowering means. Changamoto provides seed money in grant form for new arts projects that take into account not only the creation of new  high standard work, but also work that can engage new local audiences in dynamic and innovative ways. Grants may be requested by local groups or individuals. Click here for more information.}

_{Waiting by Patrick Mukabi}

^{Splashing hard-earned money on a piece of canvas or a sculpture depicting threatened traditional practices and hoping to get a scoop of returns— years later? This might sound strange, eccentric, but investors are turning to this as a form of investment. Scholars are researching on trends in art investments. There are colleges already established to coach investment experts to serve this emerging opportunity especially in the US, UK, India and other more sophisticated art markets. One Kenyan bank, the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) — has been collecting art as an investment—may be in a slightly different way, but still as an investment. Read more here from The Business Daily Africa.}

<sub>The April fools prank that the Nation Newspaper published on the 1st of April 2009

The Kenyan Daily Newspaper, The Nation carried an April Fools prank that we shared with our readers and subscribers. Kudos to the writer of the story which had many of you responding to our question " what should be done with the painting?" Timothy Brooke an artist based in Kenya said " Given the fragile economy in this country ( Kenya) and the general lack of appreciation of good artworks, I would advise that it is sold and the proceeds are invested in education." Professor Elias Jengo from the University of Dar es Salaam suggested that the painting should be safe in State House and if not then the painting should be housed in the National Museum of Kenya. Click here to read what our subscribers & readers thought should be done with the "multi billion shillings masterpiece"</sub>

^{The Lola Kenya Screen audiovisual media initiative for children and youth in Eastern Africa is calling for film entries in all genres, lengths, and formats from all over the world for the 4th Lola Kenya Screen scheduled for August 10-15, 2009. Eligible films are those made by children and youth. Entries made by professionals, amateurs, youth, and children that focus on children, youth and family are also accepted. Film submission details, entry form and regulations are online. Click here on application procedure.}

Kaya couple by Ed Cross

_{Ed Cross’s work celebrates inherent beauty in objects that are considered valueless by many and sometimes “taken for granted” by those whose culture they come from. It is also a celebration of the beauty of nature uninterrupted by man, as in the often exquisite forms that the actions of the sea and sand, the Toledo beetle and later termites create on the abandoned boats that Cross works with. At the base of Cross’s work is a reverence for renewal of self – the necessity of “recycling” the elements of ones life in a life affirming “hand made”  way rather than trying to obtain ready made solutions. Read more about the artist}

^{Kenya is one of the principle producers of art on the African continent and Nairobi has more than its fair share of iconic names in the business. Some of the more important debates about the meaning and nature of “African Art” have taken place in the country. We only have to think of names like Jak Katarikawe or Kioko Mwitiki or Gallery Watatu. There’s wealth, but there’s critical engagement too, and the GalleryWalk provides a communal interface with this heritage. This year’s walk will takes a tour through three principle galleries and studios, Marula Studios, Kazuri Beads and Pimbi Gallery.  Click here to read more.}

<sub>Artist Otieno Kota
Photo: Andrew Njoroge/AfricanColours.net

Not since Stalin, Lenin, Mao and – yes, Hitler – has a politician been depicted in art this much. The images created of Obama number in the millions. But is it still acceptable when an art student in Chicago represents the new US president as Jesus Christ or the Buddha? And is it proper that the Khanga (traditional East African wrapper) printers raise the price of their wares by more than 100% selling the image of a man who stands for humility? We may be just at the beginning of a veneration that may well outlast our generation, writes David Kaiza/AfricanColours</sub>

^{Maasai Mbili Art Center (M2) is a community art group from Kibera initiated in 2001. The group works from a studio situated along Kibera Drive and has used the premises for community outreach projects, working with children as well as women in Kibera workshops where fine arts and culture in general, are turned into effective tools for community cooperation. Today Maasai Mbili faces a crucial challenge. The plot where the center works is for sale and needs urgent funds to purchase the plot and secure its future for the Community. The exhibition at Le’ Rustique aims at raising money to help the center carry on its very important work in Kibera. The exhibition opens on Friday 12th Dec at Le’ Rustique Restaurant, General Mathenge drive, Westlands from 6-9pm and continues through to the 15th Jan 2009.}

The grass is singing by Timothy Brooke

_{At a certain hour late in the afternoon, during some seasons when the sky is clear, you notice it in the clouds and with colour red, it is unavoidable: As an outsider seeing it the first time, the clarity of light in these high places of Kenya – including Nairobi – can be overwhelming. Red becomes redder than you have ever seen it. Yellows, oranges and blues radiate with such force that it is like teargas in the eyes.  “We normally have very good light in this world,” says veteran Kenyan painter, Timothy Brooke. “Best light in the world.”}

_{Read more here by David Kaiza}

^{Untitled by Peter Ngugi}

^{The University of Kentucky Department of Art has invited to campus for the eighth year an emerging Kenyan artist through the UK Kenyan Artist-in-Residence program funded by the Ruth Hunt Wood Foundation Inc. Peter Ngugi, one of Kenya's talented young artists, will present a solo exhibition of his work and deliver a public lecture on his art this November as part of the program. "Images from Kenya: New Work by Peter Ngugi" opens Nov. 20, at the Tuska Center for Contemporary Art. Read more here from University of Kentucky news.}

Nairobi, Kenya 5th November 2008 

_{The America flag hangs on a wall in the Nairobi suburb of Westlands moments after Barack Hussein Obama was declared President elect of The United State of America.}

_{Photographs by Andrew Njoroge/AfricanColours.net}

_{Click here for more images}

^{Bird of Peace - Elkana Ongesa}

^{Thinker by Fred Ajode}

^{Are you confident that your artwork can be exhibited in a Prominent Art Gallery? The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) invites artists to submit exhibition proposals for an opportunity to exhibit their own work in NMK's new refurbished Gallery space in Nairobi, Kenya. Application from artists working on paintings, sculptures, photography, multimedia, prints, etches, fashion design and drawings are all welcome. For further information contact psenewa@museums.or.ke or write to the National Museums of Kenya P.O Box 40658-00100 Nairobi, Kenya. Or call the curator's office +254 20 3742131- 4 ext 2266.}

^{Bull Fight by Peterson Kamwathi}

^{Two important cultural institutions, the National Museums of Kenya Gallery and the Rahimtulla Museum of Modern Art have reopened in the past few months with little pomp, circumstance or media attention. But it seems that serious discussion on the arts has been overtaken by politics to such an extent that no provision for it had been made in the last budget, a short-sighted calculation since. If wisely handled, the arts can make big money. Yet contemporary art in Kenya has been flourishing in the past few years in spite of government indifference. Read more here by Betty Caplan}

^{‘This is a continuation of a stage in our career were we are experimenting with different ideologies, techniques and approaches towards examining and portraying the different levels and stages of love that are expressed by people’. These are the sentiments of two artists Sam Kimemia and John Ngugi whose works are a rich blend of colour and portrayal of real life experience. Both artists are challenged by the thought of digging deep into their creative reservoirs in order to come up with art works that would tell their stories in different ways. Click here to view their most recent works of art.}

^{Applications are now invited for the AfricanColours 2008 Critical Writer's Workshop as part of its partnership with the DOEN and HIVOS Foundations. AfricanColours is calling for applications from professional writers and journalists interested in attending an intensive training workshop on critical writing about the visual arts. The workshops will be held in Nairobi, Kenya and are scheduled to start on the last week of September,2008. Read more on application requirements.}

_{^{Is there room for the creative arts in Vision 2030, Kenya’s blueprint to becoming a middle-income country within two decades? This is a question that was recently raised by a number of people on a writers’ group. The question was prompted by the fact that while the recently re-launched Vision 2030 focuses on areas such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and financial services, there is no mention of the role of the arts in promoting economic development. Read more here by Rasnah Warah}}

Advertisers Announcement
The 2008 Ceramic Art Symposium

_{The Conference Organizing Committee for ISCAEE 2008 invites you to participate in the 2008 International Society for Ceramics Art Education and Exchange Symposium (ISCAEE) to be hosted by the Department of Fine Art, Kenyatta University, Nairobi Kenya in conjunction with The National Museums' of Kenya from 28th July to 17th August 2008.}

_{Magdalene Odundo Africa’s most recognised Ceramist will be attending the symposium as a guest speaker.}

_{Deadline for registration is 15th July 2008. To register for the symposium click here.}

_{Why would conciliatory comradeship between two continental European countries have an impact on culture thousands of miles away? Two years ago, such an alliance led to a juried competition and exhibition to showcase the best in Kenyan contemporary art, a pinnacle of the contemporary art in Kenya 2006 project (CAK 2006) http://kenya.africancolours.net/content/8252.}

_{Now, a multimedia cd rom cataloguing the 2006 exhibition has finally been made available and artists selected for the original event showed their recent works at the Goethe Institut and alliance Française, Nairobi, between 24 April and 9 may 2008.}

_{Click here to read more about the 2008 Contemporary art in Kenya Exhibition}

^{Lola Kenya Screen, the annual international audiovisual media platform-festival, production workshop and market-for children and youth in eastern Africa held in Nairobi every second week of August, has changed its festival dates from August 4-9, 2008 to August 11-16, 2008. This has been necessitated by an unscheduled change in the holiday calendar of public schools in Kenya. This change is inevitable since our primary target audience are holidaying school-going youth. Read more}

^{The International Council of African Museums (AFRICOM), a membership based international NGO for heritage professionals and stakeholders, invites qualified candidates to send applications for the position of Executive Director at its secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya. Please note that the deadline for the applications has been changed to 23rd june 2008. Click here to read the announcement as well as other positions on the AFRICOM website.}

^{Larissa was born in 1981 in Nairobi, Kenya and has spent most of her life in the capital. Her works focus on life in Kenya. She depicts her subjects with the simplicity and realism of what the subjects portray. Larissa is a former student of Fine Arts at the University of Gloucestershire in England. She has experience in working at the Grant Bradley Gallery, UK where she has co-curated several exhibitions including ‘Platforms 2006’ in which she also exhibited. Her most recent exhibition was called 'The way we like it'. Click here to see her virtual exhibition.}

^{With only a few days to go before the unveiling of the 'Bird of Peace', Kenyan artist Elkana Ongesa is working on the finishing touches to the 3 ton sculpture before its made public mid May 2008. AfricanColours gives you a glimpse of the work in progress. Click here to view images.}

^{The Training Centre in Communication (TCC) the Foreign Correspondent Association (FCA), Alliance Francaise and the Kenya Red Cross Society have come up with a photo exhibition in aid to the plight of the internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country. In Kenya, we are in a period of healing, the photographs depicted should showcase the reality of the life of the IDPs, the humanitarian activities carried out by the Kenya Red Cross Society ongoing repatriation and resettlement efforts for the IDPs back to their homes and peace building and reconciliation initiatives that have been going on. Read more.}

^{AfricanColours.net is currently seeking students or other interested parties to fill internship and volunteer positions. We need 2 onsite interns in the Nairobi area who are able to commit to 20 hours per week and 2 to 3 interns to work online from anywhere in the world. We are also actively accepting volunteer professionals help from individuals interested in helping AfricanColours.net move to the next level. Click here for more details.}

^{Samuel Githui started drawing at an early age of 6 years 25 years ago and later after completing his High School education; he studied at Creative Arts Center to polish his drawing and painting. This led him to work as a Freelance Graphic Designer for adverting agencies for two years. In 1998 he decided to paint fulltime. He regularly takes part in the workshop and exhibitions organized by the Ramona Gallery and the Kuona Trust at the Nairobi National Museum. Click here to see a virtual exhibition of Samuel's works.}

_{On a remote corner of Nairobi’s City Park you will find the burial place of a great collector and promoter of Contemporary African art. A hundred metres from the grave site, Artist Elkana Ong’esa is working to complete a three tonne sculpture in memory a mentor and a friend, Joseph Murumbi. Kenya's first foreign minister, whose wish was to have one of Elkana's magnificient sculptures at his final resting place. Click here to read and view images}

^{It’s true that a bird at hand is better than two in the bush. But we at AfricanColours thought that keeping the bird at hand and going out to get the other two in the bush is an even better way of experiencing life! So keeping with a tradition that we started in 2006, we rolled out the first GalleryWalk for the year 2008 – an art and nature affair to be experienced by lovers of art and nature this past Saturday, 5th April. Click here for a slideshow of the events and the guests' comments.}

^{Jimmy Ogonga is a pariah on the Kenyan art scene. So he says of himself. But it is easy to see how this would be at the end of my interview with him: His enthusiasm for what he does, his lack of patience for anything he sees as mediocre, and his unrelenting belief in himself and what he does - a trait he is well aware that his contemporaries and the main players on the Kenyan art market interpret as arrogant. Read Jimmy's interview on his take of the just concluded Johannesburg Art Fair of which he was a participant.}

^{Urban Wasanii international artist's workshop is a way to interrogate and interact with local urban dwellers and urban public space in the Kenyan city of Mombasa. The interaction in public spaces will contribute to a positive atmosphere and invite people to participate, to create or to congregate on the chosen spaces which the artist chooses. Kouna Trust invites artists to participate in this event coming up in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa. Read more.}

_{The AfricanColours GalleryWalk is planned for the 5th of April 2008! This time the participants have the opportunity to discover the new RaMoMa gallery then bus out to the Kitengela plains to visit Nani Croze of the world famous Kitengela glass studios. Jimnah Kimani of the famed Java Coffee house paintings also in Kitengela will open his new studio doors especially for the GalleryWalk participants. Click here to read more and register.}

^{Art works done by 20 Kenyans living positively with HIV/Aids have been selected for a private showing at the Brunei Gallery in the Oriental and African studies section, at the University of London. The exhibition, dubbed ‘Our Positive Bodies’, will run from 17 April to 21 June 2008. “There will be 35 life size works on display at the exhibition, says Xavier Verhoest, who is one of the two facilitators of ‘Body map’ workshops and a curator of the upcoming exhibition... Read more about The Body Maps exhibition.}

^{If I were to pick one word to describe Justus Kyalo’s work, it would have to be this: Grand. His paintings are grand – that is huge in comparison to most other paintings to be found in Nairobi’s art galleries, coffee shops and restaurants, which have become a popular alternative for artists to display their work. At his ongoing exhibition at the Mai-Loan restaurant on James Gichuru road, Nairobi. His choice of a title-name for his paintings is something to marvel about. Read more about the exhibition.}

^{It was 2005 and Kenya was gearing up for the 2007 General Elections. Men and women stood in long queues to register for what became the most volatile and hotly contested presidential race in Kenya’s history. Today, the dust and fury raised from the race is yet to settle. Perhaps in retrospect of where it all began, AfricanColours hosts an online exhibition of Peterson Kamwathi’s ‘Faces’- a collection of paintings Kamwathi did in 2005 of men and women queuing up to be registered as voters. View the exhibition.}

^{In a camp for the internally displaced people in Kenya, counsellors gave drawing materials to a group of children who came up with images that seemed express pain and rejection. According to one counsellor, many of the children could not find words to express their feelings and art became a very effective medium. This should provide a lesson to the country to appreciate the role of the arts as a tool that can be used to pre-empt the ills that could trigger conflicts in the future. Read More from AllAfrica}

^{I sit here in my art studio trying to find a way to focus on my work. But instead, the chaos going on in my country Kenya leaves me deeply saddened and hopeless. And the situation gets worse. Never did I imagine that in my lifetime or ever - my home country would go through something like this. I was born and raised in a remote village in central Kenya. People here were from different tribes and had lived in peace with each other- until now. Read more from Wawi Amasha}

^{An innovative project to celebrate Kenyan success has taken on a new relevance and urgency in the light of continuing troubles caused by the 2007 disputed elections. GenerationKenya 45, which will document outstanding contributions by a nominated selection of Kenyans, will ensure it takes into account the needs of national healing and reconciliation necessary to resolve the current crisis. “Leadership and expertise is something we Kenyans need to think deeply and seriously about,” said Project Director Dr Wambui Mwangi, who conceived the project with fine art photographer Jerry Riley. “Never before has it seemed so urgent to document a Kenya we can be proud of: A Kenya of hope; A Kenya of achievement,” she added. Read more about it.}

^{Some of Nairobi’s most respected artists came together at an art exhibition in an initiative to raise funds for the thousands of internally displaced people throughout Kenya. The exhibition which officially opened at the Village Market shopping centre on the night of 24th January will run for a week until 3rd February. The show’s curator (and an exhibitor as well) Xavier Verhoest, said that he invited selected artists to give some of their best works. Read more.} 

^{On December 12 2007, the Nairobi National Museum  authorised the painting over of a mural on one of its buildings, arguing that it needed to give all its buildings uniformity and paint them in its corporate colours. But that was done without any consideration of the value – artist value – of the mural nor was there any consultation with the various artists who had participated in painting the mural.}

^{So the question remains, what makes art art? What role does that art play in shaping a people’s culture and society? Also important to ask is: 'Did the Nairobi National museum negate its purpose and function by destroying the very kind of work it is supposed to protect? What’s should be of greater value, the form (of a museum) or the function? And should art only be tucked away in museums or should it be something that is accessible to all – regardless of their social standing and interpretation of the art? Read more and please send us your views and opinion on this important subject.}

^{Related article : Row over painting} 

^{Lola Kenya Screen, an annual international film festival, production workshop and market for children and youth in eastern Africa, is looking for children and youth living in Nairobi and its environs, and who are  knowledgeable, opinionated and interested in film, journalism, and cultural events’ presentation to serve on her four programmes during the 3rd Lola Kenya Screen (August 4-9, 2008). Read more about the 3rd Lola Kenya screen.}

_{On 12th december 2007, ( Kenya's Independence day) art enthusiasts in Nairobi received some hard news to digest. The grand mural that adorned the Africom offices exterior wall had been painted over. A commitee of senior Museum managers} 

_{decided that "The painting of the mural in the building which houses AFRICOM was debated on by the management and it was decided that as part of our redecoration and redesigning of the face of the Museums, we needed to have a corporate identity." The mural, funded by AfricanColours.net was an important collaboration between an important cultural institution, a pan African Heritage organisation (AFRICOM) and some of Kenya’s upcoming contemporary artists. The Nairobi National Museum is an institution that promotes culture, and therefore creativity, as well as conservation. The painting over of this important artwork goes against everything the Museum stands for! We highly condem this unjustified and unthoughtful action. The time and creativity that was dedicated by the artists to produce a precious gift for the citizens of Nairobi has gone to waste.}

_{Please click here to read Binyavanga Wainaina"s opinion published in The East African Newspaper}

^{The Kenya Copyright Board has accepted to fully sponsor a one day workshop for published visual artists (photographers, illustrators/cartoonists and graphic designers) which will be held on December 6, 2007 at Shimba Hills Room, Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC), Nairobi – Kenya between 0900 to 1700 hours. The theme will be ‘Provide an opportunity for the rights holders within the visual arts sector to learn more about legal and institutional framework for the protection, management and enforcement of their rights. ‘. Read more.}

^{LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 14, 2007) − The University of Kentucky Department of Art has invited to campus for the seventh year a leading Kenyan artist through the UK Kenyan Artist-in-Residence program funded by the Ruth Hunt Wood Foundation Inc. Patrick Mukabi, one of Kenya's most talented artists, will present a solo exhibition of his work and deliver a public lecture on his art this week. "Patrick Mukabi: Kenyan Artist in Residence" opens Nov. 15, at the Tuska Center for Contemporary Art. Read more from Whitney Hale.}

^{The Nairobi-based Lola Kenya Screen, an international audiovisual media festival, production workshop and market exclusively designed for children and youth held every August, will now host Kids for Kids Africa, an initiative of CIFEJ that identifies awards and showcases films made by children for children across the world. Among other things, Lola Kenya Screen will look for films made by children across Africa, have them judged by children and then submit them to CIFEJ to be presented and judged at the Kids for Kids International festival.}

^{After a great success last year, the FCA (Foreign Correspondents Association of East Africa) is holding its second photo exhibition, set for early next year. Those interested in having their photos displayed and then auctioned for charity can send a maximum of five low-resolution shots from anywhere in Africa to fcaphotos@gmail.com by no later than November 16. A jury will make the selection and notify participants. Everyone is encouraged to participate, Photos are not limited to any time frame. Read more from FCAEA.}

^{"I am born of a people who are heroes and heroines... Patient because history is on their side, these masses do not despair because today the weather is bad. Nor do they turn triumphalist when, tomorrow, the sun shines... Whatever the circumstances they have lived through and because of that experience, they are determined to define for themselves who they are and who they should be" Read more from Bertha Kang'ong'oi}

^{The third African Heritage day to benefit friends of the Nairobi National Park and the big cats resident in the park and to announce KWS plans to open a new gate to the Nairobi National Park at the old Marimbeti Train station on Mombasa road will be held on October 6th, 2007 at the African Heritage House, Athi Plains from 8:30p.m. For more information on this event, click here}

_{Nobel Laureate Professor Wangari Maathai was the chief guest at the opening of Kibacia Gatu’s LIFE & FAITH exhibition which is showing at the Paa ya Paa Gallery in Nairobi. “Kibacia stands out in the contemporary art scene in Nairobi as a leader beckoning the prodigal sons and daughters who lost faith in Africa to return home, to look at themselves, their families,... Read more}

^{_{AfricanColours is organizing their third Gallery Walk scheduled for the 29th September 2007. This is our 2nd Gallery Walk for the year 2007. We plan to make it an entertaining bigger and better event for all our participants. Our last Gallery Walk was held in April. Our Participants who comprised of artists, art enthusiasts, students, long term and newly arrived residents/ expatriates joined us in what turned to be an exciting day. The tour was co-hosted by popular Kenyan artists Mary Ogembo and Thom Ogonga, both artists based in Nairobi. For more information how to participate in this fun day click here}}

_{Israeli films made away with the two main awards at the closing ceremony of the second Lola Kenya Screen as Eastern Africa's only film festival for children and youth experienced a 7.5% growth in attendance. The ceremony was presided over by Kenya's Director of Culture Silverse Anami and child rights activist Catherine Mumma at Goethe-Institut in Nairobi.}

_{Winning the Creativity Award was ‘LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS’ by Samora Michelle}

_{…Read more}

_{An African Harmony,  a show supported by www.africancolours.net brought together a rich, intense blend of colour and texture with themes reflecting each artist’s fantasy and reality. Carol and Yassir paintings are all about colour and passion. The preferred theme for this show was colour, a reflection of the depth and experiences associated by many things African, from Carol Mbirua’s Maasai and landscape themes to Yassir Ali’s untitled themes inspired by his Nubian culture. Read more}

_{The master carvers of a Kenyan village were eking out a living from soapstone statues. Then somebody had a bright idea: why not make them the official suppliers of Simpsons merchandise. That is what Enosh Onsombi, in his remote village in western Kenya has been busy doing. Growing up without electricity, let alone a television, there's no doubting he's now a true believer of fate. "Life has changed so much," the 45-year-old says, beaming. Read more by Steve Bloomfield/ The Independent}

_{From first class globe trotting to selling empty beer cans to sleeping in the streets, staying in a refugee camp & being a security guard at a petrol station hardly sounds like the path taken by a man who would be described as Africa’s Van Gogh. But that is the path that Kenyan born artist Anthony Mutheki Wakaba, 33, has taken to become the celebrated artist he is today. Read more here by Anthony Kaminju}

_{A farmer's spirit with an artist's hands, Alex Mbugua was a sculptor and painter who graduated in graphics & textile designs. He participated in many workshops and cultural exchanges. In one of those, he created his first sculpture which was entitled "Two in One". AfricanColours profiled Alex in what would be his final interview before he passed away on 14th Nov 2006 after a short illness. "I was born with a gift. I come from a family of artists" Alex Mbugua (1958-2006)}

_{Read more}