Feature: Kenyan artists embark on mission to beautify buildings

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NAIROBI June 3 (Xinhua) -- A sizable number of towering buildings in the central business district of the Kenyan capital Nairobi boast exquisite architectural designs and impressive color schemes. Conversely, others stand deprived of radiance.

But now, an ambitious joint movement between artists, curators, policy implementers, and other partners is looking to spruce up the capital walls with exciting murals to reflect on the liveliness and creativity of its inhabitants.

"A good number of buildings within and outside Nairobi's commercial district are dull. They fail to represent the vibrancy of the people who occupy them. It is for this reason that I jumped onto this movement. More importantly, it is an avenue for artists to showcase their craft," Billy Mutu, an artist, who also teaches the discipline, told Xinhua.

Murals are artworks where designs and characters are expressed on a large surface like a wall or road.

The practice of sharing large public art is well established in the country, particularly among the youthful demographic.

Several wall spaces within Nairobi's central business district and the suburbs spot elaborate wall art bearing varying messages.

The project has so far seen the completion of two murals within the city. It is being facilitated by Trust for Ingenious Culture and Health (TICAH) in association with Nairobi City Council, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS), GoDown Arts Centre, and Safer Nairobi Initiative.

The partners are dabbing the movement #ALAAA!, a foreseen verbal surprise response triggered by the beauty of the finished art.

The movement has roped in close to 20 artists, involved from the early developmental stage to when the final stroke hits the wall.

The number is expected to gradually increase as the project advances.

"We have brought on board artists with a wealth of experience in artistic work as well as the ones who are just starting. The idea is to have different generations exchanging ideas and learning from one another," said Eric Manya, Creativity Curator at TICAH.

According to Mutu, the themes of the paintings will be guided by their relevance to the community who will ultimately become the rightful custodians.

"The second mural which we executed right across a busy market was intended to honor the large volume of women who sell fresh produce within the facility. We aspire to execute arts which are in touch with the community members," said Mutu.

The movement envisages silencing the stubborn stereotype associated with street art, which has for long come across as an illegal act done in the cover of darkness by outlaws.

"We hope the success of the project will influence a change in perception towards public art. We have approval papers from the authorities that in itself solidifies the legitimacy of murals," said Suzanne Wambua, art director, TICAH.

The feedback from both the artists and the public has been encouraging, according to Wambua, evidence that their efforts are not futile.

"We have been receiving text messages from artists and ordinary Kenyans attesting to the joy elicited by the paintings," said Wambua.

Kenya's Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage in 2020 during the peak months of COVID-19 called for art submissions from vulnerable visual artists for consideration to undertake a 3-month project of sensitizing the public about the pandemic.

The move was seen as reinforcing the government's commitment to provide social protection interventions to vulnerable youth groups and support the growth of the creative industry.

TICAH has been providing painting paraphernalia, coordinating logistics with artists, and mapping out suitable sites for the murals.

They are now asking for more partners to come on board and scale up the movement even further which will subsequently raise monetary incentives for the artists.

Their ultimate goal is to put Nairobi on the map as a destination for rich murals.

Thus, they are urging movie producers and music directors to seize the beauty afforded by the murals for their videos.

Wanjiru Mwangi who uses buttons to achieve intriguing designs said she is happy to be part of the movement as she is set to explore a venture outside her experience.

"This is a good opportunity for me to focus on a different form of art, I am happy and ready to learn," said Mwangi.

Although presented with a few challenges, the artists are of the view that the mishaps are part of the process of creating art, making it worthwhile. Enditem

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