Book featuring contemporary Kenyan artists to be launched

Footprint Press Limited will on July 22 launch Visual Voices: The Work of Over 50 Contemporary Artists in Kenya at Zen Gardens. PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • The compiler worked with a panel of art connoisseurs and individuals knowledgeable about the art scene to select the artists.
  • They include the late Tonio Tzerbinski; the young Alex Mbevo; Ugandan Jak Katarikawe; Kenyans Gakunju Kaigwa, Peter Elungat and Michael Soi; and the emerging international Kenyan-born star Michael Armitage.
  • Several other impressive visual artists are also included.

Footprint Press Limited will on July 22 launch Visual Voices: The Work of Selected Contemporary Artists in Kenya at Zen Gardens.

Compiled by Susan Wakhungu, the presentation of the works is a tribute to selected great art in Kenya today, presenting a unique and wide range of ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources undertaken in Kenya since the 1970s. It also features the emerging breadth and depth of artistic expression among a swathe of Kenyan artists or artists living in or influenced by the country.

WORKED WITH ART CONNOISSEURS

The compiler worked with a panel of art connoisseurs and individuals knowledgeable about the art scene to select the artists. They include the late Tonio Tzerbinski; the young Alex Mbevo; Ugandan Jak Katarikawe; Kenyans Gakunju Kaigwa, Peter Elungat and Michael Soi; and the emerging international Kenyan-born star Michael Armitage. Several other impressive visual artists are also included.

On the cover is an image from Anthony Okello’s highly successful Mask Series. The book presents paintings, sculptures, murals, photography, on-site installations, furniture, glassworks and more showcasing over 400 pieces.

The chief guest at the launch will be First Lady Margaret Kenyatta. Also in attendance will be the patron of Footprints Press, former Vice-President Arthur Moody Awori, Sports, Culture and Arts Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario, Environment and Natural Resources Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu and Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore.

Exhibitions and artwork will also be on sale from these galleries: One-Off Contemporary Art Gallery, The Go Down Arts Centre, Circle Art Gallery, Kuona Trust, Banana Hill Art Gallery, Red Hill Art Gallery, Marc van Rampelberg-Rampel Designs, Brush Tu Art Studio, Paa ya Paa Arts & Cultural Centre and The East African Visual Arts Trust (formerly RAMOMA Collection).