This story was sliced in half in Business Daily, so I've inserted my story in full below.
Artist who followed lonely path counts his gains
Pascal Chuma and a piece of art. Photo/Marta O
By MARGARETTA WA GACHERU
Posted Thursday, May 3 2012 at 19:08
Posted Thursday, May 3 2012 at 19:08
Pascal Chuma made the radical choice not to follow
the majority of his classmates when they completed their art course at
Buru Buru Institute of Fine Art (Bifa) in 2000.
“They didn’t believe they could survive as artists in Kenya
at this point in time, so they became graphic artists,” said the founder
of Bobea Art Centre in Donholm Estate.
Conceding that financially it hasn’t been easy sticking with painting.
But once he won an award late last year during the
‘Kenyans for Kenya’ campaign organised by the Village Market to raise
funds for hunger-stricken Kenyans who were victims of the drought in the
Northeast, the prospects for doing well as a visual artist in Kenya
improved significantly.
“My painting was the highest seller at the art
auction run by Village Market’s managing director Hamed Ehsani to raise
funds for the drought victims. It went for KSh260,000,” said Chuma.
The artist doesn’t know who bought the painting entitled “My Dream will never die” since Village Market ran a ‘silent auction’ where anyone interested in an artwork wrote down a figure and then, people waited to see whose bid was highest.
The buyer chose to remain anonymous, but others present at the auction subsequently got in touch with Chuma.
“Village Market gave me my first
exhibition the following December last year. People from Braeburn School also
came and invited me to exhibit at their Coffee House in Lavington since they
appreciated what I do,” said the artist cum art teacher who started Bobea Art
Centre in Kayole back in 2007 to nurture artistic talent among disadvantaged
youth who can’t afford school fees to study the arts.
“After that I also got a booking
for Bobea artists at Osteria restaurant in Karen in April, although that had to
be postponed until this coming June,” said Chuma who was speaking to Business
Daily at the Village Market where he and his art students are currently
exhibiting through May 7th in the Exhibition Hall.
There were initially five artists
who started the Bobea Art Centre, three of whom were graduates of BIFA: David
Thuku, Sophie Wasonga and Chuma; but both Thuku and Wasonga dropped out of the
centre once they got jobs. So did self-taught founder member Walter Lubisia.
It’s only Isabellah Nyanchoka, one
of Chuma’s former art students, who remains with Bobea. But others have joined
the centre, including four of the five other artists exhibiting with Chuma at
Village Market right now.
They are Isabellah, Mundia Asena,
Alfred Mwaengo and Sarah Kaloki. The fifth is sculptor Kepha Mosoti who is
based at Kuona Trust.
In fact, Bobea has grown since
they made the shift from Kayole to Donholm in late 2007.
“We had to move since most of the
young talents we were nurturing and teaching disappeared due to their craving
for quick cash,” said Chuma.
“The group formerly known as
Mungiki got the youth to join their garbage collection business, which was a
good idea [i.e. slum clean-up] except that Kayole residents were compelled to
pay for the service. Otherwise, the youth would dump garbage in front of the
doors where people didn’t pay.”
Shifting first to his home in
Donholm, Chuma and company found his place too small. “So we rented a place
near mine, where we both teach and hold exhibitions for our students.”
NURTURING LOCAL TALENT
Chuma has had lots of experience
nurturing youthful talent among Kenyans. His first job was straight out of BIFA
where his cards, miniature printed reproductions of his paintings, found their
way to UK where a group called Wetfoot International took interest in his wor.
“They contacted me and requested
that I work as a ‘volunteer’ for them in Mwea among ‘disadvantaged youth’ which
I did for several years,” said Chuma who recalled the way all his expenses were
paid by Wetfoot, including art supplies, accommodation, food and even
transport between Nairobi and Mwea.
He also did similar work,
empowering talented youth through teaching them skills in painting in Pumwani.
“I volunteered at St. John’s
Community Centre, and was given an allowance for my work.”
It was after both of those
contracts ended that Chuma decided to set up Bobea (meaning ‘excell’ in
Kiswahili) Art Centre in 2007.
Now the challenge has been
covering overhead costs, such as rent and art supplies.
“Our main source of revenue is
currently the sale of my artwork and that of our students,” said Chuma who’s
been dipping into his savings ever since Bobea was born.
He established quite a successful
network of clients who appreciate his art, both among locals and global
patrons, including the Canadian NGO “Painting a New World” (PNW).
“But our biggest challenge is
having enough art materials to teach the youth to paint,” said Chuma who sees
his busy exhibition schedule as a crucial way of generating and expanding
greater interest in an art market that is both youthful and Kenyan.
“There is
no doubt the talent and creativity is right here in Eastland. Our job at Bobea
is simply to tap it. That’s what the Centre is all about.”
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