Section1: Technical
During these early years, the challenges were there and we all had to grapple with them once in a while. Materials were hard to come by, and the technical workshops were godsent because we had spare materials left over to use when the workshops ended. We basically relied on each other to prosper, and it is my belief that the fact of just being there with all those young creatives played an important role. Availability of work materials depended on who could sell a piece of art. This also made some young artists venture into other forms of art: if I did not have paint, then I would print or sculpt because wood was readily available. Artists develop their careers subconsciously – like me, who slowly turned away from wood sculpting to painting, something I have stuck to up to now.
Michael Soi to young artists because most had no access to money to pay rent, or even pay for their bus fares. Kuona Trust presented the biggest gift of all: room in which to work.
Rob Burnet had a solid idea of what he wanted to do with the space in the Museum grounds, and how he thought he might change the Kenyan art scene. Kuona at this point was providing technical workshops for young artists to equip them with the necessary skills, and a chance to learn something new that would help them improve their artistic vocabulary. Master artists like Morris Foit, Francis Kahuri and Theresa Musoke among others conducted some of the workshops.
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