First Impressions The artists gathered in the Ngong Forest Sanctuary to meet, eat and begin the workshop. We left the sprawling city, passed a gate, a river, a stand of magnificent fever trees and some thicker woods. In a grassy clearing stood a tented rest area with a team of beaming chefs – the legendary Lunch Camp. section2: Discovery
On the first day of the workshop we explored paths near Lunch Camp. There were traces of works from previous workshops, quietly collapsing back into the environment. We were given spades, carving tools, wheelbarrows and string. A team of foresters was on hand to provide us with branches and dead wood, and to help fetch materials. We were briefed to use only natural and found materials for our works. We would make works that would enhance the site, and would ultimately sink back into the forest.
At first glance our peaceful camp and forest studios seemed an eternity in space and time from the teeming streets of Nairobi. Yet the forest is under pressure from the rapidly-expanding city. It is completely encircled by settlements, some of them extremely poor. As we explored the forest paths, we began to see evidence of illicit tree poaching. It shocked me to learn that this magnificent forest of stately trees, looped with spectacular vines, suffers almost daily poaching.
Developing ideas I began wandering the forest paths, with no specific plan in mind. As Anthony Okello says,‘ like most artists, I don’ t know where I’ m going to end up when I begin a work’. This approach is often productive in a workshop, where artists are willing to allow the site to guide them. I took the opportunity to wander from one‘ studio’ area to the next, getting to know the other artists a little better.
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