City gallery ‘home’ to rare African artifacts
Text & Pictures
By Emmanuel Mwendwa

The Murumbi Gallery, strategically located on the ground floor of Kenya National Archives building, is the latest addition to Nairobi’s handful art galleries. It was unveiled last year, in the backdrop of long-standing stereotypes that visual arts are an exclusive reserve for tourists, expatriates or the well endowed.

This is first time in two decades that one time Kenyan vice-president, diplomat and Pan Africanist late Joseph Murumbi’s treasured ‘Africana Collection’ is being viewed at a city gallery.

Unofficial estimates place the collection at about 6,000 items and artifacts inclusive original paintings and sculptures. But a note pinned to his personal display case points out “…the collection herein is still in progress, still awaiting more memorabilia and awards given to the revered collector …these items are still in limbo in a warehouse near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after being stopped from being shipped out of the country…” destined for the UK.

Widely considered as East Africa’s renowned African art collector, Murumbi’s keen eye for virtually extinct African art is illustrated by the array of artifacts he would unearth in his numerous sojourns as a Kenyan diplomat across Europe, the Far East and the US. The collection offers insights into little celebrated artistic prowess existent across Africa prior to the colonialists plunder.

A casual walk around the gallery further reveals intriguing beadworks, soap stone, clay, wooden sculptural art; masks, grave totems common on the Kenyan coast, carved Swahili chairs, brass studded chests, defunct traditional musical instruments, eye-catching etchings, pencil drawings, striking collages, captivating ceramics – the list is almost endless.

Ethiopian ancient religious art done in mural-like designs is displayed next to notably rare pieces of Coptic etchings. Kenyan art takes its place of pride at display courtesy of veteran artist Rosemary Karuga’s priceless clay sculpture Mother & Child; pieces by ceramist/ clay potter Magdalene Odundo besides artist Louis Mwaniki’s unique yet hilarious pencil work, Elkana Ongesa’s soap and granite stone sculptures among others.

Another of pioneer sculptor Francis Muthuri Amundi’s alluring pieces are among the captivating wooden carvings also displayed. The unique sculpture is an attempt at re-enacting folklore genesis of the Kikuyu community. At its base is the primordial woman in throes of childbirth while the shapes of nine breasts are symbolic of females who gave birth to Mumbi and her ‘sisters’.

From neighbouring Tanzania, Murumbi acquired eye-catching Makonde ivory, stone and ebony sculptures whose distinctive shapes depict men or women immortalized in varied suggestive poses.

Sudan claims its space at the gallery wih gouache on goatskin art pieces, painted in mid 1970s by then Nairobi based diplomat Salih Mashamoun. Ugandan art is represented by artist Eli Keyune’s oil on canvas portraits

The seemingly timeless mono print titled ‘Young Girl’ by renowned
and seasoned Nigerian painter Muraina Oyelami offers a glimpse into an
art form rarely seen. Once a sign painter, Oyelami still works with a
roller, layering splashes of bold colours onto soft pastels. His work is
often identified as a contemporary idiom continuation of African
traditional art, which immensely inspired Pablo Picasso and other modernist
European artists.

Other notable pieces include Guinea’s Anok bird-like sculptures,
Kisii soap stone sculptures from Sierra Leone – a skill shared by their
distant Kenyan cousins; Ivory Coast’s Senoufo sculpture depicting a
Calao ancestral bird regarded as symbol of leadership, Bawa owl mask from Burkina Faso and priceless terra cotta clay sculptures from Cameroon.

Equally impressive are wooden masks, whose gigantic-heads are elongated in a traditional style. The Gelede mask was used during special ceremonies to worship the beauty of womanhood and witchcraft among the Yoruba community. Curved and decorated with crown-like designs, these are
worn as headgear at dance ceremonies.

Several cotton appliqué pieces of Nigerian artist Samuel Ojo are also displayed alongside ‘Mammy Wata’ carvings – associated with a water spirit used for purposes of entertainment and cult masquerades in Eastern Nigeria. Produced by Ibibio carvers, the appliqués have mermaid
type tails and those wreathed in shapes of snakes are meant to identify priestesses or diviners.

The Ejiri carvings credited to Ijo artists – reflect traces of ancient cubism as a prevalent art form in the Niger Delta. These are believed to had been a source of inspiration for the development and growth of cubism in Europe from early 20th century. Africa’s acclaimed living artist’s Bruce Onobrakpeya’s rare paintings are also part of Murumbi’s collection. The Nigerian painter is a
renowned innovator of varied artistic techniques such as ‘plasto casts’ or bronze lino whereby cast artworks are made on print plates or low-relief linoleum finished with a bronze coating.

“Although his artistic imagery is deeply rooted in Urhobo world view – the messages conveyed through his paintings bear a universal appeal”, reads a note next to a painting dated 1973, when Onobrakpeya worked with Kenyan soap stoner sculptor Elkana Ongesa prior to opening of
African Heritage gallery.

Murumbi’s passion to collect and preserve African art objects emerges as having had been a lifetime pursuit. “I have collected artifacts from all parts of Africa whenever I traveled and came across the pieces in Europe, UK and overseas”, he was once quoted saying.

emmanuel@showbizeastafrica.com