Friday, March 4, 2016

PATRICK MUKABI: THE BABA SUPAA WHO BRINGS ART TO CHILDREN ON CITIZEN TV EVERY WEEK

Saturday Nation
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Patrick Mukabi: Master mentor and teacher finally has space to call his own
PATRICK MUKABI: GENEROUS MENTOR OF A MULTITUDE OF ASPIRING ARTISTS, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD

by margaretta wa Gacheru

 
Patrick Mukabi aka Papa Supaa (to those TV fans who watch him teach children about art regularly on Saturday mornings during the ‘Know Zone’ which is part of Makutano Junction on Citizen TV) had been sharing his studio space for years with countless up-and-coming young artists keen to rub shoulders and learn from the Master Mwalimu Mukabi.
Mukabi always had an open door policy at the GoDown Art Centre where he’d been a resident artist practically from the day the GoDown was born at the turn of the new millennium.
SPACE TO CALL HIS OWN
But the time came when Mukabi realised he needed studio space that was all his own. Not that his new ‘Dust Depo Art Studio,’ situated just next door to the old Railway Museum, isn’t still welcoming aspiring young Kenyan artists (and those from other countries as well, such as China, Holland, UK and USA).
It’s just that since April 1st when Mukabi fully and finally moved into the space that used to be known as the Railway Museum Art Studio, he’s now in charge of how his studio is run.
He had never planned to move into spaces related to the Railways but now that he’s in, Mukabi says he feels as if, in a way, he has ‘come home’.
That’s because his father was a top executive with Kenya Railways which meant some of Mukabi’s happiest times growing up were on trains traveling first class with his family as it was one sure way his father could have quality time with his son.
The real irony of his ‘coming back’ to railways turf is that even his grandfather Mukabi was an employee of the East African Railways.
 “He used to sleep in the back of the train since his work involved him traveling back and forth, from the Coast to Kampala and back,” Mukabi recalled.
A KENYAN CLASSIC
His grandfather also often took his family with him on his travels.
“Since my grandmother, my father’s mother, died when my dad was still a small boy, my grandfather would take him with him so my dad ended up learning nearly every language of the people who lived on or near the railway line,” he said.
Today, Patrick Mukabi is in a sense also doing as his father and grandfather had done. He too is bringing along young people, many of whom consider him their number one mentor (meaning more like a father), as they journey towards constructing a really strong contemporary Kenyan arts community.
Already, many of the young artists who’ve studied under him, youth like Nadia Wamunyu, Alex Mbevo and Dickson Kaloki, have gone on to make names for themselves as ‘emerging’ East African artists of merit.
Mukabi is definitely a Kenyan classic, a generous spirit and soulful mwalimu who’s recognised all over Kenya and beyond for the quality of his art.
They’re not surprised to hear that Mukabi also has a mentor, only that Michelangelo died several centuries back; but he’s still a key source of inspiration and serves as such a high standard of excellence that Mukabi humbly admits that he still has a lot to learn as a fine artist.  
Mukabi with some of his work at his studio.
Mukabi's new space and some of his pieces.
Patrick Mukabi with his new artwork. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's many protégés.
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's many protégés at the
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Thursday, May 14, 2015

Patrick Mukabi: Master mentor and teacher finally has space to call his own

Patrick Mukabi has had a long history with the
Mukabi with some of his artwork at his new
Mukabi with some of his work at his studio.
Mukabi's new space and some of his pieces.
Patrick Mukabi with his new artwork. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's many protégés.
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's many protégés at the
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|
Artwork by one of Mukabi's protégés. PHOTO|

CULTURAL ACTIVISM A REFRESHING START FOR 2016










                 

Cultural activism to take centre stage in New Year

   


Madhvi Dalal demonstrates yoga dance at Dance 4 Peace workshop. PHOTO | MARGARETTA WA GACHERU 
By Margaretta wa Gacheru

Posted  Thursday, January 14   2016 at  17:56
In Summary
  • Dance for Peace is just one facet of the multifaceted cultural movement that Angerer is striving to ignite with a specific focus on February 27.
Culture isn’t just about art or music or dance,” says Wanny Angerer, a woman who should know, given she’s a dynamic cultural activist who among many other things, conducts music and dance therapy sessions several times a week.

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Some days it’s with cancer survivors at Faraja Cancer Support; other times it’s with orphans or children whose mothers are in prison or simply with people living in challenging circumstances who appreciate her generosity and her joy.

“Culture is all about the way people express themselves in their everyday lives,” says the founder of Moving Cultures, an organisation committed to promoting culture as a practice and a talent that everybody has.

Angerer’s holistic perspective on culture has led her to work and link up with everyone from artists, educators and musicians to foodies, yogis, journalists and fashion designers. And it’s all with a view to discovering new ways that people can link up, share their talents, collaborate and ultimately showcase their creative skills.

For instance, this past week, she, under the umbrella of Moving Cultures, was collaborating with dancers to conduct ‘Dance for Peace’ master classes at the Michael Joseph Centre. On Tuesday, they were Yoga and Indian Dance workshops led by two professional dancers who also both teach yoga.

One was a Kenyan Madhvi Dalal whose specialties are Bharatanatyam, Reiki and Yoga; her performance of a Yoga dance during the workshop was a highpoint of her class.

The other dancer was Nikolina Nikoleski, a Croatian ballerina who also specialised in contemporary dance before she discovered Indian classical dance or Bharatanatyam and the art of yoga.

Nikoleski also performed an elegant Indian dance after she had shared basic elements of the dance with young Kenyan dancers who had come from all over Nairobi to take part in the workshop and master class.

Last Saturday night, Nikoleski together with Angerer performed at the Oshwal Auditorium in Westlands, Nairobi, where they raised millions of shillings to help the Amara Charitable Trust construct classrooms in rural schools in Machakos County.

Then last Wednesday, the dance focus shifted from classical dance and yoga to more contemporary forms like hip hop. And since Moving Cultures is all about collaborating among artists and cultural activists, the hip hop dancers who conducted master classes all morning were assisted by members of Sarakasi Dancers and Angerer’s Moving Cultures Band, including vocalist and poet Adam Chienjo and guitarist Steve Kimani.

But Dance for Peace is just one facet of the multifaceted cultural movement that Angerer is striving to ignite with a specific focus on February 27. That’s the day she’s encouraging cultural venues all over the city to consider and act upon the concept that she calls “cultural stopovers”.

It’s a sort of cultural festival which, in the spirit of devolution is meant to take place everywhere from restaurants and schools to recreational venues, galleries, hotels and bars as well as malls, sports centres, NGOs and even art and craft shops.

She’s already got a whole lot of venues on board to open their doors and collaborate with new faces and forms of cultural expression.

“The idea is to get people moving out of their comfort zones to explore new dimensions of culture,” says Angerer whose primary work as a dance and music therapist is to get people moving and motivated to express their own unique creativity.

She’s a motivational force in her own right and on several continents starting in South America, in her home country of Hondures where she was devising intercultural learning projects for the American Field Service for a decade.

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