Curated by Jane Otieno, Winnie Oyuko, Roy Kisielo and Mary Clare Kidenda
Kenya is a diverse country full of vibrant cultures from forty-three different tribes. It is known for its rich tradition of arts and crafts, record-breaking world athletes, its rich biodiversity, and great safari destinations. The Works of art-reflect religious beliefs and cultural values; fundamentally functional, utilitarian purposes and aesthetics. Our cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artefacts and intangible attributes groups or societies inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. Our diverse, enduring, creative and cultural heritage includes tangible culture, intangible culture, and natural heritage and designs in many forms, as seen in our exhibition. In Kenya, art is a reflection and expression of political and social changes now underway worldwide. Visual art in Kenya has allowed for a high level of creativity and resourcefulness and continues to flourish. Kenyan art is used to reflect and express political and social changes.
The work from Kenya is from two universities The Technical University of Kenya, Department of Design and Creative Media and Kenyatta University, Department of Fine Art and Design. The exhibition reveals the importance of some of Kenya’s most beautiful art and culture.
Traditionally, the most crucial aspect of a Kenyan piece of art has been its function: connecting to a higher spiritual world, commemorating a political or social event, crafting, embellishing and enhancing a utilitarian object. Music and dance help express religious feelings and make complex tasks more manageable. They also play an essential role in community activities.
The exhibition integrates aesthetics and human interaction with technology. It captures diverse students work from Fine Art, Communication Design, Product Design, Interactive Media Design and Interior Design. It shows how creative engineered activities provide an experience for end-users to live, learn, work and play. Design is becoming more electric. Design increasingly reflects the cultural diversity. The exhibition captures local scenes in Kenya through various medias ranging from animations, Video Games Characters; to drawings, paintings; weaving and mosaic. As seen in the exhibition, design increasingly reflects cultural diversity and how a new generation of designers is emerging. The students are defining their approaches to intervene in gaps and to influence their peers.
Mary Clare Kidenda
