Mukabi now has space of his own

Kenyan artists have been clamouring for more space — to set up studios, hold art exhibitions, congregate with fellow "creatives" and occasionally find mentors to guide them, given we don’t have a proper National Art Academy as yet.

So they were pleased to hear the minister for Culture, Hassan Wario, tell a contingent of artists (who had come to discuss the Venice Biennale) that he expected a Kenya Art Centre to be built next to the newly renovated Kenya National Theatre in the near future.

There’s no telling when that will be, so even better news just came in — Kenya’s best-known artist (for his role as Baba Supaa, the children’s art instructor on the TV show "Know Zone" segment of Makutano Junction), Patrick Mukabi, moved his art studio to the former Kenya Railways Museum Art Gallery on April 1.

It is especially good news for young artists who frequented his studio when it was at GoDown Art Centre, some of whom have since made names for themselves in Nairobi’s thriving art world. Among them are Dickson Kaloki, Mike Kyalo, Nadia Wamunyu, Alex Mbevu, Florence Wanjui and Andrew Otieno.

Mukabi rarely, if ever, turned an aspiring artist away while at the GoDown, but clearly, as a prolific painter in his own right, he needed more space, especially as he encouraged his students to hang their finished art works for the public to see. In fact, many people used to go to GoDown just to see Mukabi and his mentees at work.

PROLIFIC PAINTER

Now they’ll have to find their way to the Railway Museum, where Mukabi’s new Dust Depo Artist Studio is a much larger space.

Following a precedent set by his secondary school art teacher, Mr Musumbi, who always welcomed students to his studio at any time of day, Mukabi also welcomes prospective students of all ages to come visit his studio. Currently, those he instructs range from age five up to over 50.

“I also teach all over Nairobi,” says the artist, who travels from art centres in Kayole and Mukuru in Eastlands to more academic centres like Brookhouse, Braeburn, ISK and Hillcrest schools.

Yet as indefatigable an art instructor as he is, Mukabi is also a prolific painter whose latest work is a monumental wall mural (2.5 metres by 7 metres) permanently resident at the new terminal at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. 

“Its theme is ‘Lamu Old and New,’ highlighting both the people and the potential changes likely to come with construction of the new Lamu port,” said Mukabi whose students helped him to mount the mural at JKIA.

“But all the artwork is mine. I first did sketches, then painted (in acrylic) on canvas and then my students helped me attach the canvas onto wooden boards, which then went up at the airport.”

COUNTRY TRAVELLER

Mukabi was born in Nairobi, but he’s familiar with all parts of the country, including the Coast, where he frequently went by rail, accompanying his father, who, like his father before him, was employed by railways.

“My grandfather was a ticket inspector so he always travelled from Mombasa to Kampala and back,” recalled Mukabi, who admits it’s rather remarkable the way he’s found his way back to the Railways, which is essentially where he grew up!

“My father was an executive with the Railways so we often travelled with him (always in first class) as a family. It was similar to what his father did after his mother passed on.

“That meant my father grew up learning all the local languages of people who lived along the railway line, from Kiswahili and Kikamba to Kiganda and Hindi,” he said.

Knowing that background makes it easy to understand how Mukabi is such a genial and gracious man who can fraternize with anyone.

Starting the study and practice of art in primary school at the Coast, he’s been fortunate to have excellent art teachers all the way through his years at Eastleigh Secondary, the Creative Art Centre and finally at the Kenya Polytechnic, where he studied graphic design.