Precarious life of Kenyan artists unceremoniously exposed

The precarious life of a Kenyan artist was unceremoniously exposed early this week when Jak Katarikawe’s landlord alerted one of his friends by text that auctioneers were coming Tuesday morning – early, he said – to cart all of Jak’s possessions, including his art, away.

The reason Shallow Management was taking such drastic action was due to the rent arrears that one of East Africa’s most acclaimed artist owed.

“No, we won’t give him until the end of the week,” Mr Wachira told the Nation.

Those who love art know Jak Katarikawe, the Uganda-born paintbrush artist who made Kenya his home.

The fall of Jak, as many artists call him, is perhaps a sad reminder of the world in which artists end up; for here is a man whose work hangs in tens of museums and thousands of private homes, here and abroad. A single painting by the artist can fetch more than Sh4 million.

The landlord seems to have been left with little option and perhaps didn’t care that Jak would have nowhere to go. At the moment, Jak can barely walk, having arthritis in his legs. Instead, the landlord said Jak would have to pay for the auctioneers’ transport costs as well as their labour charges. Furthermore, Jak wouldn’t be allowed to leave his Shallow flat until he paid all those bills.

ALAN DONOVAN

But the landlord was shrewd to contact Alan Donovan, the friend of Jak’s who first heard about the dire straits the artist was in. If anyone could get Jak off the hook, it was the curator of the Nairobi Gallery who had exhibited Jak’s art in the past.

“If we could just sell one of his paintings, we could cover the arrears,” noted Donovan who knew that several of Jak’s best remaining art works were at Nairobi Gallery (the old Provincial Commissioner’s stone offices next door to Nyayo House).

But who was in a position to buy a Katarikawe painting, especially as one could conceivable sell for several million shillings?

This wasn’t the first time Jak had a problem managing his finances. Years ago, after coming to Kenya from Kampala where his artistic talents had been ‘discovered’ by Dr David Cooke, (the Makerere University professor who had hired Jak to drive his car), Jak had lived humbly and within his meagre means.

He had set up a sleep-in art studio for himself in the Princess Hotel on Tom Mboya Street. But once he met the late Ruth Schaffner of Gallery Watatu, Ruth moved him over to the Norfolk Towers “for security’s sake”.

SIMILAR PROBLEM

After she died, Jak had a similar problem with rent, but he was fortunate back then that friends came to his aid and helped him move to his relatively less expensive Shallow apartment.

Jak’s problems largely relate to his paucity of financial acumen. He has never learnt to manage money, especially how to handle the millions of shillings that his art once garnered.

Unfortunately, Ruth hadn’t helped in this regard. Instead, she paid his rent with the money he earned from his fabulous art sales. She also gave him pocket money whenever he asked, but she never showed him how to invest or even how to open a bank account.

One can’t entirely blame Ruth for what has been called Jak’s ‘donor dependency’. It’s a condition he suffers from due in part to his illiteracy. Back home in Kigezi, Uganda, he had been the last born in a polygamous home where his father was old and disinterested in paying more school fees.

The expatriate fans of Jak’s art may not have meant to infantilise the artist, but unfortunately they did. After Ruth died, he apparently lost interest in painting for several years. It was as if he remained in mourning and didn’t have anyone to replace her as a surrogate mother figure.

REMAINING PAINTINGS

Currently, Jak’s Ugandan wife Florence stays with him at his fourth floor flat, which is filled with his remaining paintings, prints, old photos of happier times and dusty stacks of newspapers. The rest of his family, including his dozen children and uncountable grandchildren are nowhere to be seen. When his artwork was selling well, his flat was often filled with distant relations. But once his funds dried up, they all disappeared. Meanwhile, Florence has begun to paint herself, emulating her husband’s style.

Fortunately for Jak, just as the eleventh hour arrived, Donovan managed to interest one well-to-do client in buying one of Jak’s paintings, conceived during what’s considered his heyday in the 1980s. The client hadn’t quite made up her mind, but she was prepared to put down a deposit on ‘The Family’, a joyful painting that was probably created when Jak was collaborating with Dr Eric Krystall and was just enough to cover Jak’s arrears. Donovan had managed to meet the deadline the landlord had given him to settle the artist’s arrears. “We sent a cheque over directly to Shallow Management,” said Donovan whose good deed has practically saved Jak.

Jak can’t answer the question of how he will pay next month’s rent which is Sh44,000. He says he is now back to painting and hopes to have an exhibition soon.