KIWIMBI
Kiwimbi was the first free public library in the county of Busia, Kenya.
The Library now welcomes between 400 and 500 visitors each day.
It actively encourages participation by groups who risk marginalisation. Access to the Library is free, which is critical in this low-income area.
The growing Art Programme nurtures students' creativity; the recently founded Museum is a reference point for the cultural consciousness of the area.
To support, or learn more, please be in contact! https://kiwimbi.org/programs/
Kiwimbi was the first free public library in the county of Busia, Kenya.
The Library now welcomes between 400 and 500 visitors each day.
It actively encourages participation by groups who risk marginalisation. Access to the Library is free, which is critical in this low-income area.
The growing Art Programme nurtures students' creativity; the recently founded Museum is a reference point for the cultural consciousness of the area.
To support, or learn more, please be in contact! https://kiwimbi.org/programs/
Radu's 4 min. demo in chalks - portrait
Radu Leon has been supporting the Art Programme at Kiwimbi since 2014. Radu led in-person workshops for hundreds of students, organised an exhibition of student work in Venice, and, more recently, in online encounters while in lockdown, shared his video demonstrations of sustainable art practices. This enabled teachers and students at Kiwimbi to make crayons and paints from locally sourced earths and binders.
In August 2023, Radu offered a week of workshops to the new generation of young artists at Kiwimbi, and advice to their teachers.
In August 2023, Radu offered a week of workshops to the new generation of young artists at Kiwimbi, and advice to their teachers.
From morning to late afternoon, young artists aged 8-15 drew and painted, exploring the natural world, observing light and shade, conveying shape and colour.
They sketched plants and animals from life and then from memory, while learning to work in dry, water-, and oil-based media. Samples of their first ever botanical studies in black & white chalk, and still life studies in oils or chalks are shown above.
Using exclusively red and yellow ochres collected from the area to make watercolours, students then explored mark-making with the brush to produce expressive head studies. A few of their first ever attempts in this technique are shown below.
They sketched plants and animals from life and then from memory, while learning to work in dry, water-, and oil-based media. Samples of their first ever botanical studies in black & white chalk, and still life studies in oils or chalks are shown above.
Using exclusively red and yellow ochres collected from the area to make watercolours, students then explored mark-making with the brush to produce expressive head studies. A few of their first ever attempts in this technique are shown below.
Young artists worked in water-based media with locally sourced pigments and binders
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Radu invited Mr Akwara, Keeper of the Museum, to talk about the artefacts held in the collection. Young artists were then encouraged to visually respond to these objects. For instance, bottle gourds used as ceremonial musical instruments inspired the still life studies in oils shown above.
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Students were encouraged to draw what they could see, recall, or imagine: from leaves on the mango tree, to a chance encounter with a lizard.
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