 karaka wana yama hozi ngar게. Philippu kwa wana wana ratio kakuwa. Bк cesilakwewewewewe 2,11 badly nga. 2,18 badly nga katawe na kwa. Yes, how many members? According to that statistics, we have more than 100 artists right now. We have over 200 volunteers. We have over 900 members. So actually the community is growing. It's growing. And we are even inviting more people to still come in. There is still a lot of opportunity to come in. They can join on our website by the way. Our website is up at www.twijenge-art.org. I like the fact that I don't make you more or less come as a platformer. Yes, yes. Let's talk about you because actually most of these pieces are, you brought them here to suggest that we can see. Where do you draw your inspiration for most of your work? Are you passionate about human beings, stories, or is it a wildlife? I don't know. Artists have a different niche. What's your inspiration when it comes to the work that you create? I feel that my inspiration is where I am in life really. So I kind of get it everywhere to be honest. I know it's kind of cliche to say that. But it depends on what is happening. For this one, for example, it's inspired by social change. So these are women who fought for independence. And I was thinking when you think about Jamuri Day or Madaraka Day or those days, you never think about the role of women, their role to build a country. It's always women brought food for the fighters, or they brought supplies. And you're thinking they're women who are on the front line of the war. And I feel that they should be hailed. And it's not just like, okay, I don't want to get into the feminist idea. But I feel that everybody should have equal recognition in a way deserving of the contributions they made for our country. So that one, the piece of the lady crying over there is basically kind of like covers all the women who never came out to tell their stories. Because you realize they went through sexual assault, they went through so much suffering, and they're kind of veiled. So the society knows of them, maybe the immediate community, but we never get to know their stories. So that's a gap in history in the history of our country. This is Mudoni Wakirema. I'm not sure if you've heard of her. Yes, yes, I've heard of her. She's always celebrated during Mashu Jali. Exactly. Because she was one of the louder and more vibrant personalities. And that the people who were leading, she was part of the people leading the maumau. So people like this should definitely be hailed. I have dead and kimathi over here. But I also drew my inspiration from nature, from the things happening around me. The PCO sited next to, for example, that's Sudan. Remember the story of Sudan? The last male white rhino. And there was an iconic picture taken of this ranger actually lying on Sudan. It was very sad. And I looked at it and it moved me and it inspired me and I thought, let me try and paint what I felt exactly from seeing that kind of thing. So as humans we are kind of, in a way unfortunately destroying the earth and we have to be aware of what we're doing. The piece down here is a landscape as well. So I kind of do everything but I try to have feeling into my pieces. I try to have my pieces communicate and reach out to people, pass the message. So most of the time probably not at for at sake. Most of the time at for social change or at to communicate something. So I see the exact cause and I like the fact that she talks about the silent heroines people who we don't like to hear their stories. What we are doing to our environment. Exactly. It's interesting. So let's talk about some of them. I think that's a lovely. In fact, I was so happy to hear the politics side. I was very excited. Anyway, let's talk about some of your materials. Like what do you use when it comes to a place like this? I can see leaves. And those actual leaves. Those actual leaves. Wow. Okay, so let's talk about your raw materials. How long does it take you to come up with this particular structure? This, it was a three-piece collection. One was sold. One of them is Mekatilili Wamanza. And this is... That's my favorite one. Yeah. Mudonio Kirima. What I use most of the time, I have different media, I'm a multimedia artist. So I can take pieces of paper and kind of dye them or old pieces. Yeah, I can see newspaper cut out. Yeah, it is like newspaper cut out. One of them are stories of the women who have painted as well. The leaves I kind of wanted to represent our country. So it was actually initially green, black and red, which are the three colors in our flag. So the leaves were representative of the green, because it's part of our land. And then we have... I use a lot of acrylic paint. That's one of my main mediums. But then I kind of like put everything to kind of bring a 3D effect and make the painting come out to you. I don't know if that makes sense. Like you kind of see... You can run your hands through and feel like it's coming out to you. Like it's alive. Yeah, yeah. The other 3D effects. I really like that. I know what you're saying. And like also what you did with the wrinkles. What happened then? If we could zoom in and think... I wanted to portray... This also has some wrinkles. Yeah, I wanted... Because it's a lot of hardship. When you read their stories, you find that they slept in jail. They were being beaten up like crazy. And they still have kids to think about. So these are very stressed women. And they have a demand to think about. Have you seen a stressed woman? As in... You will see the wrinkles. You'll see their facial expressions. I wanted them to be extremely expressive. So that the story comes out of their face. Because if I met them cute and smooth, I don't think you would have gotten the intensity of the hardship they went through. So it's something that's meant to kind of explain to you how hard it was. And when you read the stories, you'll read some of these things. It's the maumau want your guns. So it's one of those posters in colonial times where they wanted to prevent the white people from giving the guns to the maumau or leaving the guns around. So some of these things are very racist. But it's just part of history. And we have to kind of, you know, to be informed about our future. We have to look into our past. So that's what I think. That is very true. We cannot move forward without studying what had happened previously. How long does it take you to come up with this particular piece? These pieces for this specific series I must have taken about four months. Four months? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, because it's a lot. At first, you know, you're kind of still developing your ideas. You're trying to read to national archives, to museums, to libraries and read about their stories first of all. So it's informed by a lot of research. Like a full, probably one and a half months was research. And then the rest was now trying to now sketch on my book first and then translate those sketches into the stretchers, into the stretched canvas and then now the whole painting process which is quite something. Goodness gracious me. The primary painting. I get the raw materials like to start out. For someone at home who is wondering, okay, yeah, I like art but I can't afford this paint. I can't afford this. How did you get your resources when you were starting out? As you can see, these are things you can know. You can even find in there. Yeah, like the leaves. You have gazettis at home, you know, leaves are right outside your window probably, you know, the paintings themselves. Okay, the things that I think I must have kind of looked for are the small pieces on the posters for slaves and the maumau. Those things I found online and had to like die the paper first. The paints are, you know, textbook centers. I like that, that's a hack. You wait, you got it online, then you died. I have to print it and then I died. Because you know, you kind of want to bring out an effect. Yes. That it's an old story. Old kind of story. Yeah, exactly. But you know, of course, some of these, you know, they're in the museum but they're things that are, you know, sealed forever. So you have to kind of find a way to improvise. So yeah, I got them online. I printed some of these and I dyed them and then I put them there. Wow. And then there's the newspaper cuttings. That was a lot of work because I dyed every single cutting you can see here. Some of them were related to maumau. Some of them are not. I'm so curious to ask how much you'd charge for this piece after all that work that has been put in, including that research. Exactly. About, I'll say, 35 to 50. 35 to 50. Yeah, those are things we're talking about but the smaller pieces go for way less. Like these pieces would be around 10,000, 8,000. Small pieces like that you can get quickly for gifting, you know, like for Sudan. That would cost about 5,000, 3,000 for the small framed pieces. So everybody has access to it. Of course, I have buyers who want massive. Like they want to make a statement. Yes. Specially like he was saying government organizations you want to walk in and it just like comes out to you completely. But there are people who want small things you know, for your home you want just like you know. Very subtle. Yeah, do a little bit of decoration. So I make the smaller pieces for that too. Okay. But I also I'm also open for commissions. So if you feel there's something that's inspiring you. Maybe it's your child. So you can tell me you know, come up with something contemporary as a representation of my child. I definitely do that. See kind of frame it and deliver it to you for sure. So that's how it runs. Okay. I like this. I should also mention though I'm also a member of a studio called Studio Soku. So they have contributed. Studio Soku. Yes, they contribute also a lot to some of my artwork in terms of sharing ideas and also coming up with the materials for it. So there's a lot of brainstorming involved. What I've learned for me today Matilde, there's a lot of research. There's some life hacks you can use. Like there's some things you can do right now to achieve a certain effect. Like there's no excuse basically hitting the research. Yeah. And all these things are available. Like if you just check online there's so many classes. There are so many studios popping up. There are people like at Kenya coming up. Yes. All these people have different hacks. If you go to different exhibitions you'll see that guys are coming up with creative things. You can kind of pick inspiration from every little place and bring it out in your artwork. So the platform actually really does even give you motivation and a bit of inspiration when it comes to work and ideas. For sure. I mean like I have the idea of the leaves but there's another artist who has an idea about Wait, wait, it's good you brought up the leaves. They almost forgot to ask you that question. How do I know it will last long? What will happen when they start to how do you achieve the permanent effect? Because you can see there's some shine on top of it. What's that you've applied? Vanish. But the leaf itself to just keep it flat I had to press them so they're pressed leaves. You press them to remove all the moisture in the leaf and then kind of attach it to the piece. Okay. Let me talk to Don Mike. He's been very quiet but at least now we know Matilda's story when it comes to some of her pieces and the very good points shared with some artists at home when it comes to collecting ideas. Let me find out from you getting people together is not easy. Exactly. So let me ask you when it comes to managing the different artists the different what are some of the stumbling blocks that you have encountered in the course of your success story? Yeah. So you know there is a mentality out there that you know when people form organizations they like want money or anything. Yes, yes. So when we approach some of them they think we want to get like big percentages from them or anything but that is not the case we just want to keep the organization running because at the end of the day things need to be run by fans. Yeah. Even this studio runs with fans you are here you are being paid to do this work. So even at Tujenga there are people who are there we have curators we have people who are there to take care of things to keep things moving or running per se. So getting these people is not easy because they think we want to get big percentages out there because some of these galleries the permanent gallery because we are not a permanent gallery. Yes. There are these permanent galleries out there that ask for big percentages crazy figures. So that becomes a challenge because they think we are the same. Yeah. But we are different in a way. Yeah. So basically these are bad rap for kwen men. Exactly. Especially when it comes when it comes to the galleries you find the percentages are crazy. If you think about you spent like four months painting something and they are going to chop your fee by half. Oh God. So most artists you find that we need people to support us probably lower percentages would help to grow the industry as well. So it's something for sure I'm telling you to have a gallery that's putting like a lower percentage on prices on sales kind of relieves the stress from most of the artists at the moment. And it motivates you to continue because at the end of the day you still need to put food on the table. Yeah. There are very many art collectors out here. They want to be like brokers you get. But you see they can take this art for like she said 40. Yes. Then she takes it go sell it even a million. Yeah. Art is like land. Yeah. These are people who appreciate this time years. People who are not even in the industry sometimes if they are not artists they probably sometimes are not informed by art or inspired even by art they are just running a business. Yeah. So they don't care about this is the inspiration this is the story they don't really care they want to just make the margins make the money and you know leave you high and dry technically most of the times. Okay. So I can see that it's a bit of a challenge but at least now so many of these small studios are coming up to support and inform artists and how better to approach the market. So what can we do? What can the government do when it comes to? Even before we go to what can we do? Yeah. There are many challenges out there. Because Nekana don't make what's paired with anything. Naming because now we were talking to one of the artists some time last month then he was like you know I drew this celebrity and then when it was at a function I went to give it out to the celebrity but then then it was like I'll call you. So you amend you know you take it there so at least Anesa appreciate for the little you know even if it's 40,000 say for now I have 30,000 you know at least you have something to put on the table to be honest. But you don't see Okay. Let me say it's it should be That's just an occupational hazard. Yeah. But you see I expect you to say this is good but let me give you something I didn't but you showed interest you even took it. Like if you don't want it don't take it at all. Don't take it let me just go keep it at my studio. Yeah. And then there is another artist again he is a bit older because we have different age groups by the way he is over 40 sells his artworks even for 700,000 So this artist takes at least nine months to come up with something Yes. the final product Yeah. Then after making it or when it is commission like she had said he was commission to do this artwork then it took him nine months you get So for the nine months you take you finish the painting or the type of art it is take it to the person then you again once no I want it for a lesser price after you have already done the work after you you took seven, nine months one year to come up with something then something is not breaking even in terms of money you were paying rent when you were making that Yeah. where you stay or where you making it needs rent Mm hmm you need food you need clothing I mean there is a family depending on you Mm hmm and then it is not paying at the end of the day it's not something good Mm hmm Yeah. I think through all means Yeah so then what can we do if there is What I can say about what we can do is first of all as individuals Mm hmm we need to learn how to be be more appreciative about art Mm hmm because being in a like our Kenyan culture doesn't exactly teach us about the importance of art Yes Like when you say you want to be an artist in your younger Yeah your parents are like don't you want to be an engineer Yes you know north and to engineers but um so if we come kind of learn the benefits of art you know how it has power when it comes to communicating Mm hmm and changing societies Mm hmm and making social change even like and there are so many huge African artists and the market is now growing Mm hmm so when we start just as Kaweda Wananchis we start now appreciating the importance of this art Mm hmm even these galleries will be like okay I guess maybe we you know we have to change we should change something Mm hmm you know we need to know that these are not things we don't get these things for free paints are expensive Yes the stretchers are expensive Yes Yes the raw materials are costly Yes time is money Yes That's too you're using nine months to a year to create a peace Mm hmm of course you do not want to get nothing out of it Yes but Kenya generally people not being taught about the importance of art I wanted to ask you is there an unfair advantage with your when it comes to your locally done work and work done internationally when you come when when when work comes from abroad and it's displayed together with yours is there any bias is there any unfair advantage um what I've seen is I don't think there is any unfair advantage mm hmm in fact there's a lot of ah so so in your industry in fact there's a lot but if we keep on mm hmm not acknowledging the power of our art here we're losing those opportunities I'm so tempted to invite you for politics and you can come and tell us the politics of art because the children looks very passionate about it let's not talk about the sad moments now the challenges and what have you but you still haven't told me what you think we can do about it before we move on exactly so you had asked what the government yes even those organizations yes what can they do or even individuals mm hmm I think it's a time we like embrace these people first government should set up resource centers where these people can go and do something there mm hmm you get art really can pay it can put food on the table mm hmm but you see if people do not have get access to resources mm hmm so every day I was in Kibra mm hmm with my colleagues we went to do a story with an artist mm hmm he feeds his own siblings mm hmm through art mm hmm but it becomes difficult when you can't approach people mm hmm to buy his art mm hmm you get mm hmm so we also need the government other institutions to come up mm hmm and tell us hey we have this kind of like be empowering the youth mm hmm because our main focus is on youth yes so we need youth empowerment mm hmm we need youth to stop all these vices mm hmm wukom tani mm hmm like stealing like you know fighting, lightering, I don't mess and crime and dragging but like when you come up to approach us we will get you the right people right stakeholders mm hmm on the government I think they should make grants accessible to artists mm hmm grants because abroad they have grants for artists mm hmm you find your artists to go to another country do like you know stay there for a while and yeah I haven't I'm not sure maybe you're the one to begin into Matilda I have not heard of any grants that artists like us can apply for like you know people artists from another country come here and artists from this country go there mm hmm wouldn't that be nice because like that puts your artwork out there grows Kenyan art mm hmm which is an advantage because yes it's still you know it's a major part of this country so there's an issue of grants so part of culture yeah actually I saw the president earlier last week on Twitter saying that it's time by providing resources mm hmm and making funds available yes especially now I would like I'll really add the president mm hmm to really speed up this because we really need them it's been so long we need a lot of we need a lot we need to implement this thing yeah exactly we need them mm hmm because we have over 100 artists yeah what are they going to do yeah if we don't like give them platforms mm hmm resources mm hmm I mean it becomes difficult we really need them even NGOs mm hmm individuals who are out there please come out in large numbers we really need your support our web is on you can check every detail yeah and we will be we will really appreciate your efforts yes but it is also good to appreciate the fact that you guys have come this far to join the arts at least you have made an effort to make a change so exactly serically the next part is there serically is idea yes the next part is there this other one is basically from you guys what keeps you going let's talk about the good things now the good things what keeps you going Matilda what has been the highlight of your career which piece did you do that you were so proud of I like to ask artists that question what is your most expensive piece or what did you sell it for what is your favourite work mm hmm ok this series I think has been a huge part women in politics women who fought for independence they are not necessarily in politics mm hmm they are brave women you leave your children at home and just decide to go and fight for your country I never even got some views in the first place some of them never got the opportunity to even settle with anybody mm hmm what empowers me is the fulfilment mm hmm that I get from my work so who did you who was it that you painted which female which heroine heroine is a heroine heroine I could be saying the drag yes which heroine did you draw or paint that you were most proud of Mekatilili Mekatilili women I loved her story what did you draw was she writing on somebody's back you wish no she wasn't mm hmm I just loved her story she was these were all portraits so it was something I was doing like with portraits to just make make it expressive and just like I feel like eyes are the windows to your soul so that's probably why I did the portraits for Mekatilili mm hmm I loved the fact that she had a passion for religion and for her culture with Amiji Kenda mm hmm and you know how Yami when the British were doing something wrong she would get so passionate about it yeah like it is rumach she even worked from a cell the prison in Mumia's till yes she worked across the country I can remember that till Mombasa for the same cause as in for me I just I'm like you know people really passionate about what they really want to achieve in life that's true and just you know such stories and such I don't know I get so inspired and let me ask you where did you take that piece where did you take it did you sell it and for how much I cannot talk about the buyer no no we went for how much did sell it fortunately I'm really grateful I sold it for 40,000 oh and there it was is there any that you have I used to I used to have attachments to my pieces like I would paint something and I'm like wow this is so nice feel like be able to do something close to this again but then I had to learn how to just let go art is not just for me it is it is for the people you know like there are these messages I'm trying to reach out to the people and I'm trying to bring more beauty to people's lives and so why should I keep it all in my studio or something you know I should put it out there so I learned how to kind of let them go so if somebody is interested I'm like okay last days with you and then I just let it go and let it go okay don't mind what has been the highlight of your career the highlight has been back then you know it's not everyone would get to state house yes oh wow fortunately yeah same platform with the president I mean we managed to get there with a variety of artists we got there showcased the president by there Little Panda Sana we really appreciate for the opportunity Mr. President and then we also had the opportunity to work with other government institutions that was a very big milestone by the way for Tujenga and our artists we are still pushing for the initiative it's an initiative so we really urge more people to come out I mean you see even the property property property property companies real estate real estate you see when they are building these units and they need people to do their home decor we have the artists yeah give them something instead of you know these people import these artworks from abroad and come to put them here yes at this high end and we have these things here cheap cheaper cheaper yeah yeah cheaper sorry for that cheaper you know this piece could go even for a million abroad yeah but when we have her to sell it for 60-50,000 I mean she will put something on the table that's true I like that congratulations on meeting the big boss upstairs thank you yes you'd like to know your social media handles I think it's about time we conclude this interview yes let's let's know where we can find you okay you can find my art page art nirvana nirvana nirva na underscore ish ish nirvana ish nirvana ish alright I feel like I have to say it with an accent you have a huge okay anyway and also my design brand that also encompasses the art is called MXM Africa with a K and Studio MXM Africa Studio so on Instagram you'll find it as MXM Africa on Facebook MXM Africa Studio that will also lead you to the artwork as well so yeah those are my two platforms okay great but they're good stuff okay yeah we can find us on Facebook at Tujengiat on Instagram Tujengiat there is also another handle for our event by the way we have an event that now gives a platform for the exhibition for artists it's Clevert Gallery on Clevert Art Gallery yes Clevert Gallery on Instagram and Facebook as well yes we don't want us to know your personal one what is the personal one oh my personal one it's my personal one is Donmai Komondi on Facebook Donmai Komondi on Instagram and on Twitter as well yes my personal one yes at MXM underscore King King yeah KING on Facebook just check Matilda or Mukami King area actually all right great so much to Tujengiat much of pleasure to hear you story and to have you in studio today Matilda you're still going to have a date for politics and arts okay all right why didn't you tell the big man but they are by the way when you went to state house what did not happen anyway let's continue that conversation later you have been watching you have been watching Enterfin Washington Tuesday with Tujengiat thank you so much Mike and Matilda for coming to Tujengiat thank you for having us thank you for having us so please don't go anywhere join me Chacha is coming up next the next interview and also please do remember that you'll be at St. Paul's University live with you and your family so if you're a lover of literature make sure you do stand by for that and also we do have a small feature coming up on online businesses so make sure you do not go anywhere my name is Hilda Wadibi goodbye