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Kenya: RaMoMa Promotes Affordable Art for All
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
3 July 2008
Posted to the web 3 July 2008
Beatrice Gachenge
Majority of Kenyans do not buy art because they think it is expensive. But what if the prices were reduced, would they go for it?
The answer to that question will soon be known. A local gallery, RaMoMa, has started "affordable art" days to try and entice art enthusiasts to buy works of art.
Hardly will you find Kenyans buying art works. One of the major inhibiting factors being cost, clouding the appreciation of art to many locals. Several artists in the country have been forced to shun art as an income generating activity owing to slow sales.
At the moment most art works are bought by tourists and well to do locals.
Kanji Shiraz, director of African Cultural Gallery, admits that most of his clients are tourists. With the slump in tourism, business has been very slow and the need to increase the number of Kenyans on the client list is high.. He sees a gloomy future if the tourism sector fails to pick up fast since the negligible number of Kenyans buying art cannot sustain the business. Lack of awareness and minimum exposure to art has led to little appreciation of art.
"Modern art is often seen as an elitist phenomenon and not every one is able to appreciate it and give it the time and interest necessary to understand it," said Carol Lees, RaMoMa art museum programme co-ordinator. But in a major effort to boost sales and help Kenyans appreciate art, RaMoMA, a museum of modern art, has devised a way for locals to buy art cheaply.
Dubbed "Affordable Art Day", every last Saturday of the month members of the public are invited to meet local artists and buy their works directly from them.
This, Lees says, gives the locals an opportunity to interact directly with well known artists and bring art and people together for enjoyment, discovery and learning.
Lees says that this may enable Kenyans to diminish the feeling of intimidation that grips most people when they walk into an art gallery. "There is a growing appeal for local people across Africa to appreciate and buy art but we need to sustain this momentum," she says.
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RaMoMA, Museum of Modern Art opened its door to the public in January 2001, recently relocated to Parklands started the Affordable Art day two months ago.
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