By Ogova Ondego
Published April 25, 2019
A Kenyan stone carver has participated in an all-Africa meeting of artists in Egypt.
Robin Okeyo Mbera, a sculptor who specialises in stone, particularly, Kisii Soapstone, has just returned home from Afro Art: 1st Symposium for African Art in Cairo that brought together visual artists from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt April 14 – 19, 2019.
The Afro Art forum is a part of activities aimed at celebrating African unity that coincides with Egypt holding the Presidency of the African Union besides hosting the Africa Cup of Nations African youth symposium.
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“The aim of this symposium is to promote importance of art and its ability to intertwine everyone together to show that art is the true common language of all people,” Ashraf Reda, chair of Egyptian Council for Fine Arts (ECFA) that organised the event and Yasser Gaessar, curator of the Afro Art.
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During the six-day working tour of Cairo, the 20 or so artists participating in the programme painted, sculpted, interacted with students of fine art at workshop, attended art symposium, toured art galleries and studios and visited the Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx for inspiration.
Dr Reda says the art created–80 pieces of painting, photography and carving–was exhibited during a show titled Africa in the eyes of the Egyptians.
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Using Egyptian limestone that he says is closer to Kenya’s Kisii soapstone, Robin Mbera created and exhibited a piece he called Kingdom.
“Limestone is the material commonly used in buildings in Egypt.” Mbera says. “Even Pyramids of Giza are built of this stone whose structure is soapy and, when broken, produces lots of dust.”
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But why did he name his art work Kingdom?
“Because it was inspired by the land of the Pharaohs in which kinship played a big role in how it is administered,” Mbera says. “Succession to the throne was determined by the kinship system in that the son succeeded the father. If there was no son to succeed the dead king, the son of his brother or sister was made King”
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Mbera, who says he had to apply to participate in the event, says the interaction with artists from other parts of Africa has greatly enriched him.
“I got the chance to visit interesting galleries like Cairo Art Gallery, The Picasso Gallery and the Giza pyramids,” he says. “This certainly was a good networking opportunity for my art career. My work, that was seen by more than 3000 people who attended our exhibition, is retained in Cairo as a permanent exhibit in the Faculty of Fine Arts.”