Tell us a little bit about your background in a snapshot - education, career history, where you’ve gone and where you are now.
I studied Fine Art in Sydney at COFA (College of Fine Art) which is part of University of New South Wales. I started and stopped university a couple of times, changing courses and majors as I tried to figure out what was the right career for me. Finally I ended up doing printmaking as my major, which I now have a huge passion for and hope to be able to check back into this in the coming year.
I moved to Kenya just over two years ago, I started off art directing TVC’s which was a lot of fun and was a great re-introduction to Nairobi, sourcing for different props had me travelling around Nairobi and creating a database of suppliers and contacts that have been helpful in anything that I have been doing. I have been working for the Village Market Shopping Complex and Tribe Hotel now for almost a year and a half as part of their Creative team. That involves everything from interior styling and seasonal décor, to more art and culture based projects, like Wall to Mall.
Tell me a bit about Wall2Mall, how did the idea come about?
At the conception stage of Wall to Mall, we wanted to create an interactive and engaging shopping experience for people visiting the village market. In thinking about ways to do this, the discussion around street art and public art began and we started to explore how different people, cultures and cities around the world have embraced the concept of public art.Berlin really stood out for us through our research.
We then partnered up with the Godown Art Center and Bankslave (a celebrated Kenyan street artist) to put together a week of workshops, presentations and painted murals at various locations at the village market, Kibera and the Godown Art Center.
How did you select the artists?
We were in contact with a company called Street Art Berlin which sent us a vast array of portfolios from different artists who were interested in the project and had responded to the idea of an exchange program in Kenya. From these, we chose five who we felt fit the vibe and aesthetics at VM.
What has the reception to the project been?
The reaction from the public has been absolutely awesome! We have had great feedback, we had schools, artists and the general public visiting throughout the week and interacting with the artists as they worked. We were also trending on twitter twice and had people talking about it all over social media.
Street art in a commercial context is a fairly new concept for Kenya, do you see a space for more of this type of art in Kenya?
Absolutely, Art in any medium is a positive addition to an otherwise empty space. The Idea behind this project was to create a public gallery at village market, which we hope to add to every few months in new and exciting ways and I think any commercial space, whether it’s an office building or shopping centre can do the same in their own way that represents their brand or ethos as a company.
For example, each of the artists were given a theme to work with…
1 .globalisation/diversity/ community/multiculturalism
2. environment
3. art/culture/music
4. aesthetics/beauty/fashion
5. innovation/growth/development
What else do you have planned for the year?
Well, phase 2 of Wall to Mall will be based around our talented Kenyan street artists and muralists. We have a couple of really cool potential local and international partners and plan to roll this out by the middle of the year. We are always looking for original and artistic ways to create a more interactive space here at the village market. So In that, the aesthetics of the shopping mall is a constant evolution.
I am working on a project at the moment that is based on knowledge sharing on all things art. This project is super exciting for me and is really feeding the fire that’s steadily growing in my belly.
