Like the curate’s egg, state-backed Manjano is good in parts

And finally, some real good has come out of this mixed bag of the good, the bad and, alas, the ugly — a determination on the part of the GoDown management to organise a series of workshops in which established artists will pass on their skills to those currently less gifted.

For the parts with wavy lines rising from them include, regrettably, much of the art on show.

There were too many pictures out of the 113 exhibits with little glittery bits stuck to the canvas. They belong in craft fairs.

Others would have better suited to a village hall or an end of term school exhibition, with their leaden brushwork and ponderous political overtones.

Wavy lines rose too from the fact that so few of the province’s respected artists chose to submit work.

It is almost as though they feared what the end result would be… a self-fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one.

Of course, it might not have been the artists’ fault. They might have been notified too late, or not had anything off the easel ready to show, or been away, or any number of things.

But surely with a little planning this could have been averted and a far better collective representation of the city’s vibrant art scene could have been mustered.

And while still discussing the wavy lines, I am only too aware of how misspellings end up in print, but the catalogue really should not have the words Nairobi, Province, Commission and Commissioner spelt incorrectly and in large type.

A final read-through would have suggested a level of professionalism I would have liked to have seen equalled on the walls.

Still, it’s early days and I sense a number of lessons have been learnt … the need to include many more of the province’s finest artists being one, and a stringent selection process being another.
If the lessons are taken to heart, next year’s show should be a cracker!

Frank Whalley runs Lenga Juu, a fine arts and media consultancy based in Nairobi. Email: fwhalley@gmail.com