By KARI MUTU

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The cultural heritage of Kenya is celebrated in the art exhibition titled Urembo (Kiswahili for beauty) at the Nairobi National Museum.

Participating artists range from the emerging to the experienced with a few semi-retired; all works are influenced by culture.

Eric Manya, the exhibition’s curator, hopes that viewers will feel “the beauty found in the integration of contemporary artwork with cultural artefacts.”

Urembo is a collaboration between the Museums and the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health.

The exhibition has displays of cultural pieces such as a Luo ceremonial headdress of ostrich feathers, a Kikuyu leather shield, a set of traditional walking sticks and an assortment of other items from the heritage archives of the Nairobi Museum. They are all functional items adorned with beads, ochre and intricate etchings.

Among the contemporary artists showing their work is Patrick Mukabi. His painting Mama Kibanda is of market women wearing kanga wraps around their large curvaceous hips.

One of his former students, Bebeto Thufu, is showing graffiti-like paintings of women. Nadia Wamuyu, another Mukabi apprentice, has submitted the drawing Muslim Woman Talks, which is of Swahili women wrapped in colourful fabrics.

Other art on display includes recycled metalworks by Alex Wainaina, illustrations of African women by Mary Ogembo, facial wood sculptures by Lydia Galavu who is the curator of contemporary art at the Museum. Sudanese artist Yassir Ali, known for incorporating Nubian symbolism into his work, is also on show.

From sculptor Morris Foit is a captivating wooden sculpture called The Flute Blower, of a man blowing a traditional bugle. Foit was born in the 1940s as Morris Njau.

He took on the name of his mentor and teacher, the Czech Francis Foit, who was an art lecturer at the University of Nairobi for 20 years.

I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting to learn something new about traditional definitions of beauty or see displays of rare cultural objects.

Some of the open markets around town have more intriguing African artefacts for sale. Still, it is an interesting assemblage of work by different artists. The exhibition is on until January 31, 2018.