From the Ashes

"When fire gutted Paa ya Paa art gallery in Nairobi in 1997 the owner Elimo Njau was devastated as he saw a lifetime's collection reduced to ashes. However, he never gave up. He has rebuilt it over the years to something near its past glory. MARGARETTA wa GACHERU was in residence there recently ..."

... so begins an East African Standard story about Njau and his efforts to rebuild his historic Nairobi institution. Njau has been active in arts in Kenya since the 1960s, and is still going today.

Gacheru has some pointed things to say about more recent NGO interest in East African art, and criticizes outsiders that imply that they have discovered/created an art scene in this area in the last couple years.

Point taken, but it would be a shame if recent efforts to promote Kenyan art internationally by well-meaning outsiders should be overly criticized. Its not a zero-sum game.