www.Kisii.Com: Syndicated news from only reputable sources [Nation, and Standard Newspapers, Kenya Times, KBC, etc.]

Kisii To Host First Unesco-Sponsored Stone Carvers Conference in Africa

Details

Published on Tuesday, 14 June 2011 19:00

ELKANAH Ong’esa and Gerard Motondi are globetrotting and award-winning sculptors who have attended numerous symposiums abroad. The two have always dreamt of organising and attending a symposium in their homeland of Tabaka in Gucha South district, Kisii County, and their dream has finally come true. Ong’esa and Motondi are the organisers of the Africa Stones Talk Sculpture Symposium 2011 to be held at Tabaka from August 4^_31.

Ong’esa, the President of Pan African Association of Visual Artists and Artisans, is the chairman of the symposium while Motondi, who is an arts and crafts tutor at Asumbi Teachers’ Training College, is the co-ordinator.

The duo, from soapstone rich area of Tabaka in Kisii County, say they are proud to be associated with the first ever international carvers symposium to be staged in Africa. “Ong’esa and I have travelled to many countries for exhibitions and symposiums. It is a dream come true for us to have a symposium here at Tabaka and the first ever to be staged in Africa,” says Motondi.

The symposium will be preceded by a three-day conference to be held at Kisii University College as from August 1-3 where international scholars will address various issues on art, stone mining among others.

Preparations for the two-day event sponsored by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) under the International Fund for Diversity (IFCD) have started in earnest.

The symposium will be the first to be implemented under the Unesco's 2005 Convention on Protection and Promotion of Diversity in cultural expressions, according to Ong’esa. “We are happy to be the first recipients of the fund and we want to make this an annual symposium,” Ong’esa added during a recent interview.

The sponsorship from Unesco will help Design Power Consultants (DEPCONS), a community-based creative arts consultancy to work with Kisii soapstone carvers.

The initiative and funding will enable DEPCONS to bring internationally renowned artists from different backgrounds for the month-long exchange of cultural expression with local soapstone carvers, according to Ong’esa. He added that the programme will introduce new technologies, tools and expression of diverse cultural values.

According to Ong’esa, the theme of the symposium will be ‘communication in stone’ hence the title ‘Africa Stones Talk’. “The discipline is art and the media is stone sculpture,” added Ong’esa.

The visiting artists will attend the symposium before embarking on carving for the rest of the month. They will work closely with traditional artisans in the soapstone villages of Tabaka.

There will also be weekend visits to ancient rock art sites in Kisii and tourist attraction sites both in Kisii and neighbouring Trans Mara district where the artists will visit the world famous Maasai Mara game reserve.

Ong’esa added that the public through events including school parties will be allowed to interact with the artists during scheduled cultural evenings.

The sculptors will use locally available materials including soapstone, ballast, granite and sandstones which have already been delivered to the site. They will make their own choices of raw materials to produce sculptures which will be displayed for public viewing in various parts of Kenya, according to Ong’esa.

The first lot of pieces to be produced will be loaned to the National Museums of Kenya for one year public display at Uhuru Gardens along Langata Road in Nairobi. “After the display, they will be returned for permanent display and preservation in Kisii County. If any of the pieces are sold, the proceeds will be shared at the rate of 40/60 per cent between producer artist and the organising committee to enable them raise funds for sustainability of the programme,” added Ong’esa. Already seven international sculptors have been selected to participate in the inaugural event.

According to Ong’esa and Motondi, the event will be held annually and already next year’s event has started generating interest even from international universities. They were selected by a panel chaired by Ong’esa and Motondi at Kisii University College recently.

The selected artists were among 26 who had applied to participate in the symposium. Those nominated were Li Dongliang from China, Hany Faisal from Egypt, Renate Verbrugge from New Zealand, Yahushi Hori from Japan, George Kockott from South Africa, Tzetuka Koykova from Bulgaria and John Barlow from USA. Tapfrima Gupusta from Zimbabwe and Rumen Nlihov were named as reserves.

Ten artists from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi will be selected in the local sculptors category, said Ong’esa who was accompanied by Motondi and committee member Esther Ciombaine. “The process was very competitive and coming up with the seven names was very difficult. We would have invited all the 26 applications but the sponsorship is limited,” said Ong’esa. Several renowned scholars were also selected to participate in the pre-symposium cultural conference.

Among the selected scholars are Elisabeth Cort who will present a paper on the efficacy in the formation of practicing artists in Kenya while Prof Ratemo Michieka will present a paper on environmental effects of stone mining in Tabaka.

Prof Justus Barongo of Nairobi University will talk about the geology of the rocks to be used for the symposium while Prof John Akama, the principal of Kisii University, will talk on cultural tourism.

The national, international scholars and cultural practitioners will address pertinent policy and technical concerns that have created a miserable gap in the protection and promotion of cultural values through formal education and linking the same to social economic development, Ong’esa added.

As part of preparations for the symposium, 45 miners and quarry owners have been trained on safe mining to avoid accidents. “We expect miners to practice safe mining skills to avert accidents,” said Motondi who took the miners and quarry owners at Tabaka, Gotichaki, Nyatike and Nyabigena through the training sessions. “The training was aimed at creating awareness on safety, modern mining methods and tools as well as improving productivity,” said Motondi.

The training was sponsored by SITE Enterprise Promotions, an organisation working at the soapstone region to promote livelihoods of soapstone artisans, said Motondi, an award-winning carver.