Exhibitions highlight artistry of pottery and bugs

It’s a wonderful story about a man who not only worked closely with poor and disadvantaged Kenyans for many years and also chronicled their lives in clay.

Edward Njenga with Mau Mau detainee sculptures. Photo/Margaretta wa Gacheru 

The other down-to-earth exhibition is a photographic one by professional photographer and documentalist, Eric Gitonga. Entitled ‘Dudus of Brackenhurst.’He was also a detainee during the Emergency, an experience he graphically depicted in clay but which is, unfortunately, not part of his segment of this well-rounded exhibition which features a range of other contemporary ceramicists, among them another award-winning artist Waithera Chege as well as Beatrice Ndumi, Lilian Barengo, Juliana Igoki and the Kibichiko Potters among others.

The show is displayed at the Brackenhurst Community Centre, given that Gitonga snapped all his insects on site where more than a decade ago, the Centre brought in a forester who proceeded to uproot all the exotic trees , replacing them with all indigenous trees and shrubs.

The result was that the terrain is filled with indigenous bugs and other wildlife who feel at home among the vegetation these creatures have consumed for generations.

The natural wealth and flourishing wildlife, including insects like the long-legged fly and shield bug in Gitonga’s Dudus show speak volumes about the value of sticking with indigenous vegetation.

Finally, almost simultaneously, exhibitions of paintings by Mike Chalo opened early this week at both the Talisman Restaurant and the Banana Hill Art Gallery.

Chalo worked hard to create paintings which have something in common with the sculptures of Edward Njenga seeing as both artists portray the lives of working people struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. More to be said on his shows next week.

It’s a wonderful story about a man who not only worked closely with poor and disadvantaged Kenyans for many years and also chronicled their lives in clay.

The other down-to-earth exhibition is a photographic one by professional photographer and documentalist, Eric Gitonga. Entitled ‘Dudus of Brackenhurst.’He was also a detainee during the Emergency, an experience he graphically depicted in clay but which is, unfortunately, not part of his segment of this well-rounded exhibition which features a range of other contemporary ceramicists, among them another award-winning artist Waithera Chege as well as Beatrice Ndumi, Lilian Barengo, Juliana Igoki and the Kibichiko Potters among others.

The show is displayed at the Brackenhurst Community Centre, given that Gitonga snapped all his insects on site where more than a decade ago, the Centre brought in a forester who proceeded to uproot all the exotic trees , replacing them with all indigenous trees and shrubs.

The result was that the terrain is filled with indigenous bugs and other wildlife who feel at home among the vegetation these creatures have consumed for generations.

The natural wealth and flourishing wildlife, including insects like the long-legged fly and shield bug in Gitonga’s Dudus show speak volumes about the value of sticking with indigenous vegetation.

Finally, almost simultaneously, exhibitions of paintings by Mike Chalo opened early this week at both the Talisman Restaurant and the Banana Hill Art Gallery.

Chalo worked hard to create paintings which have something in common with the sculptures of Edward Njenga seeing as both artists portray the lives of working people struggling to make ends meet on a daily basis. More to be said on his shows next week.

margaretta.gacheru@gmail.com

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Book guides parents to deliberately ‘mould’ children for the future

Never before has a book on parenting come at a time when it was needed most than Dr Gladys Mwiti’s Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom. The book comes at a time when children outcomes have been heavily attributed to challenges in parenting in modern era. Just launched late July, Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom also comes at a time when the ministry of education is trying to solve the ongoing school unrests puzzle, with fingers pointing at parenting.

The vice has been blamed on parents absconding their parental responsibility to offer guidance, role-modelling and discipline to children, and leaving it entirely to teachers. In the book, Dr Mwiti – a clinical psychologist – presents parenting as a partnership in which parents deliberately identify and include close relatives, friends, teachers, religious leaders and neighbours in the training and mentorship of their children. She however, cautions parents that this inclusiveness does not mean abdication of parental responsibility but rather, creates a wall of love and protection around the child.

Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom acknowledges that one of the parenting tragedies today is the diminishing emphasis on value systems that define the present and the future of any society. ‘If our children represent the future that we look forward to, there is need more than ever before to rethink our priorities as parents as far as our children are concerned,’ writes Dr Mwiti.

Throughout the book, Dr Mwiti marshals a host of studies on parenting and weaves them through the book simplifying them for the ordinary reader using day-to-day examples. She also draws from her rich counselling and psychology background to equip parents on how to identify and help children with social issues like drug and alcohol abuse, sexual misbehavior, and sexually abused children. This makes Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom an all-rounded parenting book that does not leave anything to chance.

Besides keeping parents focused on their destination to bring out holistically balanced children, Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom emphasises that parents should not give into the fear of the challenges of the dangerous environment of modern society. ‘The very anxiety of how children will turn out in our complicated society that gets even more complex each day is enough to scare would-be parents as well as individuals with children’ Dr Mwiti writes. She however encourages parents to focus on the task at hand and be determined to make small gains with time as these steps lead to success.

The book also cites particular case studies of re-known successful Kenyans like Justice Martha Koome of the High Court of Kenya. The writer too draws from her personal experience while growing up and makes an observation of what has worked in her life and that of others.

Published by Arba Publications Ltd, Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom determines the direction that family leadership desires to take and identifies the gifting in each child that needs to be fanned into a flame. It recognises that not all children are gifted academically and directs parents on how best to discover their children’s inner talents and to nurture them.

The book is rich in wisdom learned in African proverbs, which Dr Mwiti generously applies throughout the 12 chapters. Parenting with Purpose & African Wisdom calls upon parents to guide their children with the end in view, by deliberately providing the support that their children need in order to mature.

By Millicent Mwololo

mmwololo@ke.nationmedia.com