HONORING WOMEN IN AFRICA

This aptly titled exhibition defies borders bringing together women artists from all continents into one space in an unprecedented event in the Kenyan art world.

Peter Kimani, Daily Nation, Nairobi, Kenya

Eunice Wadu, Untitled

In February 1995 Yony Waite, WBB/Kenyan Artist/Curator hand-delivered the first completed boxes for the WBB exhibition to California. She arrived via Greyhound bus just down the street from Lorraine Serena's studio to personally deliver the works. Yony began to unwrap them, revealing the impact of time, energy, and creativity invested by each individual artist. Themes encompassed the emptiness of prostitution, pride and reverence for culture, imprisonment of body and soul, respect for nature, mystery and magic.

Yony told us that "African women have a strong desire to interact with women from other countries. Women Beyond Borders is an enormous step in enriching and connecting us. In Kenya, women have been subjugated for years as chattel, but recently many have begun finding their voices and power. We are delighted to work with WBB and look forward to networking with creative groups worldwide."

Before Yony left to continue her journey, she expressed her gratitude for acknowledgment of women in Keyna and Uganda, adding that the Contemporary Gallery at the National Museum of Kenya will be honoring the African participants of WBB with an unprecedented women's exhibition at the Museum.

Yony Waite , Untitled/ Ambiguity

In a recent interview Yony said, "It's wonderful being part of the worldwide web of women artists and particularly of this first global tour. Experiencing each box, as we dismantled the show at the National Museum, gave me an incredible range of sensations, from awe and wonder through shock and distaste. Judging from the remarks heard from the thousands of school children, tourists, and locals who visited the WBB exhibition in Nairobi, most reactions were curiosity and delight, although quite a few viewers were actually frightened!"

The WBB exhibition in Kenya was dedicated to the memory of art patron and former Director of Gallery Watatu, Ruth Schaeffner, for her lifelong support of artists.

Jessica Gerschutz of Gallery Watutu in Nairobi continues the idea of WBB in a recent discussion, "Yony and I would like to bring together the artists who participated in Women Beyond Borders, as well as women artists from other African nations, in an extension of the original exhibition. WBB made an enormous impact on Yony and the other Kenyan artists, and we would like to organize another event of that nature.

First Footsteps is the recognition and celebration of women from the beginning of time and, more simply of the roots of humanity. We would like to open the exhibition in Kenya because of its location in the heart of East Africa, the magnificent region where human beings trod their first footsteps. We will send recycled paper from Kenya's Rift Valley to the participating women artists to transform into works of art. Signifying the Earth and human creativity, this special paper will intertwine the past, present, and future.

We will invite only imagery by women, as a symbolic reminder that women in past millennia were often denied access to art and discouraged from artistic endeavors and even their own voices. The art in this exhibition will represent past generations of women. Most importantly, by gathering women's art together like firewood, we will feel the heat generated and inspired by the original sparks of creativity, which burned and spread to become the unique, complex experiences of women today."

Margaret Matanda, The Facade of Glamour Kenya The glamour we see in women is not always representative of her inner self. It is just a facade. This box has all that goes with glamour on its outside, but on the inside it has all the turmoil and agony resulting from her daily chores.

Yony Waite WBB KENYA artist/organizer. Delivering the first completed boxes to California

G. Kabura Simpiri, My Culture My Pride Kenya The Maasai are a pastoral people who live in Kenya and Tanzania in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa. The Maasai believe all the cattle on earth were given to them by God. The Maasai way of life is spent in moving from one place to another in search of grass and water for their herds. Today, the unique customs and traditions of the Maasai still exist and are treasured by them. Great effort must be made by all to see that this treasured culture is preserved for the future. By revealing this beauty of the Maasai people, I hope my contribution in some way helps in the preservation of this priceless culture. The small portrait is of a Maasai woman painted on a fragment of a special and very useful "Oleleishwa" tree. The tree is used by the Maasai to clean calabashes for milk, as perfume, for making clubs and thatching beds.