AFRICAN MAXIMALISM

Maasai Mbili Art Centre (M2) is a community based art group that was started in 2001, by two artists Otieno Gomba and Otieno Kota, who initially work as sign writers in Kibera.

Today Maasai Mbili has eight active members, and a group of six promising students/apspirant members closely connected to the core group. In 2003 M2 accquired a space, a two storey structure, originally a pub, and turned it into a studio and a gallery. The centre is situated along Kibera Drive, just After
Ayany Junction, and almost all the M2 activities are focused at Kiberan development, through community interaction.

Maasai Mbili is not yet registred as an organisation. Procedures have started, but is is an issue that has been pushed forward and postponed a number of times, earlier due to heavy workload, recently because of the turbulent post-election period.
However, Maasai Mbili has for years been a strong, independent, active and well-known force of Kibera based community development and has time after time during the years recieved many proofs of popularity and respect, lately by the American Ambassador, who visited the M2 Art Centre to thank for peace-keeping activities during the post-election violence.

When Maasai Mbili was started in 2001 the group was small, and working on the streets. The purpose with M2 was therefore

- to gather likeminded artists and by the strength of the
group improve income and working conditions for the
members and

- increasing the understanding of how Fine Arts and
cultural activities could bring equal strength into the
communities in Kibera.

As soon as M2 got a chance to work from its “own” base, the ideology and objective of the group was extending. The reach-out profile of the group became stronger and the task of promoting culture as tools for development turned into a mission. Hence, M2 has since the start of
Maasai Mibili Arts Centre been focused at nurturing and developing art for both aspiring and young artists in Kibera. One important coordinate in that relation is the government decision to scrap art in primary school, a fact that made M2 extend and put more strength in its workshops with Kiberan children.

Another aim has always been to enable artists to have one voice, through which they could create awareness of the various issues concering the community, i. e. HIV, crime and other social problems. This objective has made M2 tenaously active with community outreach projects, involving the artists and other community members in interactive efforts where Fone Arts has been made the hub and main tool for result.

Among the things M2 has accomplished since start are; A number of community outreach projects, where the most recent (and famous) was the Art4Peace Healing Project, aiming at healing and restoration of peace through art. The project involved worksshops with children, painting of the ruins, printing of Peace T-shirts, a peace focused grafitti effort along Kibera Drive etc.
Other, less well-known M2 efforts are to be found in primary schools around Kibera and at the M2 Art Centre, where a long row of children’s workshops has been held.

Maasai Mbili Art Centre l P.O. Box 54820, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya l phone 0723 618 160 l m2artstudio@yahoo.com l www.Art4Peace.org

Maasai Mbili has also delivered ellaborate Ghetto Art lessons at a number of higher educations.
Except the interactive outreach projects, the M2 members have held a number of exhibitions of more traditional profile as well as workshops around speciefied subjects outside Nairobi, bodymapping seminars in Mehru, Ghetto Art workshops in Mombasa etc.
Maasai Mbili has through the years developed sustainability through the introduction of a 20 percent group commission on individually sold work. This has enabled the group to raise rent money for the studio art funds to supply with material for members and
some youth workshops. No funds are coming to Maasai Mbili from outside…