Safaricom promotes contemporary Kenyan artists

21 Feb, 2010

Safaricom is opening an exhibition space for the visual arts on the ground floor of its new extension at Safaricom House in Westlands. The space is to be available for local contemporary artists and is designed to promote not only a new public awareness of Kenyan art, but also to encourage a new promotional spirit among the artists themselves. Although Safaricom is only providing an exhibition space for now, the next logical step would be for it to start its own corporate collection.

There are few big private Kenyan art collectors so most local artists have to rely on corporate patronage. The Commercial Bank of Africa holds one of the biggest collections, thanks to the efforts of Isaac Awuondo, its managing director. Awuondo is also on the board of the Kuona Trust, one of Nairobi