BEFORE WINTER ,2016
Provenance : Provenance: Private collection, Cape Town. Zeitz MOCCA, Cape Town, Zeitz Mocca Benefit Auction, 1 December 2018, lot 18. October Gallery, London.
Notes : COLLECTOR'S NOTE Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga is a contemporary artist from Kenya, acclaimed for her sculptures and installations that explore themes of memory, migration, and displacement. Her creative approach is deeply influenced by her upbringing in rural Kenya, and the cultural traditions she inherited from her family. One of the most distinctive features of Gakunga's work is her use of Mabati, a commonly available sheet metal used for roofing and walls in Kenya. The material is associated with the Mabati Women Groups of the 1960s in central Kenya – a progressive women's movement, who during the unrest of the Kenyan government organized to replace their grass thatch roofs with Mabati while the men were away in the cities for work. This initiative enabled them to collect water from their Mabati roofs to combat the scarcity of clean drinking water in the villages. Gakunga's artwork explores the ways in which women in underdeveloped countries have tackled the challenge of gathering and managing water resources. Gakunga has been recognised with numerous accolades, including the 2021 Royal Academy of Arts' Charles Wollaston Award in London. Her work has been exhibited in important art fairs and in prominent galleries and museums across the world, such as the Museu Afro Brasil in São Paulo in 2015, Frieze New York in 2017, the International Triennial of Tapestry in Poland in 2019, and the 1:54 London Contemporary African Art Fair in 2017, among others. The artist Naomi Wanjiku Gakunga in her studio surrounded by the Mabati material.
Condition_report : The condition is excellent. Not examined outside of frame. Full report available on request.
