Entrance-dream sculpture, Nairobi Gallery, Nairobi, Kenya

The Nairobi Gallery part of the Nairobi National Museum is a couple of towering greek pillars supporting an arched entryway under which stands a beautiful marble statue. It all feels aged: the walls that are marked dark by years of rainfall and sunlight, the architectural design of the building that contrasts beautifully with the modern designs of the skyscrapers around it, and the juxtaposition that results from the existence of the gallery in Nairobi, Kenya, one of the biggest urban centres in East Africa.

You walk in and to your left is a sign that proclaims in big bold letters, “Pioneer Artists of East Africa”. You ask yourself three important questions: What movement or genre are these artists pioneers of? What gives this particular gallery in Kenya the right to claim to represent Art from the whole of East Africa? What are the common factors between the countries that make up East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan) other than geographical location?

The answer to the third question you discover once you walk through the double and take two right turns into a room full of paintings and stamps — History. A common history shaped by slave and commodity trade, European colonialism, Arabic colonialism, Muslim influences, and Bantu heritage. When you look at the wall to your left and encounter the first artwork of this tour: The Joseph and Sheila Murumbi Pan African Stamp Collection. Stamps from all over East Africa adorn the walls and even a few from the rest of Africa (you see Nigeria, Angola and Malawi — try spotting other non East African countries). You see a few plaques narrating how some of the different stamps came to be. You ask yourself this: What about these artefacts make them art? If nothing, why are they in a gallery?

You move on to answer the second question — pioneers of what? You set out to discover what these artists were trying to achieve. There’s a door across from the one that leads outside and in there above all the artefacts you see in bold letters “African Heritage”. Aha! Perhaps the artists were pioneering an African identity, or more specifically an East African identity. You move closer to the wall behind the cabinet. Interestingly you find posters of events on African heritage and pictures of masks and people. The gallery you’re in seems to host a lot of events surrounding African heritage. You’re curious: What effect do events hosted in galleries and museums have in the interpretation and perception of art in the wider society? You think it might be interesting to look into the role of museums and galleries historically and currently in the society you most identify with.

But you are not satisfied with this. So what if there are posters about events on African Heritage? Why would this compel anyone to dedicate a whole gallery to pioneer artists of East Africa? Who are these pioneering artists? In the next room, in a corridor to the left from the room you left, is a collection of traditional wooden objects like spoons and woven objects like baskets. All of these objects have domestic and real life use to a traditional household. Most of these must have been made by craftsmen. What are crafts and how are they related to arts? Is the African heritage and identity synonymous to African traditions? In a room to the left of the room you’re currently in, you find a room full of ornaments of silver and gold. Is the African heritage natural endowments like minerals and fuels? Or is the African heritage a feeling of being African? What is the African identity? What is an identity?

You exit the museum. You walked in with many questions, most of which were answered. But one looms over you as you turn to go about your life: What gives this particular gallery in Kenya the right to claim to represent Art from the whole of East Africa? Or really, who defines if an object is art, the meaning it has, and its value? And especially for museums, what gives them the right to represent different societies and heritages, sometimes even societies that do not exist within the geographical vicinity of the museum? How can museums be better in addressing multiple cultural and artistic perspectives?

Regardless, this was a great starting point to learning about the multidimensionality of East Africa and Africa. You leave with a greater appreciation for the vast continent of Africa and its people, realising how little you know, and how much is left to be learnt.