Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service. I am Franny Joey. Last summer, I met the Kenyan artist Mika Obanda at his studio in the slums of Nairobi, where I saw the mosaics and drawings he was finishing off for an exhibition. He's been through a lot since then. I want to tell you about the challenges he's faced and how that has affected his work.
But first, here's a reminder of the artwork he was making, with a surprising twist. His mosaics are not created using traditional tiles, but from something most of us throw away. Eggshells.
Eggshells can do art. Deep, very meaningful art.
For the past six years, he's been using these delicate shells, painstakingly placing the tiny pieces to create his vibrant, personal and activist artworks.
When I'm using these shells, I'm exploring color. Mosaic, I feel it's very personal to me. It made me find peace in the moment that I couldn't find peace.
Mika lives and works in Mukuru, a slum area in the south of Nairobi. Now, about 60% of the capital's population live in slums. And Mika's artworks often depict the experiences faced by the 700,000 people who call Mukuru home. It's crowded. It can be a difficult place to thrive in.
Mukuru inspires my work a lot. Like 90% of what I do is like inspired from here. When I speak about what I've gone through, all this is affecting me. That's what comes out in my work.
So I'm just taking a walk to Mika's studio in Mukuru. There are so many shops and children coming back from school, open-air markets. Hello, Mika.
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Chapter 2: What unique materials does Mika Obanda use for his mosaics?
Do you have any reasons for choosing that particular theme?
Yeah, because I've grown in the slums here in Mukuru, Koroben. I'm trying to show, trying to blossom in the midst of all these hardships, growing in the slum, police brutality, the government misusing funds which are supposed to help people in a particular state or in a particular area. All those things, I want to address them, but now in a very creative way that is consumable by everyone.
I want to go deep into the challenges that they face, trying to see that artist, everything that affects him as a Kenyan, as an Afrikaner.
You scribbled some notes here, trying to blossom distribution plan one. The self-education and research overlooking my younger self, I can believe you'll watch this flourish. I love that. And you're sketching in chalk.
Yeah, and what I'm doing currently is just small pieces, like just a test of waters on how far this series can go.
As I can see, you've pinned 11 testers on the wall. So like the third one here, I can see a sketch where there are four people sitting on the floor and there are two stools. One of them is toppled over and there's also a candle lit in the room.
It's titled support system. That's me sitting there. And then the family is like, yeah, that's the support system. So then the candle is showing that the light is not enough.
Oh, so the candle features in a lot of the tester pieces that you have on the wall here.
Yeah, because these are showing the very low moments of an artist moving to a new space where you don't know how it is. Most of the things are not clear.
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Chapter 3: How does living in Mukuru influence Mika's artwork?
I can just go like that.
Mika, this is quite laborious, like sticking all these tiny pieces until you make an entire painting.
Yes, it's very therapeutic for me. I have a lot of racing thoughts and the patience that comes with working with eggshells, I think it slows me down slowly by slowly until I finish the whole artwork. And it can take even two months or maybe even, there's an artwork which I did and it took six months.
So I'll let you do the sticking as I watch you without distracting you because you need to pay attention.
Yes. Sometimes I even realize that I place a particular very good color in a particular place without even knowing. So like it can get me to that place where I can be so in the moment that I even forget I'm working. I just feel like I'm just having fun. And basically that's art. The brown has a lot of orange. That's why I mix it that way.
Specifically for this person, you can see the others are like a bit pale. This one is popping out more because I'm like showing the main person in the artwork. I want him to be so visible in a way that no one can assume him.
So it's a mixture of colours, the ones that pop out and the ones that are quieter.
Yeah, basically that.
You know, one thing I've also noticed is that it ends up giving a rough texture.
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Chapter 4: What challenges has Mika faced as an artist in Nairobi?
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You're listening to the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service. And I'm with the Kenyan artist Mika Obanda as he works on his eggshell mosaic series, Trying to Blossom. As well as working on his mosaics, Mika has an exhibition of his charcoal and pastel drawings happening next week. And his mother is on a mission to help him look his best.
That's my mum. Hello, mummy. Sorry, so that's your mum calling? Yes.
Is it work-related?
Yeah, it's work-related because she's buying for me shoes for my exhibition. I'm getting very stylish, inspired by some Saudi soul music.
And Saudi soul is a popular Kenyan music band. Looks like your mum is your wardrobe manager.
She's doing a lot of things. She's a tailor. Actually, I think most of my work is inspired by her also.
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