STATEMENT
I use semi abstract figures as a means to go beyond the conditioning of how we see each other's bodies. This enables me to understand the depth of the body and the self beyond a conditioned mind. In terms of color, I’ve studied the work of Mark Rothko, wassily Kandinsky and Henri matisse. Now I tend to think that the European abstraction artists stole from African fashion and then sold it back to us. In my figures, I borrow heavily from the ancient Egyptian cave art. I’m influenced by artists and poets such as V for 5, Adam yawe, Chelenge, Syowia Kambi and many others who are constantly innovating and challenging the boundaries of being.
THE MUSE
These 10 paintings were made in conversation with artist V for 5 concerning the role of the muse and the history of body objectification in art. They observed that the way we view each other is deeply rooted in how we were taught to look at each other's bodies. By deconstructing the body into flat figures Antony challenges this conditioned patriarchal perceptions. The paintings were produced during Antony and 5’s one month residency at kampi ya lucky in kakamega county.
BIO
Antony Mwangi Kihugu known as the mute poet, is a visual artist and a skateboarder based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is a member of zamani skateboards, a local skateboarding brand founded by Adam yawe which incorporates creativity and design into the culture of skateboarding. He rides for Tanzania based antidote skateboards. He also works on Skater mtrue, a collaborative zine project with artist V for 5 which defines the local skateboard culture. Kihugu views his skate practice as a meditation.
Although he received artistic training from contemporary artist James Mbuthia at an early age, his practice began when he completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the University of Nairobi in 2020. His work focuses on the ongoing discourse with the self and the interdependence of the self with the other as we navigate space in society. Antony uses yoga as a means for introspection and listening to the self and the body. He applies the human figure to observe and translate his emotional experiences.
Kihugu’s work has been exhibited at the national museums of Kenya’s affordable art show, with The hive and at the HCK annual charity auction and recently during ancestral technologies exhibition at munyu space. He conducted a talk with contemporaryand and Goethe institute about skateboarding and public space during Occupy The Mall event. Antony is currently in a residency at kobo studios courtesy of artist David Thuku.
instagram
Indigenous spiritual practices believe that the deceased spend their afterlife on the earth. The land is a resting place for those who came before us, if the resources we use to build our technologies are obtained from the land, then technology is a resting place for the departed. Ancestral Technologies is an installation and public programme which navigates the liminal spaces between past, present, and future, weaving together threads of ancestral wisdom with contemporary digital tools. It honours the interconnectedness of the spirit world with the land and recognises the responsibility of stewarding the digital realm as a sacred extension of this connection. Through a series of curated artworks, web-pieces, video installations, and a participatory public curriculum on web-building, technology is viewed as a conduit for expressing collective wisdom, narratives, and dreams. This exhibition fosters digital sovereignty through understanding the symbiotic relationship between humans, technology, spirit and the natural world.
THE DIGITAL SELF
“The self is fragmented-the internet affords it this complexity. We
split & weave (our names) across spaces, marking the boundaries and
lines that make the self” - Chia Amisola, Domain Naming. These
collection of short films attempt to piece together the multiplicities
of self through montage, experimentation and non-linear storytelling.
why are you performing for these mortals -
KABI KIMARI
animation
2023
masks+mirrors - L.AKINYI
cinepoetry film experiment
2023
I Put the Miss in Misanthropic - V FOR 5
audio-visual collage
2021
sikuyakawaida.mp3 - V FOR 5
audio-visual collage
2022
tugging on my robe (ft. L) - V FOR 5
audio-visual collage
2022
HELP US OUR LAND
THE MUTE POET, V FOR 5
The ethos of ancestral technology resides within the indigenous belief
that the earth is the resting place for the dead. Trees were shrines,
worshiped and believed to be the resting places of the ancestors. Help
us our land is an installation that houses the nature spirits which are
depicted through the artworks of v for 5 and the mute poet.
The Mute Poet
In my journey as an artist I remember vividly when I started seeing
figures and faces inside bushes, fences and trees. I would hurriedly
draw them in fear that they might disappear. My friend told me that I
was seeing them because I was becoming a better artist. Later on having
conversations with V for 5 about the land, ancestors, I remembered about
my beginnings in Kawaida, a small village that had a lot of trees,
rivers, waterfalls and dams. I grieved over the fact that the place I
was residing in at that moment, donholm had no green spaces and the one
that existed was heavily guarded or being built on. Since there were no
more trees to observe, I retreated to my memory to describe these
figures and faces that I would access earlier. That's how I came up with
the pastel drawings. Two of them I drew live in machakos while
surrounded by a forest, at least.
Masii by the hills
Oil pastel on canvas pad
2023
Masii by the mango trees
Oil pastel on canvas pad
2023
Capitalism
Oil pastel on used skate deck
2023
The Forest King
Oil pastel on used skate deck
2023
Help us our land
Oil pastel on canvas pad
2023
Ceremony
Oil pastel on canvas pad
2023
I have never been heard
Oil pastel on cardboard
2023
Spirit of the old green lady
Oil pastel on cardboard
2023
On the land
Oil pastel on used skate deck
2023
V for 5
The subjects of bark and sun are ones that frequently cross my mind. My
fiction is about them and in all my daily movements, I always make time
to inspect and mythologise with these subjects. Picking up sticks has
become a practice that fills up my mythology, sticks carry information
about their ecosystem and through their curation in this space I seek
them to be small and sacred resting places for those nature spirits
displaced by imperialist greed and circumstance, giving them a
post-natural resting place to call home. The pieces are thoughts and
visions of a nature that is inhabited by many more-than-human living
beings whose bodies are the land itself.
Bark Man
Found object
2023
Sun Man
Acrylic on found mask
2024
Wood being with antelope features
Found object from the Kakamega rainforest
2023
My neighbours from hatheru
Oil pastel on canvas panel
2023
Many days, Many nights
Acrylics & oil pastel on plywood
2023
WEB PIECES
A series of hand-made websites by V for 5
MTO
website
2024
Mto is a simple yet ambiguous mixed-media website which invites users to be curious. Using hyperlinks as its main means of experimental navigation, mto hosts things to read, watch and listen to from the world of The Jehovas.
INGIA NYUMBA
website
2024
Ingia Nyumba is a mixed-media interactive web-piece that invites users to select two options on what to do once they have entered the house. This piece includes things to read, things to type and things to listen to.
OUR COMMUNITY GARDEN
google sheets
2024
‘Our Community Garden’ is a sheet site that creates the space for community to gather and use technology as a method of showing care.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
OUR COMMUNITY GARDEN:
Our Community Garden is a sheet site which empowers individuals and communities by giving them greater agency and autonomy over their digital lives. It encourages innovation that enables communities to harness technology to share their updates, projects and art without depending on the algorithm. This brief curriculum will equip communities with the basic web building tools to create the digital spaces they need. The curriculum will involve four workshops around sheet sites and web collages, as well as a classroom on which to learn and discuss about digital gardening, the handmade web and the algorithm. The curriculum will conclude with a final day of presentations of the sheet sites and web collages the participants made.
OPEN MIC: PUBLIC GRIEVING OVER THE EXPLOITATION OF THE EARTH'S RESOURCES:
Technology and the development of infrastructures are heavily dependent on the Earth for their resources. Through colonialism and capitalism, our continent has been a site for ecological, physical and emotional abuses. Enough is enough. This open mic is a call to gathering for collective grieving through poetry, readings, monologues and listening.
BIOS
Kabi Kimari
kabi kimari is an anti-disciplinary artist that creates portals to current and alternate realities.
Nerima Makhondo
Nerima Makhondo ApodaSpark was raised in Eldoret, Kenya. They use Xe/They pronouns since Xe identifies as non-human. They are an any-media artist whose foundation is performance. ApodaSpark lives art and arts life using their body to enmesh the two. Xe is a collector of skills like a videogame character. With little institutional training, they have a do-it-yourself approach when making work, where process is more important than product and the specificity of the project determines its medium. In addition to their work being D.I.Y, Xe mixes media because it expands their approach to different themes by creating new conversations as the forms interact. Xe explore themes of trauma and mental health, sexual assault, black political questions, gender violence and questions of masquerade. They are at their best when working with their hands or on a stage. Xe is always seeking to add new skill sets just in case the world as we know it ends. They do not believe in formal institutions from past violent experiences; Xe prefers apprenticeship and self-teaching. Currently, ApodaSpark is transitioning back to full-time creative pursuits in music and their performance practice.
L. Akinyi
Lilian Ⓛ Akinyi was born and raised in Nairobi, KE and has been an artist/maker since childhood. Currently living and working within the Inland Empire, Ⓛ is interested in pursuing opportunities for brave, transformative, conscious expression and collaboration.
The Mute Poet
Antony Mwangi Kihugu also known as the mute poet, is a visual artist and a skateboarder. He is a member of zamani skateboards, a local skateboarding brand founded by Adam Yawe which incorporates creative design into the culture of skateboarding. He rides for Tanzania based antidote skateboards. He also works in a collaborative project with artist Vfor5 called skater mtrue which dissects what it is like to be a skateboarder through written media.
Although he received training from contemporary artist James Mbuthia at an early age, his practice began when he completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the University of Nairobi in 2020. Kihugu’s work has been exhibited at the national museums of Kenya’s affordable art show, with The hive and at the HCK annual charity auction. He conducted a talk with contemporaryand and Goethe institute about skateboarding and public space during Occupy The Mall event. Antony is currently in residency at Kobo Trust, courtesy of Thuku.
V for 5
V for 5 is a multi-hyphenated artist from Nairobi who discovered her passion for writing, web-building, and filmmaking at a young age. After self-publishing her first zine, Bad Poetry; an anthology of poems accompanied by illustrations drawn by Sharon Neema, she pursued studies in scriptwriting and film producing but dropped out to focus on community building. During the pandemic, she deepened her artistic pursuits, publishing poems and plays, and exploring experimental filmmaking. She became involved in skateboarding, leading to collaborations with Zamani Skateboards and forming Skater Mtrue with Antony Mwangi. 5 is one half of the music duo ’The Jehovas’, who have released two singles and host a pirate radio station, the [R.V.E.R]. Her time at SFPC studying HTTPOETICS coincided with the development of the website ‘mto’ and the sheet site ‘Our Community Garden’. Her community practice extends to the web where she shares Ableton and coding tutorials on Youtube. 5's web-building practice, akin to her zine-making, creates networks and builds community.
vfor5.neocities.org