Untitled II (Kenyan Birds) 2000

Rosemary Karuga, a Kenyan artist, created this collage of birds from found papers and packaging. Her artwork speaks to the social and cultural landscape of Kenya and the role of art within it. Karuga, who initially trained in Uganda at Makerere University, later became an agricultural officer creating diagrams and illustrations. Consider how Karuga's training and professional experience in education and agriculture influenced her artistic output. How might her position in the Kenyan civil service have encouraged a critical perspective, given that Kenya had only recently achieved independence in 1963? What is the public role of an artist in the post-colonial state? To understand the meaning of this artwork, we can look to the history of post-colonial Kenya, and to the institutional settings in which Karuga operated. By combining these research methods, we gain a greater understanding of the social conditions that shape artistic production.