Art almost cost Ndalo his life
Jan 17, 2008
HE has rubbed shoulders with many African presidents; he has dined with top notch politicians, but the trade that brought fame to Kenya’s top artist has turned into a poisoned chalice for him
HE has rubbed shoulders with many African presidents; he has dined with top notch politicians, but the trade that brought fame to Kenya’s top artist has turned into a poisoned chalice for him, writes Stephen Ssenkaaba
IT was about 1:00pm. I was in my workshop in Ugunja, Nyanza Province in Kenya, painting. Suddenly, I heard a bang. A group of angry men attacked me. They called me a traitor and threatened to destroy my work. I pleaded with them. I told them I was only doing my job.
They were unrelenting.†The ordeal that changed the fortunes of Joachim Onyango Ndalo, a prominent Kenyan painter was just unfolding.
Ndalo’s attackers demanded that he immediately produce a portrait of Raila Odinga.
“I said I had it somewhere. I asked them to let me go collect it and present it to them,†he says. He left through the back door and never returned.
A journey to uncertainty
Ndalo escaped from Kenya on a bicycle. With just Ksh2,000(about sh50,000). He rode 40km to Busia from where he boarded a bus to Kampala. He arrived in Kampala about a week ago.
He lives in a small hotel in Nakivubo. But as the days go by, his coffers also run dry. “I can hardly afford anything,†he says.
In the meantime, the artist is making all efforts to sell some of his work.
He is particularly hopeful that his portrait of Queen Elizabeth 23 will fetch some good money, if the British High Commission links him to Buckingham Palace.
“Her Majesty was very impressed with it and one of her officers asked for my contacts,†he says.
As he waits for the response from the British High Commissioner’s office, Ndalo is increasingly concerned about the conditions back home.
He is particularly concerned about the state of his family of 16 members whom he left without so much as a word of farewell. “I left them with one bag of maize, 10kg of sugar and three bags of charcoal,†he says.
He is also worried that the workshop that has been his lifeline for about 20 years might be no more.
A symbol of destruction
Ndalo personifies the despondency and destruction that the past weeks of political violence have brought on the Kenyan people. His dark, sleepy red eyes radiate fatigue and the thin straying strings of kinky hair on his head desperately beg for a comb.
A thin brown coat of dirt lines the collar of his white stripped shirt. His brown leather jacket reeks of sweat and his black trousers and matching shoes have all turned brownish. He drags his feet and moves with a slouch. Everything about this man suggests exhaustion.
A great artist
Throughout East Africa, Ndalo is known for his crisp and realistic depiction of African presidents, other world leaders and major world events. From Mandela to the late Julius Nyerere, John Garang, President Yoweri Museveni to Mwai Kibaki, he has brought the faces of some of Africa’s top leaders to the world.
His portrayal of historical events such as the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre in America and the 1998 terrorist attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi have helped raise public consciousness about the world’s troubles.
His most recent painting, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth 23 and her closest family, won critical acclaim in some sections of the media in the UK. Visiting MildMay AIDS Centre at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year, Her Majesty reportedly admired it.
But Buckingham Palace has not bought the work. His art has touched many hearts and endeared him to people of all walks of life.
Born in 1951, Ndalo discovered his talent as a child at Nakuru Primary School. “I was good at drawing animals and faces. I used to help out my classmates,†he recalls.
He dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. His career took shape in 1978 when he painted a picture of president Moi publicly burning elephant tusks. Moi was so impressed, he paid me Ksh 80,000.
Ndalo has since become a presidential artist of sorts. He has competed and won many contests including the East African Nguvu Kazi Jua Kali Exhibition.
He has received commissions worth millions of shillings. But there is very little to show for his fortune, apart from a struggling art school and an art studio in Ugunja.
He lives in a mud-and-wattle house in Siaya Province with his family which includes his children, grandchildren, wife, his mother and several of his deceased bother’s children. “I would be a rich man,†he says. “But I have a big family.â€
How it all started
Ndalo’s problems began with the post-election violence in Kenya a few weeks ago.
A Luo by tribe, the father of 13 children was accused by his tribesmen of betraying their community by painting a portrait of Stanley Livondo, a spirited opponent of Raila Odinga for the Langatta parliamentary seat, and a supporter of Kibaki. “When things did not go well for Raila, they came for me,†he says.
IT was about 1:00pm. I was in my workshop in Ugunja, Nyanza Province in Kenya, painting. Suddenly, I heard a bang. A group of angry men attacked me. They called me a traitor and threatened to destroy my work. I pleaded with them. I told them I was only doing my job.
They were unrelenting.†The ordeal that changed the fortunes of Joachim Onyango Ndalo, a prominent Kenyan painter was just unfolding.
Ndalo’s attackers demanded that he immediately produce a portrait of Raila Odinga.
“I said I had it somewhere. I asked them to let me go collect it and present it to them,†he says. He left through the back door and never returned.
A journey to uncertainty
Ndalo escaped from Kenya on a bicycle. With just Ksh2,000(about sh50,000). He rode 40km to Busia from where he boarded a bus to Kampala. He arrived in Kampala about a week ago.
He lives in a small hotel in Nakivubo. But as the days go by, his coffers also run dry. “I can hardly afford anything,†he says.
In the meantime, the artist is making all efforts to sell some of his work.
He is particularly hopeful that his portrait of Queen Elizabeth 23 will fetch some good money, if the British High Commission links him to Buckingham Palace.
“Her Majesty was very impressed with it and one of her officers asked for my contacts,†he says.
As he waits for the response from the British High Commissioner’s office, Ndalo is increasingly concerned about the conditions back home.
He is particularly concerned about the state of his family of 16 members whom he left without so much as a word of farewell. “I left them with one bag of maize, 10kg of sugar and three bags of charcoal,†he says.
He is also worried that the workshop that has been his lifeline for about 20 years might be no more.
A symbol of destruction
Ndalo personifies the despondency and destruction that the past weeks of political violence have brought on the Kenyan people. His dark, sleepy red eyes radiate fatigue and the thin straying strings of kinky hair on his head desperately beg for a comb.
A thin brown coat of dirt lines the collar of his white stripped shirt. His brown leather jacket reeks of sweat and his black trousers and matching shoes have all turned brownish. He drags his feet and moves with a slouch. Everything about this man suggests exhaustion.
A great artist
Throughout East Africa, Ndalo is known for his crisp and realistic depiction of African presidents, other world leaders and major world events. From Mandela to the late Julius Nyerere, John Garang, President Yoweri Museveni to Mwai Kibaki, he has brought the faces of some of Africa’s top leaders to the world.
His portrayal of historical events such as the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre in America and the 1998 terrorist attack on the American Embassy in Nairobi have helped raise public consciousness about the world’s troubles.
His most recent painting, a portrait of Queen Elizabeth 23 and her closest family, won critical acclaim in some sections of the media in the UK. Visiting MildMay AIDS Centre at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting last year, Her Majesty reportedly admired it.
But Buckingham Palace has not bought the work. His art has touched many hearts and endeared him to people of all walks of life.
Born in 1951, Ndalo discovered his talent as a child at Nakuru Primary School. “I was good at drawing animals and faces. I used to help out my classmates,†he recalls.
He dropped out of school due to lack of school fees. His career took shape in 1978 when he painted a picture of president Moi publicly burning elephant tusks. Moi was so impressed, he paid me Ksh 80,000.
Ndalo has since become a presidential artist of sorts. He has competed and won many contests including the East African Nguvu Kazi Jua Kali Exhibition.
He has received commissions worth millions of shillings. But there is very little to show for his fortune, apart from a struggling art school and an art studio in Ugunja.
He lives in a mud-and-wattle house in Siaya Province with his family which includes his children, grandchildren, wife, his mother and several of his deceased bother’s children. “I would be a rich man,†he says. “But I have a big family.â€
How it all started
Ndalo’s problems began with the post-election violence in Kenya a few weeks ago.
A Luo by tribe, the father of 13 children was accused by his tribesmen of betraying their community by painting a portrait of Stanley Livondo, a spirited opponent of Raila Odinga for the Langatta parliamentary seat, and a supporter of Kibaki. “When things did not go well for Raila, they came for me,†he says.