Rosemary Karuga

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Rosemary Namuli Karuga (19 June 1928 - 9 February 2021) was a Kenyan visual artist.[1][2] In 2017, she was named Artist of the Month by the National Museums of Kenya. She is known to be the first woman artist to have studied at Makerere University.[3][4][5][6]

Early years and education[]

Karuga was born on June 19, 1928.[7] in Meru, Kenya to a Ugandan father and a Kenyan mother[8] She was the first female graduate of the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, Makerere University in Kampala between 1950 and 1952 where she studied design, painting and sculpture and an art educator in rural Kenya until her retirement (1989), when she became artist in residence at Nairobi’s Paa ya Paa Arts Centre. She was the only woman in Studio Museum Harlem’s exhibition Contemporary African Artists: Changing Tradition (1990), and received a lifetime achievement award from the African Voice newspaper. Her work lives on in several collections, including the Red Hill Gallery, National Museums of Kenya, Murumbi Trust, and the Watatu Foundation.[9] She passed on at the age of ninety-three at the Amberley Nursing Home in Dublin, Ireland where she lived with her daughter. In 2006 she moved to live with family and obtain medical attention in Ireland.[3][4][5][6]She lived there until her death on 9 February 2021.

Career[]

After completing her education at Makerere University in Kampala, she moved back to Kenya worked as a teacher. She retired from teaching in the 1980s to pursue arts professionally. In 1987, she became an Artist in Residence at the Paa ya Paa Arts Centre in Nairobi. She usually created collage arts using the paper packaging from Rexona soap and Unga flour.[2] In the 1990s she was commissioned to illustrate Amos Tutuola’s magical book, The Palm Wine Drinkard. Subsequently, her collage ‘illustrations’ was exhibited in Paris, London and in the Studio Museum in Harlem, USA.[3][4][5][6]

Personal life[]

She got married in 1953 and has since given birth to three children and has grand children.[3][4][5][6]

References[]

  1. ^ "Detail of a collage work by Rosemary Karuga, Untitled, 1998. © Karuga family/Courtesy Red Hill Art Gallery The importance of remembering Kenyan artist Rosemary Karuga". The Conversation. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "The Art House - A Profile of Rosemary Karuga - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  3. ^ a b c d "Red Hill Art Gallery". www.redhillartgallery.com. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  4. ^ a b c d "Rosemary Karuga: The masterful artist you've never heard about". Daily Nation. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rosemary Karuga: Unearthing Hidden Artistic Treasures | Contemporary And". www.contemporaryand.com (in German). Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  6. ^ a b c d "The nine pioneer women of East African art". The East African. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  7. ^ Mwiti, Anne. "We can't afford to forget Kenyan collagist Rosemary Karuga". Arts. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  8. ^ Mwiti, Anne. "We can't afford to forget Kenyan collagist Rosemary Karuga". Arts. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  9. ^ Mwiti, Anne. "We can't afford to forget Kenyan collagist Rosemary Karuga". Arts. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
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