Nadia Wamunyu

Nadia Wamunyu is a well-establish contemporary visual artist who sees art as an expression of herself. She uses charcoal on paper, coffee, inks, bleach and oil paint on canvas to create my artwork. At the age of eight, after partially losing her hearing ability, she realized she could record memories, experiences, tastes and feelings through drawing. This has consequently allowed people to understand her perspective, how she thinks, her vision and desires much more effectively. To Wamunyu, her art feels like a relief from the stress of vocal communication that she struggles with.

She partially lost her ability to hear at the age five after the medical error, a doctor administered a strong dose of antibiotics. Her dad, who has been biggest supporter and inspiration, encouraged her to be creative in different ways immediately after this unfortunate incident. Her art career officially began at the GoDown Art Centre while in high school under the tutelage of renowned Kenyan painter Patrick Mukabi.

Most of her earlier works were charcoal drawings and oil paintings capturing random people, faces, figures and later on scenes from Lamu town, a small magical town in Lamu island, a destination I never stopped visiting since young.

Her work have been showcased both locally and internationally: GoDown Art Centre, Village Market, Alliance Franchise, Kuona Artists Collective, US Embassy, British Council, Baitil Aman in Shela, Lamu Fort, Nairobi Museum, Polka Dot Art Gallery, Circle Art Gallery, Absa Gallery in South Africa, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery in South Australia, AKKA project, Italy, Miami Art Fair, East Africa Art Endeavor in Poland, Gallery Brulhart in Switzerland and many more.

She has also participated in the Manjano Art Competition & Exhibition a prestigious annual art competition and exhibition by GoDown Art Centre and winnig first prize in the student category in 2013 and third prize in the artist category in 2020. She participated in the Lamu Painters Festival in 2015 & 2017.

She’s currently a member of the Kuona Artists Collective in Nairobi, experimenting with ink on paper, pastel, mixed media and photography. She uses her half Nubian female body as a way to express her emotions, insecurities and past experiences as a young African woman. In a broader perspective these works address a serious identity crisis among most young African women who are not confident in their skin color or black bodies. Other topics Nadia is interested in are feminism, sexual harassment and mental healths.