Artist of the Month: Foibe Makundi

Makundi

Tanzania is rich with artists of all caliber ranging from those tingatinga artists we’re all come acquainted to, to those more mainstream. They all represent a Tanzania from their individual views, backgrounds and beliefs. Dar Life caught up with the newly emerging artist Foibe who is taking a more active and vocal approach to showing her work. By George Rodgers

Name: Foibe Makundi Profession: Visual Artist Born: 1974

D L - What inspired you to start painting? F oibe - Wanting to get accurate depiction of people, kijiji, mlima. My older sister was good at drawings people. I asked her to help me... class mates found out, in proving them wrong, that it was I who did the work. Redrew the image...and again and again... realizing its getting better...then started drawings more and more... I think we started Sanaa period on 2rd grade, which became one of my favorite classes. In 1987, my family moved to I was born in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania in 1974. My parents are both from the Marangu, Moshi region in Kilimanjaro. In 1987, my family relocated to Geneva, Switzerland. My interest in Art started in 2nd grade. At 18, I moved to the USA to pursue further studies in the Arts. In 1997, I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Arts and in Art History from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I lived and practiced in the Washington, DC until 2009, when I returned back to Tanzania. I now live in Dar-es-Salaam and teach at Ardhi University. I am currently painting a serie on the of "Waswahili: Watu wa Pwani", part of continuous studies of East African people and Cultures.

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2011 Geneva, Switzerland, where I began to receive a formal training in Fine Arts, along with the other Science and Math and Language courses.

D L - How long have you been an artist? Foibe - 29 years.

D L - When did you start? F oibe - 2nd grade in Chang'ombe primary school (8yrs old in 1982).

D L - What is your genre of painting and what mediums do you like to use? F oibe - Life Drawings (Figurative/Portraiture, Still Life and Landscape).

D L - Tell us about your first exhibition? When was it? Foibe - First Exhibit - Group Exhibit- Student's Work while in High School, International School of Geneva, Switzerland ... probably 1991 or 1992, First Solo Exhibit - Christensen Center Art Gallery, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, USA – 1997.

DL - Where do you do your work? F oibe - In my house. My Dining Room is my Art Studio.

D L - Do you work from life, or from photographs or from imagination? Foibe - I use all means – My favorite is drawing and painting from a model. However, many of my recent work were photographs that I modified in photoshop until I captured the lighting and the tones. Then painted the new images.

D L - What moves you most in life, either to inspire or upset you? Foibe - Day to day activities that are part of our culture. The tangible unity I experience among the extended family, friends and colleagues. Regardless of your personal issues and responsibilities, there are routines imbedded in the culture that you just know you have go thru because its the right thing to do, the thing that is expected of you. For example, birth, wedding or death... of anyone you know... or are distantly related to... the emotional and financial support that one can expect during this time.

D L - Where do you feel art is going? Foibe - I think art is finally evolving in Tanzania. I have faith we are finally waking up from a deep sleep and starting to explore more medias and local subjects.

64 I Dar Life I MARCH 2020 D L - What is the role of the artist in society? Foibe - Reflection of the Cultures and the Society. History keeper.

D L - What is the place of your work in society? F oibe - Telling the world an uncommon view of the people of East Africa. Subjects that are yet to be mainstream, but are yet oh so part of our lives.

D L - What technique do you use? Which is more important to you, the subject of your painting, or the way it is executed? Foibe - Oil painting- textured brush strokes. I feel that both, the subject and the execution, are equally important. You may have a very important subject, but if the execution is done poorly, or inappropriately, then the message may not reach the target.

D L - Do you prefer a perfect smooth technique or a more energetic expressive technique and why? A more energetic /expressive technique Foibe - I think it makes a painting, a canvas come alive.

D L - Why is your work so pretty! What do you think makes it stand out? F oibe - Both the Subject and the painting technique. The technique - I usually stop when I feel a piece is done, even if the painting is not finished. I use the subject that I feel comfortable expressing an opinion on and also common subjects that many people can relate to. T o purchase any of my painting and other exhibition queries please E: foibe@aol.com. Picture Courtesy Foibe