Art Collection
The Foundation has a growing collection of paintings, sculptures, and tribal art (planned to be on permanent display at the Foundation site by 2026) that will attract Kenyans and international visitors with the emphasis on displaying Africa’s growing place in the world as relates to art and creativity.
A community focused collection which includes several site-specific installations that focus on nature, environment, wildlife, landscapes for the benefits of Kenyans, Africans and international visitors will be used for educational purposes.
The Foundation currently owns a small collection of paintings and sculpture by predominantly East African artists that focus primarily on African culture, nature, landscapes, environment & endangered wildlife with a small part of the collection reflecting the best of modern and contemporary African art.
Themes of artwork will include:
● East African artists work
● Art reflecting Africa’s nature, wildlife, culture, landscapes, forests and natural habitats
● Site specific installation art linked to the above themes for the gardens
● 8 site specific circular murals of iconic and world heritage landscapes in Kenya
The Foundation will continue to collect under-represented groups
● Contemporary art by African artists (under 1% in international global museums and collections)
● Women artists (under 2% in international and museums and collections)
Using the African art collection to inspire and educate and instill an appreciation and understanding of the co-existence of people, nature and wildlife.
The Orkedi Foundation had its first collection bequeathed to it in November 2020 by a private collector who began collecting East African art in the 1960’s.
2026: The main Foundation building will include a small cafe, library, research center and offices.
Research & Documentation
There is a lack of public and private museums holding collections of art in Kenya and only a handful of private museums in Africa leading to a lack of documentation, research and recording of the many brilliant creative talents working in Kenya and East Africa. Many great deceased artists that have contributed to East African art history have simply vanished with little record or documentation about them.
The Orkedi Foundation will begin research into artists in the Collection.
Art history students and curators will be invited to broaden and professionalize the project as well as raising funds for the artists’ commissions to grow the Collection. A Curator will lead the purchase of the Collection with an assistant and raise funds for the research, cataloguing and documentation of the artists from an African art history perspective.
