WAI: What was the turning point in your journey towards becoming a Street Artist? I mean when everything changed.

Kerosh: It was a couple of months before I cleared High School. Someone told me about an event called Words and Pictures (WAPI) at British Council. He showed me pictures of guys doing graffiti and gave me details. 

So Graffiti artists have something they call the Writers bench where they meet and discuss projects and share ideas and stuff. So I went for the Writers bench on a Thursday for an event they were planning for that coming Saturday. I learnt about the limitations they had with paint and decided I would go to watch this time round, even though I really wanted to participate.

When the actual day came it was an amazing experience for me. It was a proper Hip hop event and all the great music I like and was not regular on the radio was played there as people worked on their graffiti pieces. I was like Weh! where have I been, you mean I have been missing this all this while? The vibe there was also so good. People from different neighborhoods met and clicked so well.

That same day I went to the super market and bought myself spray paint and started trying out stuff by myself. Most of it was bad so I would go back to those graffiti artists I met at WAPI and they would guide me on what I should have done. Most of what I learnt is from them and not just graffiti skills but life skills too. I learnt humility and patience from them they were the most humble and patient people I knew. Most of the projects I do nowadays are a way of saying thank you for what they taught me.

WAI: What projects are you currently working on?

Kerosh: I initiated the Street Diaries Collective. There is also another project we do annually  in Korogosho known as Talking walls which I also coordinate. So when we have resources we go and bless these people with Art.

There's a documentary coming out soon too that has been in the pipeline for around a year and a half now. The documentary has been growing rapidly because every time the lady in charge comes to the country there's always a lot of content accumulated.

WAI: Do you feel like people have embraced Graffiti Art from the time you started to date?

Kerosh: Aah! there has been a growth, the other thing is that, graffiti is just graffiti. It is not done to be embraced in the first place that's why people do it illegally. It's a person who feels they have something to say to the world, that they must say whether you like it or not.

There's a quote I read somewhere from a big time graffiti artist  called Banksy. He said "Art is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable"

So for graffiti artists to come up with a piece on the streets many things have to be put into consideration. First they should be willing to spend their money to buy paints. They have to go to the streets and check whatever risk it takes, then put up an artwork and leave without being paid or probably even without being known.

It takes a certain kind of mind, then this guy does this again and again and again. So he may use all his resources with nothing in return because he wanted to do it. Keeping in mind some people will  not appreciate it and instead will call it illegal.

WAI: Do you have a big dream with your artform, something you would like to achieve in the future?

Kerosh: My dream is to have spaces where guys who want to paint on walls can come and do that. The reason I don't do a lot of street is because my artworks are intense and need a  lot of time.

 The streets don't give you a lot of time. So for us having this wall over here (The wall leading to the art studio at the Railways Museum). I can put up an art work in 3 days at my own pace and push my skill to the furthest it can go.

You cannot get that luxury in the streets. That's why I really want to create spaces like this. Places where when you feel inspired to do a piece you just go to do it without thinking about being asked questions. I also mentor and I really want to see the upcoming artists succeed in their craft.

I hope you have learnt a thing or two from the conversation Kerosh and I had. I know I learnt a lot. If you want to interact with Kerosh you can reach him through his email [email protected]. You could also follow him on Social Media keroshgraff on instagram and Kerosh Kiruri on facebook.

Cheers!
AA(Auspicious Art)
Wendi Mutisya

Kerosh is a Kenyan Street Artist currently based at the Nairobi Railways Museum. I met him so that I could have a look at his pieces and also have  a conversation with him about his craft and this is what he had to say. I found this conversation so interesting and inspiring so because a lot was said. I decided to post it in two parts.

WAI: How did you start?

Kerosh: I started sketching cars when I was around 3 years old. Nursery school drawing classes were my favorite. Once in pre unit we were asked to draw a ball and my friend drew a ball the way he saw a ball ( he pauses to  sketch what his friend drew) not the way we were taught to draw a ball ( he pauses to sketch how they were taught to draw it) and he got a tick.  (a tick was a big thing for a child that age).

It was an Aha! moment for me. I realized I did not have to strictly follow what we were taught but I could actually draw things the way I saw them.

The next time we were told to draw our family, I decided to draw my Dad. Essentially we were meant to draw the whole family. I did a detailed  drawing of my Dad instead making sure his shirt's pocket was fat to show the presence of lots of sweets for me. My teacher showed my piece to the whole class and boy was I happy.

At that tender age I started becoming very observant. When I saw anything interesting I would go home and draw it. I got a baby brother and all of a sudden I was not the center of attention anymore. To cope with the situation I continued drawing even more. My friends were fascinated with my work so they joined me.

We started challenging each other and one day a friend of mine drew a car with wheels all over. I told him a car cannot look like that but in his defense he told me his car cannot fall because in whatever position it would continue moving.It is from them that I learnt there were many ways of looking at things.

WAI : So what inspired you to become a Street Artist?

Kerosh: The street art done on the Nairobi Matatus fascinated me a lot when I was commuting to school. I was keen and I watched the art form evolve from simple stickers to grafitti oriented pieces. 

Back then the grafitti pieces were themed and very well thought out. They were proper design projects.The pieces were so surreal that people started spreading gossip that those Matatu owners were  "devil worshipers". 

(Does that statement ring a bell?)

I on the other hand was in awe and I wanted to use pictures to communicate a lot the way those pieces did. So while still in Primary school I started making Matatu stickers. People would ask me to give them the stickers but they would never return them.

Fun Fact: We all have a mischievous high school past . For Kerosh all his mischief revolved around art.

When in high school my only indiscipline was drawing. I would use morning and evening prep to draw and of course that reflected in my first year grades and I had to change schools. I remember my friends bringing left over chalk to me once the teacher left class so that I would use them to draw on the blackboard. Fridays were the best because once I drew a piece it would stay there for the whole weekend.