The M2 Art Studio:

The M2 Art Studio is a lovely bunch of artists based right in the heart of Kibera, an area which saw some of the worst violence during the post election period of 2007, luckily the studio was one of the only left standing after all the neighbours buildings had been burnt to the ground. M2 then played an important part in restoring peace to the neighbourhood.

Around this area you can see the influence of M2, on the way into Kibera as you cross the bridge, art can be seen on both sides of the walls. Once inside, artist Solo 7 has spread peace all over the neighbourhood, literally spraying walls with the words KEEP PEACE ALIVE / PEACE WANTED ALIVE as well as other similar messages. This played a big part in switching people’s minds back to community and not violence shortly after the post election riots that shook the country in 2007-2008.

Inside the studio we have Wycliffe downstairs painting a nice picture of an area called Kisumu which is on the western part of Kenya in the Lake Victoria region, another region in which archaeologists discovered early human skeleton remains dating back over a million years. Above to the left is a picture purposely mis spelt for comedy, reading “Farmers choice beef cow market”

Upstairs we have Rabala painting a lovely canvas of the slums, including so many small details that you see the second and third time around.

The whole collective is currently 10 members strong, putting on exhibitions worldwide including New York, Italy, Norway and other countries.

By Michael Antoniou