“As an artist I’m forever learning”
Talking to Richard Stone, I find myself being carried away on his words. He talks about his work in Kenya with the Kenyan charity, Nyumbani, and the children he met there with such passion that I find myself just wanting to listen to him talk. I have to remind myself that this is an interview so I have to ask questions!
Richard first became involved with the charity 10 years ago on a British Airways flight to New York.
"I was chatting to someone, who over the course of the flight told me that the BA crew were very supportive of the charity- which at that stage I hadn't heard of."
"He asked me if there was anything I could donate to an upcoming auction, and I donated a portrait [a print] of the Queen which went down well and raised quite a bit."
After the success of the auction, Richard was asked if he would be interested in helping the charity further. So he was flown out with his wife and son to Nairobi to see how the charity worked first hand. Richard tells me that visiting the Nyumbani home, which at the time was a hospice, was incredibly moving.
"The children were so warm and welcoming. They were so cheerful but you knew that there was a certain air of sadness about the place because the life expectancy was so short."
His son, William, at the time was 8 and a similar age to the children at the hospice.
"It was Easter when we went so we took small Easter gifts for the children- it was William's responsibility to hand out the sweets, and he went to each of the children. The children saw they had an Easter egg and he didn't, so they handed pieces of their egg back to him."
"This was a revelation to us but it is the ethos of the community- sharing. It's supportive of one another. We had a connection, and we made a promise that we would return."
Richard planned to return with a project that would be constructive and helpful to the community he and his family had spent time with.
The project which took 10 years to put into place was based around the concept that the children, who live in slums which are surrounded by rubbish, could take this discarded raw material and create pieces of art.
"I put together this project where we would take something absolutely worthless and make it into something of some worth. We would use bits of newspaper, cardboard, coconut shells, bottle tops, bits of plastic and create an art programme where the children could learn about craft and their heritage."
It's easy to forget that the children Richard would be working with have had very limited exposure to resources such as art materials, let alone having the oppourtunity to visit museums to see piece of art which form part of that cultural heritage. So armed with books on African design, he gave them an insight into their own heritage.
So many pieces of African art derive from nature, so after looking at his books, the children set about looking for their own inspiration.
"We looked at tyre tracks in the dust, seeds in a seed pod, we were looking at the veins on a dried leaf- looking at designs, repeated designs that their forbears would have found, bird foot prints etc."
They even made their own paints from the soil and other materials like their ancestors would have done.
"This was mystifying for them to be able to comprehend to begin with, but when results began to appear it suddenly became very exciting...They were fascinated, totally fascinated," Richard tells me.
"These pieces of art reflect their background- now it's been brought back to the UK for this gala event it resonates with the environment that these children live in. From something you would want to dismiss it is now something you would want to handle and admire."
The pieces created by the children are currently on auction and will close at a fundraising gala being hosted by former Secretary of State for Education, Baroness Morris of Yardley, at the House of Commons on the 7th March.
"I'm hugely excited by it [the auction], for people to see some of the amazing things these children have done. They made bowls, masks, based on ethnic design...They are so interesting they could just slot in with these museum pieces that the rest of the world admires. There is something innate in their thinking that has created something that just says Africa."
Hearing how Richard talks about his time in Kenya and working with the children, I'm in no way surprised to hear that he would love to run a similar project again.
"I asked whether they [the children] would do it again, and I was blown away by their enthusiasm," Richard says. He goes on to tell me that although his project led them down an art route, he would be happy to explore other craft areas.
"Some of the girls said they would like to do stitching and sewing and making things out of wool. Even the boys if they were interested! Certainly if you held a class like that here I can't imagine any boys would want to go, but they were all totally enthusiastic."
For the children at the home, unless they embark on further education, at the age of 18 there isn't the oppourtunity for them to stay at the orphanage.
So Richard's project doesn't just give the children the gift of art, it enables them to learn a practical craft skill. When the children leave the orphanage, unless they are very lucky they can end up back in the slums from whence they came. This project gives the children a lifeline that could possibly prevent that.
Finally, I ask Richard if he himself learnt anything from the children and him time in Kenya.
"It was thrilling as an artist to be able to strip away all the elaborate painting techniques and to work with the most basic of materials, having to rethink my own attitude. I'm much inspired by these young people who were absolute raw talent, who were teaching me something special as well. As an artist I'm forever learning."
Nyumbani UK works to provide HIV and AIDS affected children in Kenya with the best nutritional, medical, educational and psychosocial care. It does this through three distinct projects: A slum outreach program called Lea Toto in Nairobi which helps 3,000 children, the Nyumbani Home that supports 100 children and finally the Nyumbani Village that provides care for 1,000. At the very centre of village life are the Hotcourses Primary School and the Lawson High School.
"The art created by the children at Richard's Nyumbani Art Festival is being auctioned online at www.nyumbani.org.uk The auction will end 7 March."
All pictures by William Stone
www.nyumbani.org.uk
www.richardstoneuk.com
Richard first became involved with the charity 10 years ago on a British Airways flight to New York.
"I was chatting to someone, who over the course of the flight told me that the BA crew were very supportive of the charity- which at that stage I hadn't heard of."
"He asked me if there was anything I could donate to an upcoming auction, and I donated a portrait [a print] of the Queen which went down well and raised quite a bit."
After the success of the auction, Richard was asked if he would be interested in helping the charity further. So he was flown out with his wife and son to Nairobi to see how the charity worked first hand. Richard tells me that visiting the Nyumbani home, which at the time was a hospice, was incredibly moving.
"The children were so warm and welcoming. They were so cheerful but you knew that there was a certain air of sadness about the place because the life expectancy was so short."
His son, William, at the time was 8 and a similar age to the children at the hospice.
"It was Easter when we went so we took small Easter gifts for the children- it was William's responsibility to hand out the sweets, and he went to each of the children. The children saw they had an Easter egg and he didn't, so they handed pieces of their egg back to him."
"This was a revelation to us but it is the ethos of the community- sharing. It's supportive of one another. We had a connection, and we made a promise that we would return."
Richard planned to return with a project that would be constructive and helpful to the community he and his family had spent time with.
The project which took 10 years to put into place was based around the concept that the children, who live in slums which are surrounded by rubbish, could take this discarded raw material and create pieces of art.
"I put together this project where we would take something absolutely worthless and make it into something of some worth. We would use bits of newspaper, cardboard, coconut shells, bottle tops, bits of plastic and create an art programme where the children could learn about craft and their heritage."
It's easy to forget that the children Richard would be working with have had very limited exposure to resources such as art materials, let alone having the oppourtunity to visit museums to see piece of art which form part of that cultural heritage. So armed with books on African design, he gave them an insight into their own heritage.
So many pieces of African art derive from nature, so after looking at his books, the children set about looking for their own inspiration.
"We looked at tyre tracks in the dust, seeds in a seed pod, we were looking at the veins on a dried leaf- looking at designs, repeated designs that their forbears would have found, bird foot prints etc."
They even made their own paints from the soil and other materials like their ancestors would have done.
"This was mystifying for them to be able to comprehend to begin with, but when results began to appear it suddenly became very exciting...They were fascinated, totally fascinated," Richard tells me.
"These pieces of art reflect their background- now it's been brought back to the UK for this gala event it resonates with the environment that these children live in. From something you would want to dismiss it is now something you would want to handle and admire."
The pieces created by the children are currently on auction and will close at a fundraising gala being hosted by former Secretary of State for Education, Baroness Morris of Yardley, at the House of Commons on the 7th March.
"I'm hugely excited by it [the auction], for people to see some of the amazing things these children have done. They made bowls, masks, based on ethnic design...They are so interesting they could just slot in with these museum pieces that the rest of the world admires. There is something innate in their thinking that has created something that just says Africa."
Hearing how Richard talks about his time in Kenya and working with the children, I'm in no way surprised to hear that he would love to run a similar project again.
"I asked whether they [the children] would do it again, and I was blown away by their enthusiasm," Richard says. He goes on to tell me that although his project led them down an art route, he would be happy to explore other craft areas.
"Some of the girls said they would like to do stitching and sewing and making things out of wool. Even the boys if they were interested! Certainly if you held a class like that here I can't imagine any boys would want to go, but they were all totally enthusiastic."
For the children at the home, unless they embark on further education, at the age of 18 there isn't the oppourtunity for them to stay at the orphanage.
So Richard's project doesn't just give the children the gift of art, it enables them to learn a practical craft skill. When the children leave the orphanage, unless they are very lucky they can end up back in the slums from whence they came. This project gives the children a lifeline that could possibly prevent that.
Finally, I ask Richard if he himself learnt anything from the children and him time in Kenya.
"It was thrilling as an artist to be able to strip away all the elaborate painting techniques and to work with the most basic of materials, having to rethink my own attitude. I'm much inspired by these young people who were absolute raw talent, who were teaching me something special as well. As an artist I'm forever learning."
Nyumbani UK works to provide HIV and AIDS affected children in Kenya with the best nutritional, medical, educational and psychosocial care. It does this through three distinct projects: A slum outreach program called Lea Toto in Nairobi which helps 3,000 children, the Nyumbani Home that supports 100 children and finally the Nyumbani Village that provides care for 1,000. At the very centre of village life are the Hotcourses Primary School and the Lawson High School.
"The art created by the children at Richard's Nyumbani Art Festival is being auctioned online at www.nyumbani.org.uk The auction will end 7 March."
All pictures by William Stone
www.nyumbani.org.uk
www.richardstoneuk.com