Heavy Metal: Westgate Elephants
The cache, a black-taped, cylindrical tablet tube, is magnetically attached to a metallic elephant, one of a herd of eight (6 adults and 2 young) grazing peacefully alongside a new road accessing the Westgate Mall area. Parking is available opposite Westgate Mall (see gallery for charges) or at Nakumatt Ukay.
The herd is split into two groups, one of 6 individuals (5 adults and a baby) closest to the roundabout and mall and another of 2 individuals some 40 metres away (a tuskless female and a juvenile) where the cache is hidden.
Your biggest challenge will be dealing effectively with muggles who will be around or passing by this area at any time. So you will have to plan your movements accordingly and adopt suitable stealth tactics to avoid compromising the cache hide. The best bet is to (pretend to) take multiple photos of the sculptures with your camera or mobile phone whilst keeping a sharp eye out for anyone taking a particular interest in your activities.
Scrap or junk metal (blacksmith) sculptures such as there are not uncommon in Nairobi and elsewhere. Another herd of elephants may be seen on the roundabout approaching Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Ironically the real ones are not found in Nairobi National Park just a few meters away beyond the fence, as sufficient required habitat is not available.
These are the work of reknowned pioneering Kenyan junk artist Kioko Mwitiki. See here for a breakfast interview on Kenya TV where he explains his background and how he got into the animal sculptures for which he is now famous.
The child of a Maasai father and a Kamba mother, Kioko was lucky to receive a good educationat Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Caught up in the student political demonstrations of the 80s, he was expelled from his fine art course. This turned out to be a blessing because it set him off on the road to becoming an artist.
Subsidizing his income as a welder of milk churns in Nakuru, he became interested in joining scrap metal and soon "saw" shapes emerge. As a result he was invited to exhibit his unusual work and earned the praise of local and international art critics. Then a passerby bought one f his creations and he made more. He thought perhaps it could be a good business until one day he saw his works going for huge prices in a shop window in Nairobi. He gave up the mechanics job and started life as an artist there and then.
He spends many hours observing the animals he makes in order to capture their unique stance or behaviour. He has been for many years has been at the fore-front of conserving the environment through education, recycling junk metal and articulating conservation issues through art, working closely with the Kenya Wildlife Service campaigning for wildlife welfare.
They provide him with lots of rusted snare wires. Initially the cause of untold animal misery, the snares are transformed into lion’s whiskers, camel’s eyelashes and a miniature cross-section of Kenya’s wildlife, the proceeds of which are ploughed back into training bands of disadvantaged youngsters, not only in the gentle art of ‘junk retail’, but also in the advantages to be gained from saving rather than snaring Kenya’s precious wildlife.
The nearby Westgate Mall recently reopened (August 2015) following extensive repair after the 21-24 September 2013 Al Shabaab terrorist attack in which 67 were killed (including the attackers), 175 injured, and the building partially destroyed (see here for details).