Witness Kay Chiromo (December 24, 1951 1994) was a

Malawian This article is about the demographic features of the population of Malawi, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Malawi de ...

artist and art educator. He was born in Makoka Village, T.A. Chigaru,

Blantyre District Blantyre is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Blantyre, a commercial city where most Malawian industrial and business offices are. The district covers an area of 2,012 km² and has a population of 809,397. It was n ...

. He is considered as one of the most talented and respected artists from Malawi.Wildlife society of Malawi, Wildlife and Environmental Essays: Prize Winning Essays from the Kay Chiromo Competition 1995–1999, 2001 His medium was oil paintings but he also carried out book illustrations and made a video documentary.

Education and career

As an art scholar, Chiromo studied under first generation Malawian wood carvers Akamitondo and Jibu Sani at the KuNgoni Centre of Culture & Art, a mission established by Canadian priest Claude Boucher Chisale who also taught art. He received his Master's in Fine Arts degree from the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

, a private art college in New York City, in 1986.The Art of Kay Chiromo:A Memorial and a Celebration of His Work, Malawi National Commission for UNESCO, 1997The Art of Kay Chiromo: A Memorial and a Celebration of His Work. Malawi National Commission for UNESCO, 1997 pp32 pages http://www.worldcat.org/title/art-of-kay-chiromo-a-memorial-and-a-celebration-of-his-work/oclc/040267766 Chiromo went on to teach at the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

. He rose to senior lecturer and head of the fine art section in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Chancellor College. Chiromo has inspired artists around the world including David McCurry who studied under him whilst in Malawi.

Art

Chiromo's oil paintings were sometimes built up with fabric, sand or pebbles to produce a deep relief and three-dimensional effect. He once noted that, "Africans express (themselves) better in three-dimensional arts. He regularly used different canvas shapes straying away from the more traditional rectangular canvas.

Notable works

*Mother and Child panel, 1993 at Chapel of the

White Fathers The White Fathers (french: Pères Blancs), officially the Missionaries of Africa ( la, Missionarii Africae) abbreviated MAfr), are a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right (for Men) Founded in 1868 by then Ar ...

Ott, Martin, African theology in images, Kachere Series, 2007 p560 *Vocation of the Apostles, 1993 (privately owned)

Exhibits

Chiromo's paintings became popular internationally in the 1980s. They have been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions in the United States, Zambia, England, Canada and South Africa.

Publications

* The Art of Kay Chiromo: A Memorial and a Celebration of His Work, Malawi National Commission for UNESCO (Book),Chiromo, Kay – 1997 *A Survey of Malawi Articrafts, Chiromo, Kay – 1993 *Visual arts of Malawi ideorecording Chiromo, Kay −1991

Publications by others

* A Cameraman's Tale: Focus and Perspective in Kay Chiromo's Visual Arts of Malawi, Journal of Humanities,(Journal), W. Msosa, 1996

Personal

Kay Chiromo died in 1994, but his artistic legacy can be seen throughout Malawi. The UNESCO-sponsored book collection of his work was written by him but published after his death. There was also an annual national literary competition, the 'Kay Chiromo Literary Competition' named in his honour from 1995 to 1999. Award-winning essays from this collection have been published in books such as the 'Wildlife and Environmental Essays: Prize Winning Essays from the Kay Chiromo Competition 1995–1999' Publications
/ref> Chiromo died in a car accident in 1994.

External links

Art work

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiromo, Kay Malawian artists 1951 births People from Blantyre District Pratt Institute alumni University of Malawi faculty 1994 deaths