A missing link in the One Off story is that with the success of the creation of the stable annex, we decided to go all out and convert the whole stable. The decision was informed by the pressing need for extra exhibition space and simultaneously, all our equine family developed Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to varying degrees. Our vets recommended that all the horses and donkeys immediately be moved to a very open environment and we quickly cobbled together new stables on our arena. Many people look shocked and worried about 'what happened to the horses' but as you see from the photographic evidence, they don't seem resentful about the downgrade in accommodation. Indeed, Cooper's Creek and Zweli are coming up for 28 years old and CariBlanco is keeping up with them. We pray daily for their continued well-being. The completed stable conversion with Lisa Milroy's beautiful exhibition 'Handmade'. Our opening exhibition on 7th April 2018, was 'Handmade' by super-star artist Lisa Milroy. Lisa hails from London and we were enormously fortunate to have her exhibit with us. At the time she was the graduate painting instructor at The Slade, one of Britain's most prestigious art schools. She has subsequently had her work accepted into the collection of the Tate Modern. We could hardly hope for a more eminent opening artist.
These two photographs were taken a number of months ago from the window in front of my desk at the gallery. We have been the exceptionally lucky hosts of a little family of five Colobus monkeys for a number of years. First there was one and then very quickly there were two. After that we seem to have had a tiny addition to the family at regular intervals. The Colobus family are a delight to have on our property not least because they are outstanding night guards; they roar if anyone passes near their 'sleeping tree'. They are also priceless entertainers, putting on mini acrobatic displays for visitors and inevitably swinging down to the Eucalyptus trees to check out any clients visiting the gallery.
And then almost the moment I took these photographs, they disappeared. I became increasingly worried that with all the ongoing development around us, they had become inconvenient for someone, but then two weeks ago a single male Colobus started to make regular visits to our trees and this amounted to even bigger worry for us. We wondered if he was somehow the sole survivor of some nasty incident? What on earth could have happened to 'our family'? Then yesterday, the perfect Christmas gift; I looked into the trees at dawn and the whole family were diving from branch to branch. What a joy to have everyone back! |
Carol Lees
As curator of a Fine Art Gallery for over 25 years, I've met some highly original people and found myself in some unusual situations. I hope you enjoy my day to day adventures of running One Off Gallery in Nairobi, Kenya. Archives
December 2019
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