A Global Sway

Corporations and businesses collecting artifacts dates back centuries. During the Italian Renaissance in the 15^th century prominent trading and mercantile houses began to adorn their business premises with art pieces, classical or contemporary, to show their taste in the growing high culture led by princes of the city states who were patrons of artists and adorned their palaces with works of protégés.

Siena’s Monte dei Paschi bank gave the practice its earliest corporate reference when it adorned its walls with classical and contemporary art. With time it spread to businesses in other European countries. Today most of the major international banks have corporate collections. While the insurance giant AXA was the first to corporate collect systematically, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Gazprombank and Shiseido have become the most prominent in the practice. Some, like the Italian fashion house Prada, store their collection in high-brow architect-appointed museums.

Africa

Like much of other regions of the world outside western Europe and North America, can’t be said to possess corporate collections significantly. What pertains, and steadily growing in importance, is that some corporate titans, rich individuals and increasingly middle class aficionados are buying art in a regular manner and building collections for personal enjoyment.

East Africa

The Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) and the Nation Media Group, both in Kenya, had corporate collections dating back in the 1970s. The collections were started by their CEOs who were then expatriates. Subsequent CEOs, Kenyan, unfortunately didn’t have the same love for corporate collectibles.

The good news is, younger corporate chiefs have cottoned on to the heft that art can add to the company’s image and help promote the brand are building up collections. Notable in this category are the Mauritius-registered Kenya-headquarted Catalyst Principal Partners Private Equity firm, the Centum Investments Company, and the CEO of Radio Africa Group, all based in Nairobi. The three corporations are headed by longtime art lovers who in recent years embarked on a broader sweep and more systematic mode in their collection, after seeking professional and curatorial advice, eg from yours truly’s Art Africa Advisory start-up. Admittedly, the numbers of artifacts in-house are on the low side, hardly beyond 200 artifacts apiece.

However, what’s significant is that the quality and sweep of the art represented in the collections, from masterpieces of East African doyens such as Jack Katarikawe, Wanyu Brush, Sane Wadu and Samuel Wanjau to younger stars such as Anne Mwiti, Collin Sekajugo, Michael Soi and Lonad Ngure.

Lately, the MD of the Village Market Company as well as the I&M Bank have joined the posse. Big hitters, who are set to make the art and sway of corporate collection super exciting in East Africa. What, hopefully, are in their pipelines is providing permanent space to house and share the enjoyment of their collection with the public.

Osei G. Kofi, Nairobi, 2022.