There are those who assure that the worldwide and imperishable glory of the great violinist Niccolò Paganini would have had less echo without the violin makers Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri who forged perfect instruments for him.
Perhaps it is an exaggeration, but certainly behind every artist there is often a craftsman, a technician, an operator of excellence. The cinematographic masterpiece of a great director would be little without an adequate editing, in the same way a sublime chef would not be the same without his set of reference pots and pans and a golf champion would not achieve certain goals without the clubs designed specifically for his measurements and movements.
Kenya is historically a cradle of craftsmen and raw material workers: able to learn ancient crafts, disciplines and attitudes in a very short time or create their own thanks to their innate imagination.
In Malindi an exemplary figure for such a premise is Benson Kadenge Charo, aka Madaraka, the Kenyan "Framer" of Malindi or rather, the framing artist.
For more than ten years he has developed manual skills and experience thanks to the teachings of the conceptual artist Gian Paolo Tomasi and today, all the frames that increase the effect and value of Tomasi's works are produced by Madaraka.
So the Italian, known for his wonderful, imaginative photocompositions, has decided to exhibit his paintings in the new workshop of his trusted artisan, inaugurating a unique space throughout Kenya, where African manual skills and talent meet Western art and meaning. This space is called "Il Corniciaio" and is open at the Sofia Center in Casuarina, next to the Bar Ripasso and in addition to the works of Gian Paolo Tomasi gives the opportunity to those who attend it to have frames of all types and for all needs and prices (but also lamp covers and other accessories, for example) also for their paintings.
On Saturday 1st February from 6.30 pm, the Madaraka Framer invites the Malindini to an inauguration cocktail party, in the presence of those who directed him towards this noble craft, his friend and master Gian Paolo Tomasi.