Their love story brought them together with corrugated iron. To source new, old and rusty pieces of metal, Marina Purnell flew more than 12,000 kilometers from Jamaica to meet Adam Massaff in Nairobi, who uses corrugated iron as an artistic medium.
Adam and Marina host a joint dubbed exhibition Ah, soh, he’s inside In the French Alliance, Nairobi.
Ah suh it guh is a colloquial phrase that translates to c’est la vie (that’s life) in French. She has been featured in numerous songs including by Jamaican artists Jeptian and Lotan Fiah.
So how did they meet? Through Instagram, Marina, 51, contacted Adam after seeing his metal artwork.
This show marries life in Jamaica and Kenya effortlessly.
“The way this exhibition came about is that I was invited by Alliance Françoise for two weeks, first in Mombasa to show photographs of young people on the streets and then they asked me, why don’t you show some of your work from Jamaica in Nairobi,” Marina who came up with the theme for Ah Suh it Guh She tells BDlife.
“I said it would be nice to meet a Kenyan artist, and by chance about three years ago, through social media, I found Adam’s page and as someone who does street photography on corrugated iron, I loved his work,” she adds.
This show captures the similarities in the daily lives of Jamaicans and Kenyans.
The exhibition also highlighted downtown Jamaica, which suffers from gangs, drugs and violence.
The scenes are similar to the various slums around Nairobi and in particular Mukuru where Adam uses art to rehabilitate young people.
Adam’s work shows the hustle and bustle of men and women from the slums, including a woman who was badly beaten but made her way to the market to sell groceries. There is also a barrel delivery man and a chicken vendor about to be evicted.
The painting of the battered woman was purchased for Sh270,000, with part of the money going to support the victim of gender-based violence.
“The barrels are delivered by someone I know from the Mukuru slum. He used to carry things on his shoulders but saved some money and bought a motorbike which he uses now. We met recently and he told me he wanted to save money and get a truck. Some of my works show the positive side of the slums,” says Adam.
“I use corrugated iron to bring something authentic as the backdrop to the story. Joining our theme is corrugated iron, and the fact that Marina lives in Jamaica where their struggles and lifestyles are similar to Kenya,” says Adam.
Adam displayed his artwork depicting recent youth-led street protests. Shown in different parts of Europe.
“Some of my works (Gen Z March and Statehouse March) talk about GenZ protest. These young men have achieved a lot. “At the time I traveled to Europe and everywhere I went, people were congratulating me and saying Kenya is a good example of democracy,” says Adam.
He adds: “Although people can forget what happened, art is one way to immortalize this piece of our history.”
Marina says that although there has not been a huge buzz lately, Jamaica is a country plagued by violence and poor living conditions as seen in an artwork titled “Trigger, Guide and Protect.”
“Generation Z Protest” by Adam Masafa at Alliance Française during the Ah Suh it Guh exhibition on October 4, 2024.
Image credit: Edna Mwenda Nation Media Group
Through a combination of transfer prints on canvas or iron, Marina brings to life street life in Jamaica and her time in Mombasa and Nairobi.
“When I moved to Jamaica 10 years ago, these were the first guys I met and worked with in street photography,” she says.
She says to BDLife That after she saw what Adam had drawn on the corrugated iron of the exhibition, she took to the streets and took some photographs which she later transferred onto the metal.
Adam says the exhibition depicts family life in the city, from children playing, which represents hope, to grandmother and mother at the market, which signifies ambition and drive.
He tells the story behind the door marked with an X, one of his paintings at the Alliance Francaise exhibition.
“I know this guy (pointing to door panel X), he sells chickens but struggles to pay the rent, which is a big problem all over the world.”
He continues: “The man lived in a house with many power lines above the roof, which posed a danger to him and the people around him and for this reason an X was put on the door in preparation for evacuation. “He once asked me to find someone to help him get out of the house,” Adam says.
“So I visited him to understand his plight, and while we were talking, his son came home after school and when he saw me, he immediately burst into tears which shocked me. He thought I was one of the government officials who had come to kick them out.”
Adam thought about drawing the man who lives in the door marked with the X and selling the artwork to help him make some money.
“Later I invited the boy to see a portrait of his father in my studio and asked him: ‘What message would you like to send to the government?’ He replied: ‘Please do not demolish our house,’ so I asked him to write on the piece and complete the painting.”