00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 With just one brush stroke, Nadia Wamuyu
00:06 can open up hidden worlds of the senses.
00:08 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:13 When I cannot hear, I feel lost.
00:16 I'm lost.
00:17 I don't know what I will do.
00:20 But because I cannot hear, it did not
00:22 stop me working with my eyes and hands, a working talent.
00:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:30 For Nadia Wamuyu, her body is her brush.
00:35 And that's not the only thing which
00:37 is different in her and her art.
00:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:42 Art and drawing for me means expressing my feelings
00:46 and bringing out the best of my personal talent.
00:49 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:52 Hearing disabled artists, Nadia Wamuyu
00:54 expresses a bold voice through her paintbrush
00:57 and has not allowed her physical limitations
01:00 to impact the rest of her life.
01:01 My name is Nadia Wamuyu.
01:05 I'm an artist based in Kona Artists Collective.
01:08 I have a problem with hearing.
01:10 I lost my hearing when I was four years old.
01:14 I don't remember exactly what happened.
01:17 But my first painting was in Langata Junior School Art
01:23 Club.
01:24 And then after painting, the owner of the school
01:28 bought my first painting.
01:30 From there, I haven't looked back, and I kept on growing.
01:35 Creating mixed media studies of a muscular female subject
01:39 in different half squat poses, Nadia
01:42 uses her physique to emphasize strength and boldness.
01:45 Combining it with masks, unusual hairstyles, and dark colors,
01:49 her works show her daily struggles
01:51 as a young black woman.
01:54 My art is about women.
01:56 It's about that woman who isn't comfortable with their body.
02:01 Also, human rights for women, like someone who got raped,
02:05 violence, among others.
02:08 I'm finding the voice for the women.
02:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:20 This is bleach, coffee, ink, and water.
02:25 Then ink of different colors.
02:27 Nadia started drawing as soon as she
02:29 was old enough to hold pencils and watercolors,
02:32 and began also painting casually in the house
02:36 at the age of three years.
02:40 When my parents took me to school, I was confused.
02:44 People talking, and I couldn't hear.
02:46 I was deaf, and it was hard for me.
02:49 I was deaf before I went here, so it was hard.
02:54 So by the time she went to nursery school,
02:56 she was a different child.
02:57 She was different.
02:58 And actually, most schools rejected her as a deaf child.
03:01 There was no stopping her.
03:02 And as you can see, she has developed
03:04 her own personal style, a very independent artist.
03:07 The art was her way of accounting herself to the world.
03:10 It was a way of expressing herself
03:11 as a person who is capable of doing something.
03:14 There is an estimated 600,000 deaf people
03:18 in Kenya, of which 340,000 speak one or more dialects
03:23 of Kenyan sign language across the 42 ethnic groups in Kenya.
03:28 Many deaf and hard of hearing Kenyans face challenges
03:31 and are excluded from accessing quality education and health
03:34 care, and are never quite able to reach their full potential.
03:40 My challenge is conversation with a client.
03:43 When they come to the studio, I cannot be
03:45 able to hear properly.
03:48 I have to tell them I cannot hear them.
03:50 So I also opt to read their lips.
03:54 I went to drive-in school, but I could not
03:57 understand the teacher.
03:58 But my dad taught me the rest.
04:00 For other stuff, such as going to shopping, I do myself.
04:05 Going out, not my thing.
04:07 It's too loud for me.
04:09 Against all odds, Nadia has risen
04:14 to be one of the top fine artists in Kenya.
04:18 A lot of people love my work because it's more powerful.
04:22 It's more expressive.
04:24 That's why they love my work.
04:26 Not me.
04:27 My advice to the young women is find your own voice
04:36 and do not be afraid.
04:41 Nadia's artist expression highlights
04:43 how resilience in the face of adversity
04:46 can unlock extraordinary creativity and skill.
04:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:55 (upbeat music)
04:57 (upbeat music)
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