Burudika! A Q&A with Abu Mwenye
/By Dan Carlson
Burudika - the maize and rooibos lager that we brewed in collaboration with Worcester’s African Community Education - is, in my expert and absolutely biased opinion, a very good beer. It’s clean and light with a beautiful corn tortilla-like sweetness and soft finish, with the rooibos providing a nice herbal note that’s just a bit different than the noble hop aromas you might be used to in a lager. I’ve already drank a ton of it and don’t plan on stopping.
It’s nothing compared to the can label, though.
The artwork for Burudika was created by Tanzanian native and Worcester-based artist Abu Mwenye, who has an amazing portfolio that stretches from music-inspired paintings to fashion to custom-built lamps. Yes, lamps.
We spoke to Abu about this background as an artist and how people can find his art. Read on to learn more!
How long have you been an artist?
All my life - ever since I was 12 years old.
When I was in Tanzania, I worked on and off as an artist. I grew up fixing cars, which I learned from my cousins while I was also painting on and off. I actually started with sketching first, when I was in preschool. Later, when I finished high school, I moved to Nairobi and there I earned my diploma in graphic design. I learned watercolor and acrylic but I am self-taught in oil paints. It was during this time that I started painting portraits.
After graduating, I went back to Tanzania and helped my father with his transportation business. At the time of his passing in 2001, my mother and I moved to the US and I started getting more serious about art.
Initially, when I moved here, I worked at a gas station and fixed cars for family and friends, but art was always pulling me back. It was then that I decided that maybe this is what I should be doing. Have you ever felt a strong pull from something? That is what art does to me - it always pulls me back. With art, I feel like I can be myself. When you’re fixing cars, you have to work for someone, but with art, I can work for myself and be more creative. I enjoy that more.
Looking at your artwork, it’s clear you’ve moved beyond canvas to creating vases, clothing, and perhaps most interestingly - lamps. How did you get into creating lamps?
I was accepted to the Paradise City Art Festival in Northampton and was there for four days. People loved my art and a lot of people came by to admire and look - but it was just hanging there. I ended up wanting to create something more functional that people could use and interact with and still had artistic merits.
I started going to Home Depot and Lowe’s just to get some ideas of something I could do. I checked out the PVC section and just started putting things together, and got started on what would become a vase. Eventually, I got my own lathe machine and started making vases. From there, I started doing lamps because they’re not just something that sits in your house - they have a use.
All my lamps are different - I don’t make the same one over and over. I’m always making something new and coming up with ideas for new lamps.
I think the fire hydrant lamp is the coolest one I’ve done - but every lamp I make I think is the coolest one. The hydrant is just the latest one. I have more ideas and more coming, so it’s going to change and I’ll fall in love with another one.
Across everything you do, you have a unique style that’s consistent. How did you develop that style?
When I started painting, I was doing real fine art, including portraits of African people. I was doing some commissions, but people don’t really know how expensive those are and how much time they take. A friend of mine told me to try abstract art, and that I’d be able to do something really different and sell a lot more than just the portraits.
I was just trying to find my own style.
Speaking of commissions, how can people find your work?
I have my art pieces, like paintings and prints, on my webpage, www.artbyabu.com. My paintings are the featured designs on clothing like dresses and leggings, too. You can find them at www.jashowear.com.
I have a studio that people can come visit at 75 Webster St. in Worcester (note: email Abu at mchoro73@gmail.com to coordinate a visit). I hope to get a few people to come to my studio and see my art. I started an open studio a few months ago through the month of October. In this next year, I hope to expand the open studio and continue some plans I had in place before the pandemic. October was great - people came, I taught classes, and I was able to sell some pieces. Here is hoping that 2021 will be great!
Finally, tell us about the label you created for Burudika.
I started to make these music paintings using the canvas to express my music. The paintings reminded me of home and when I was younger, watching the traditional dancers and drummers perform under the mango trees.
For the Burudika label, you can see the marimba and zeze - those are very local instruments, which are used by Zaramo tribes. This design was actually one of the first paintings I created when I started painting abstract. When Tim O’Neill (Marketing & Fundraising Manager for ACE) and I were looking for artwork to put on the can, this piece jumped out and we really loved it.
There’s happiness in the art and also in those pieces of music. When Tim told me I had to come up with the name, that was a little tough at first - so, I thought about the people having fun, I said to call it “Burudika.” That’s what it means - “having fun.” When people are laughing and having a good time, we say “burudika” to mean “they are enjoying.” It’s like “cheers,” too. When you open a drink with someone, it’s “burudika!”
