Graffiti across continents

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1:35Michael Kaloki:This is the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service. I'm Michael Kaloki.

1:42Wise Two:I would watch other artists paint. I would just sit there and watch them paint. And that's how I would learn. Observation and participation are the main things, I would say, to become successful. You know, when you're young, you're trying to find a voice or you're trying to find a sense of belonging. It was amazing to see street artists or graffiti. And nobody knew what graffiti was. You know, it was still young. And we were just painting what we were painting.

2:10Michael Kaloki:Kenyan graffiti artist Mupendra Jethwa. In artistic circles, he's called by his moniker, Wise Too. He is known for his signature look of intricate motifs, which include masks and faces, flowers and geometric shapes in bold primary colors. Wise too is a global citizen, in motion, not only creating art at home in Kenya, but also exploring the world as his canvas. Here in Nairobi, graffiti can be seen across parts of the urban landscape. I see it every day when I travel to work, with tags or names on walls and brightly colored portraits on the side of shops or houses.

2:55Michael Kaloki:In this East African nation, not everyone visits art galleries, so seeing art on the street where it often represents unheard voices is important, demonstrating that there's creativity out there, even if some of those making it haven't had any formal training. It is, of course, a very old art form.

3:17Wise Two:Original graffiti was like, if you see cavemen, we'd be writing, like, scratching or using different kind of organic paint to document history, like if it was a hunt or something like that. For us in the modern environment, it's mostly like you write something on the wall that's usually done in the dark, you know? But I also feel like it has evolved throughout the time, you know? I would say in the 80s was different. The 90s became wild. 2000s it just started transitioning into more of like muralism but there's still graffiti going on it just branches off you know there's street art there's graffiti there's muralism so where do you fall like i started with graffiti artists using solely spray paint and most artists would define that as graffiti if you use anything else and that's kind of like cheating so you know cutting corners so it has to solely be aerosol based and that's how graffiti was defined but it was usually never to do with money or anything like that it was just like you going out there putting your name up and people would see that and they would recognize you or usually it was done for other graffiti artists so they could see who's using spray paint and just putting his name out there or her name out there you know so for me that's i would see it as the base, the foundation of so many art forms, especially visual art forms, you know, where you require painting and drawing and things like that.

4:43Wise Two:Graffiti gives you like the whole world to be your canvas.

4:49Michael Kaloki:So I'm in the Westlands neighborhood in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and I'm at a location known as the Alchemist. This is a slightly enclosed area where there are a number of eateries there's a barber shop and in the daytime people come here eat their meals and in the night time it's also a nightclub and i'm sitting in front of this wall that has got two large graffiti pieces and at the bottom here of the wall i see the name wise two or the moniker wise two wise maybe i'd start off by describing them i see two women faces of two women, one on the left, one on the right, and the first woman is covered with what looks like a shawl that has flower imprints and she's also holding a flower and the second woman, her eyes are closed and she's holding what looks like a human heart Waisu, tell me, what is this all about?

5:47Wise Two:Yeah, so like for me if I was to describe it would be much more in depth but at the same time I wouldn't want to add so much, you know, nuances to it. I just want people to enjoy the artwork and make sure that they take something out of it. So I painted the lady with the flowers to create the balance between the feminine and the masculine as well because there is a lot of strength around flowers because flowers do require sudden conditions to grow and at the same time they're also very delicate. And the other piece I usually like to paint the heart because it's very symbolic in terms of different cultures, especially Latin American culture, Mexican culture as well, because they use the heart as a center of a lot of things.

6:32Wise Two:It's like a powerhouse for your emotions. So it's your essence. If you can see the other lady, she's more Latin American looking, and the other one, she's more African looking. So it's trying to create that bridge. And what better place to do it than here in Alchemist? Because I feel like it's an inside-outdoor place, like a community, you know? So I think this is the best place to get it done.

6:55Michael Kaloki:You talked about creating a synergy between South America, Latin America and Africa. I mean, we're here in Nairobi, which is in Kenya, which is in Africa. Why did you choose that synergy connection between Africa and South America?

7:11Wise Two:When I traveled the first time to Mexico, I realized that we have similarities between Mexico and Colombia, especially with Cuba. There's a lot of people, Afro-Cubans, who have come from the slave trade, you know. Like, it used to be a main port for the Spanish when they pillaged and stole a lot of gold and things from New Spain, like they call it. So when I was there, I would understand, like, how these people are connecting their roots with Africa. and that kind of helps me to navigate that environment and create my African work in Cuba, in Mexico, something different, something that I've not seen before.

7:56Wise Two:I use also the inspiration that is in Mexico to merge it with my work and make it more of an experimental piece and see how I can bring these two worlds together. Did you use spray paint on these? So this is a transition from what I used to paint when I'd just begun my journey in this field. So it's a mix of both acrylic paint, so bucket paint, mixed with water, you know, stuff like that, and spray paint.

8:31Wise Two:It's nice, it's the best of both worlds.

8:33Michael Kaloki:Would I say it's a slight contradiction from your description of graffiti?

8:36Wise Two:Yeah. No, no, absolutely. It's a big contradiction, I would say, because I'm mixing, because it's a journey, I mean, it's a transition, right? I feel like many people or many artists like to stay stuck in the box and be somewhat of purists. Purists are like, they don't see another way. They just see that this is graffiti and we must maintain this level of graffiti because I'm staying true to the craft. Yes, you can stay true to the craft, but you can use so many other things that make your craft also easier and elevate your skill. So I would use bucket paint. I know many artists in this country don't use solely bucket paint.

9:15Wise Two:They would use it to fill up bigger spaces, but everything else is spray paint, spray paint, spray paint, spray paint. And that is something that I can't do. Because, for example, if you travel to a jungle area in, say, Colombia, or you're in Peru and you've been told, hey, I want you to paint an amazing wall, but there's no spray paint. What are you going to do? I have to find a way. I know it's a contradiction, but it also helps me. is beneficial to me as an artist.

9:41Michael Kaloki:Modern graffiti emerged from American cities like New York and Philadelphia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, growing alongside hip-hop culture, sometimes used by gangs to mark their territory. And even though some graffiti-inspired work can be seen in galleries now, because the images are often painted without permission, some people see it as an inferior art form, created by and for outsiders. Wise 2 has been developing his style over the years and has travelled to Latin America many times. He's going to Mexico again, a place where he feels at home, and I catch up with him on a video call. Hey, Wise 2, how are you doing?

10:24Michael Kaloki:I can see you here on my phone. How colourful where you are.

10:29Wise Two:At the moment, I'm in Mexico City. The weather is amazing. It's nice. It's similar to Nairobi at this particular moment. The food is amazing, as always. There's so many options. You can't go wrong with them. I've been here for one month. I was also in the south of Mexico. I was in Oaxaca. Lots of color, lots of good tradition rooted into indigenous culture. I took a lot of photos as well, which is something I do on my travels. But now in Mexico City, I'm working on two paintings and one mural before I travel to Nairobi in a couple of days.

11:00Michael Kaloki:Now that Wise has learned some Spanish, he says he can get by. He has connections with both collectors who are willing to pay him for his work and fellow graffiti artists who he can share ideas with. On the call, I noticed behind Wise 2 there's a piece of artwork, a woman who's holding a vase with a flower over her face.

11:22Wise Two:I'm trying to experiment on a new style or a new concept. So I'm using a lot of gold leaf to cover up the background. around working on monochrome colors usually like the yellows browns which are for the same shade so yeah like you described it is correct it's a woman holding a it's a mask from Burkina Faso it's a sun mask that is used in agricultural ceremonies so that's why you have flowers and things that are coming out of it you can see like in Africa we have different masks for different rituals and ceremonies or festivities so I wanted to build around that concept but also try and have this modern feel or touch to the piece because even my style is not traditional african style painting this is more graffiti street art muralism put together with like concepts that make sense

12:11Michael Kaloki:to me it looks like it's on canvas or something like that it's on canvas yes and the background

12:16Wise Two:where i painted it it's gold leaf you put an adhesive like glue or something of that sort that It would become tacky after a while and you put the gold leaf on it. It's a whole process. So it's layer by layer. Then I have to do like cover it so you don't get these fine glitters. And then I'm going to do more work on it with the hieroglyphs that I usually paint. So it's going to be a whole process. It's just like cooking a meal. You know, you have to add your ingredients slowly. So that's what I'm doing. I'm letting it stew for a bit.

12:48Michael Kaloki:I get you. And is this just a piece you decided to work on or is it a piece you've been commissioned to work on?

12:55Wise Two:Yes, I had breakfast with one of my clients, my collectors, and he was very curious to know what I've been working on. So this is like very recent wise to work for 2025. So this is going to be for him, for his house. The thing I like about my collector is that he likes to push me to experiment. He wants to be like, wow, let me see what you have new. So that pushes me also to become a better artist, I think.

13:22Michael Kaloki:So this is someone who has collected your art pieces before.

13:28Wise Two:Yeah, he has commissioned me one big mural before, and he's collected my work since 2018 or 19.

13:36Michael Kaloki:Could I ask you how long it took you to work on that piece?

13:39Wise Two:I'm working on two artworks, this one and there's another one. But the other one is I've taken it upstairs to the terrace where I'm going to spray paint. I started painting this on what? Sunday? What is today? Thursday. So I'm almost done. I'll be done today, actually. After this call, I'll be finishing this artwork, wrapping everything up by the end of the day and varnish it on Friday. And I go see the client on, I think, Saturday or Sunday before I travel to Nairobi. So it's taken me a couple of days because I'm really quick, but I'm like working nonstop eight, nine hours a day, sometimes even 10.

14:12Michael Kaloki:So sometimes you don't catch a lot of sleep.

14:14Wise Two:sometimes yes but most of the times i enjoy my sleep so i would work very early i have my breakfast i relax i'm in no pressure and then i just grind for another seven to eight hours and then i'm done and i have two artwork one by now they've been finished i have two so the other one is almost done it's almost a similar concept instead of holding a mask the african mask she's holding like a jaguar mask which is very prominent in mexico so in in the state of guerrero they have this festival about the tigers. So I'm trying to pair the two pieces between Africa and Mexico and to create this synergy between these two women.

14:50Wise Two:And they have like these stars which are in the body, you know, like the constellations that are in the body because it's like all tied in together to become like a cosmic life force. I like those kinds of concepts because it connects us together.

15:03Michael Kaloki:And what's the graffiti like out there in Mexico City and other parts of Mexico?

15:09Wise Two:There's a lot of graffiti work everywhere. like out in the streets, tags on the walls, some murals, because in Mexico City, there's a lot of businesses investing in murals. You can ask for permission, get yourself to paint a mural. And it's nice because people understand what muralism is, because it's not a new concept to them. Not like in Kenya, if you were to introduce muralism to painting, let's say Karen, or in the Westlands, or in, well, in the Eastlands, it works much better because it's a community thing. They're the ones who take charge of the spaces, which I painted in Jericho, in Kibera, in Madara.

15:45Wise Two:But if you go to the other neighborhoods, it's not community based. It becomes very tricky. They don't understand it. They don't want anything to do with muralism or graffiti or anything of that sort. But in Mexico City, I think they're a bit more relaxed with it when you can go out and ask them for permission. And they're always happy to have artists from different parts of the world. You talk to the neighbors, they will cook for you some food. They'll give you lunch. Sometimes you get a little bit of tequila or mezcal during the day to keep you going. And it happens. If you come across a wedding that's happening, you'll be drunk by the time you finish painting because everybody's happy.

16:23Wise Two:It's not a Mexico that we know from TV.

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