St. Kizito Tells The Rich African History through art

Renowned Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Well, Kizito grew up with it and today it has taken him places. His Amazing paintings have earned him both local and international reputation. For him, his aim is to tell the African story using art.

Kizito Nii Amarh Amarh Amartey grew up in Cape Coast, Central Region of Ghana, where he was raised by his grandmother. He is a product of Adisadel where he read visual arts. Growing up he was always interested in doing creative arts. He would design greeting cards for friends and families during their birthdays and other memorable occasions

This Passion never left him as he grew up. When he went to Adisadel College he was initially admitted as a business student. But as an Irish proverb says “your feet will bring you where your heart is,” he indeed found his feet in the visual arts class- where his heart is.

People began to take note of his great work right from that time. Kizito proceeded to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where he graduated with a degree in Fine Arts (Painting) in 2010.

As a former employee of the Centre for National Culture, he was assigned the role of an educational tour guard. There he realized art could actually be a business as he observed many artists cashing in on their products.

St. Kizito means business
But Kizito meant business. He, first of all, decided to upgrade his knowledge in business before he entered full time. He enrolled at the University of Ghana Business School for a second degree in Master of Arts in Management and Administration. After Kizito completed his second degree he then felt ready and fortified to launch his brand under the brush name St Kizito

Since its launch, St Kizito has registered its name among the top paintings in Ghana and even beyond. He has held several exhibitions in Ghana and abroad. Some few years ago he had the opportunity to travel to Oregon, United States to train children aged between 8-14 years for three months. Also in 2012, he was part of some artists from 25 nations for an art exhibition.

Even though the art business is not a booming one in Ghana Kizito is able to sell four or more artworks in a month.

"Education has given me the knowledge to support my business. I have a background in visual arts and Management and Administration. So as the visual arts gave me training in arts the Management and Administration helped me to know how best to manage my business," he said.

The Vision of St Kizito is to primarily outdoor the intrinsic African values through art. We are losing touch with a lot of African values and we don’t want them to go extinct. So, I want to use art to show the world some of the African values and culture”

Challenges
A major challenge that Kizito confronts in the art industry in Ghana is lack of education about the value of art. This he argues has contributed to the low patronage of art in Ghana.

“Over the years education has only been for artists but not the public. So people have not been informed about the value of art. And that is part of the reason the industry’s growth has stagnated,” he said.

Funding is also a challenge for players in the art industry. It is expensive to finish one piece of painting but there is no funding for painting in the industry. Artists have to rely heavily on their sales which are not forthcoming to produce thus making the industry unattractive to the youth. Again there is little done by government to help expose Ghanaian art to the world. In some jurisdiction, artists are sponsored by government to represent their country in art competition and exhibitions but that cannot be said Ghana.

Also, the inadequate number of art galleries around the country has contributed to the industry woes. ‘As we speak now there is no dedicated art gallery where renowned artist work can be kept as a tourist attraction site. But every country that values arts has a gallery where the work of art-heroes are kept’, he said.

Government supporting arts
According to Kizito for the country to realize any economic gains it is important that government supports artists with funding. "I think government must allocate funding for the industry whereby players can access funds to grow their business. If the art industry grows the tourism industry grows and that will bring in more revenue to government," Kizito said.

Every artist loves nature because it is nature that will inspire you to be creative. So I like to visit sites and natural sceneries so I travel around to observe nature when I take a break from work”

Advice
"Art is a way of life and usually driven by passion. So I would encourage young artists not be disturbed when things get tough. They should rather push on and continue doing the work with passion and definitely one day your work will be recognized." he said.