Bob Collymore who just passed away this morning was not only a businessman but also an artist.
Bob had revealed this in several interviews where he said he started earning out of art at an age of 12.
Bob would make art pieces from plastic mounds and also little brooches from coconut shells which he would sell.
It was his love for art and music that led him to meet his wife Wambui Kamiru who was an artist at Kuona Trust.
In 2015 the lady who would later become the CEO's wife did a video titled ‘your name betrays you’as a challenge to check into misplaced stereotypes that people hold against others.
The video was prompted by a statement that was made by Kalonzo Musyoka during a press conference while dismissing Kennedy Muriithi's question a journalist who worked with Nation Media Group Q-TV.
The journalist had asked Kalonzo to explain alternatives on ‘Jubilee failures’ as they called it however he snubbed the question but asked him to identify himself saying “…thankyou Kennedy Muriithi, that name betrays you.”
Kenyans quickly called out on the then presidential aspirant saying he was ethnic biased but in his defense during an interview with Jeff Koinange, Kalonzo said he gave an apology to Muriithi at his local church.
Wambui’s installation was dedicated to the late Terence Ranger who was her good friend and its main aim was to expound more on the origin of ethnicism and the invention of tradition.
Acording to Wambui, African traditions was invented for Africans by colonialists and missionaries in order for them to understand the ‘natives’.
The colonialist’s classifications which ranged from physical attributes to behavior characteristics later shaped what we hold as stereotypes against specific groups.
She held an exhibition where she challenged people to question their stereotypes, to dig deep on where they got them from and find ways on how we can change those stereotypes and instead connect with everyone based on reality not someone’s misplaced ideas.
Wambui a graduate from Oxford university with masters of science in African Studies also holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is currently the director at The Art Space Kenya.
Collymore married her on April 2, 2016, in an invite-only wedding at an up market residence in Kitisuru, Nairobi.
She was divorced back in 2009 with twin daughters who were later adopted by Bob after their marriage.
