Threads of Memory and Saltwater in Agnes Waruguru’s Artful Homecomings

A room painted blush pink, wallpapered with geometric echoes, and scattered with marmalade jars and a Kenyan kiondo basket—Agnes Waruguru’s installations transform everyday objects into vessels of memory. Her art draws from the craft traditions passed down by the women in her family, weaving beadwork, sewing, and knitting into contemporary practice. These inherited techniques become a language for exploring identity, especially as Waruguru navigates global art scenes from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Venice. Her process is tactile and experimental, from cleansing textiles in Lamu’s saltwater to layering pigments and glass beads on vast cotton sheets. Each material—whether saffron, charcoal, or ink—marks time and place, turning domestic familiarity into poetic abstraction. Waruguru’s works invite viewers to witness the slow, communal act of making, where every stitch and stain is a thread back to home. In her hands, art becomes both archive and gathering, holding the quiet power of shared histories across continents. #ContemporaryAfricanArt #TextileArt #KenyanArtists #Culture