JOY MBOYA, 50, was architect before she decided to pursue her artsy and exciting side. She narrates the story of her interesting life to Shirley Genga

Being the fourth born in a family of seven, there was no pressure to be or act in a certain way, hence it was easier to define myself. I was born and grew up in Nairobi. I attended Kilimani Primary and Alliance Girls’ High School.

I had many dreams, including being a doctor, president and engineer. These kept changing, but what remained constant was my love for sciences and music. Because of my artsy side, I have always been active in music and theatre.

After high school, I went to Princeton University to pursue a degree in Architecture between 1980 and 1985. After graduating, I came back to Kenya and joined an architectural firm.

Being a jack-of-all-trades, I tried many other things, including photography. I had done a year of photography at university and I got a freelance photography job at the Weekly Review.

One day, I was sent to take a photo of the then Central Bank Governor, Eric Kotut. Back then cameras were manual and complicated. During the photo-shoot, the film jammed. It was very embarrassing and I returned to the office without a picture of the governor. We had to make do with a Central Bank façade. I have never done professional photography since then, but I still have the camera. Maybe I will indulge that passion some day.

While photography did not end well, I still felt I needed an outlet for my love for music and theatre. I got the opportunity to join Musikly Speaking, a music group, which comprised Suzanne Gachukia, Susan Matiba and Ciru Gecau.

Musikly Speaking

This meant that I was an architect during the day and a musician and thespian in the evenings. I was a band member and also wrote songs. I enjoyed every moment of those days.

We accomplished a lot at Musikly Speaking. We were able to create our own version of Kenyan sound. We fused local folk songs with western harmonies.

Apart from selling our music, we also used it as a tool for social change. We got involved in advocacy for different social issues affecting the community. Most importantly, we were able to show that the arts were a bankable career choice that Kenyan women could engage in.

After being part of the music and theatre scene in Nairobi for about a decade, I decided to further my knowledge and skills in theatre and voice. I quit architecture and left Musikly Speaking in 1993 to study Voice and Text at post-graduate level in Australia.

Creative economy

In the four years I was in Australia, I got a chance to teach actors, which I enjoyed very much. I saw the level of technical support given to children interested in the arts.

I felt compelled to return home and try to make a change because while we have many talented people in Kenya, we do not have sufficient training opportunities for the arts sector.

Thus in 2000, together with a group of other artistes, we began a journey to create a multi-disciplinary space. It took about three years of hard work, but in 2003, the Performing & Visual Arts Centre Ltd, popularly called the GoDown Arts Centre, was born. I have been the director since then.

It is a non-profit facility that provides subsidised space for Kenyan artistes and public programmes for local audiences. Because we want to have a physical footprint for the arts, not only in Kenya but also in East Africa, we host a regional East African Art Summit every two years where we discuss issues and network.

It has not been a smooth sailing and our main challenge is limited resources, including lack of financial support for programmes. Another challenge is attracting professional managers, administrators and marketers for the sector.

We offer an internship for communications and general office work to college students, which we hope will enable them develop an interest to work within the sector.

The GoDown will mark its tenth year next year. When we began, it was all about giving artistes visibility and connecting them with the public, so we put on performances at the GoDown and tried to build audiences.

We focused on creating a space where artistes could come together and showcase their talents. Sarakasi (an arts group) used to be at the GoDown, but they have now found their own space and are creating great opportunities for acrobatics and dance in Kenya.

Artistes today have a variety of avenues to present their work. We have, therefore, turned our focus to improving their skills, especially the business aspect, under the concept of cultural industries and the creative economy.

We have contributed to the current gradual shift in artistes choosing their career path based on their talent and are now going in the direction of capacity building and policy work.

We are also getting more involved in infrastructural issues and interventions.

We are currently collaborating with the Kenya Polytechnic College and the British Council to develop a curriculum for the creative entrepreneur and other associated career options, such as arts management and marketing.

We have also initiated an exciting project where we hope the see the emergence of a cultural precinct, inspired by plans of re-designing the GoDown.

The radically independent wife and mother

I am married to Andrew White whom I met in 1993. He is in advertising and we met when I was dabbling in voice-overs for advertisements. We had similar interests and were both passionate about creativity, music and family.

We like to take time away to relax with the girls (Khadija, 23, and Tamara, 25) at the Coast or in Australia. But finding such time is not easy.

Tamara studied Tourism Management in Sydney and now works in the hospitality industry there. Khadija is also in Sydney, pursuing a degree in Fine Arts.

They are lovely girls; they try to keep me trendy by buying me jewellery or clothes. And they are funny, reminding me to laugh and relax, something I definitely need to do more often. A home of course is never the same when the children grow up and leave, but such is life!

Parenthood and motherhood is a collaborative growing-up between you, your children and your spouse because each one of you will change and develop in some way. I found the teenage stage of my daughters most challenging. I thank God it is over!

I am 50 and I have realised it is quite a busy stage in life. My husband and I have become so involved in our work that our girls were so surprised that it was not all about them when they recently came home.

As you get older, your perspective of life changes. When you are younger, you may think you can do anything you wish, and it is not easy for you to appreciate that the decisions you make today will affect your tomorrow. As you head towards your 50s, you begin to see the connections of decisions made in the past.

My worst habit is holding on to things. My laptop is full of un-deleted emails and the study in the house is full of un-filed bits of papers and notes. This also applies to my art collection; I love to collect art pieces, books and other interesting things.

I have never been a party girl. I do not drink or smoke or do parties. I am an introvert who has extrovert tendencies. When I speak or interact socially, I may seem an extrovert, but I really enjoy my own company. In fact, if you give me a book and food, I can comfortably remain indoors for days.

I am not easily influenced by what others think. Usually, when I make a decision to do or not do something, I stick to it. I spend most of my money on books. I have over 50 books I bought last year that I am yet to read.

My hairstyle has been my trademark for over 20 years. I have never had nice hair, so I decided to do something about it. I cut the not-so-good hair on the sides and kept the better hair in the front and centre of my head. And that is how the style was born.