Myrna van der Veer (Myrna Art Direction) and Linda Chao Mbugua (Sena Art Gallery) have envisioned a new way of viewing artworks, away from the austere gallery space.
I was invited by the two curators to a “culinary art tour” – Taste of Art – at the Hyatt Regency in Westlands. The Hyatt has granted them use of 5 floors of the hotel for exhibitions and art events. Taste of Art, described as a curated dialogue between art and gastronomy, offers the opportunity to experience art through observing, tasting and smelling, along with a group of fellow art-appreciators.
Titled “The Art of Connection”, the full exhibition unfolds across the 5 floors of the hotel. Envisaged as a “living exhibition”, developed through a collaboration between Sena Art Gallery and Myrna Art Direction, the selection of artworks on display is not static but changing all the time. Bringing together contemporary artists and designers from Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
The exhibition explores art as a space of encounter, movement, and exchange. As well as being an innovative way to view artworks, Myrna and Linda feel these are fitting themes for a hotel space, a place of passage and pause, where people such as travellers, creatives and business communities pass through in a transient way. As such, the curators feel the art becomes a conversation, especially to those who use the spaces regularly.
Through this platform, Myrna Art Direction and Sena Art Gallery connect artists with unique audiences, fostering dialogue, visibility, mentorship and sustainable creative practices across art, travel, and business.
While there are multiple art works in the exhibition, the Taste of Art experience focuses specifically on five pieces per event. In this experience, both the art and the food are curated. We were met by Linda and Myrna on the high-ceilinged and chic 16th floor event space of the Hyatt. The curators explained the premise of the tour.
Taste of Art is a curated culinary experience, spanning these five specially curated floors. Blending art and gastronomy, the event invites guests to explore visual art while enjoying carefully crafted flavours, creating a multi-sensory experience that celebrates connection, culture, and creativity.
The evening invited guests to move through the exhibition while engaging with specially designed culinary pairings that echoed the themes of the exhibition itself.
Curated as an intimate gathering for just 20 guests, the experience blurred the line between gallery tour and fine dining. Rather than separating art from hospitality, the event folded them into one another: as guests we encountered contemporary works from artists across East Africa while tasting dishes crafted to complement the mood, texture, and emotional atmosphere of the spaces they moved through.
Several of the artists were on hand to explain their works and take questions; Myrna and Linda added curatorial notes. The salon-style format of the event allowed for guests to mingle with the artists and with the other guests in a way that often doesn’t happen in formal art gallery contexts.
On the food and drink side, Chef Dennis of the Hyatt takes his inspiration for each biting from the art work being shown. Dennis’ vision was incorporated into the tour as he accompanied the tour and personally explained the inspirations for his culinary creations at each artwork/gastronomical tasting. In some cases, Chef Dennis referred to the colours of a painting. Others were more metaphorical; Meshak Oiro’s sculptures made of discarded scrap metals inspired a deconstructed couscous salad with octopus tentacles, a literal translation of the sculptor’s physical materials (scrap metal, chain links) into the chef’s culinary components (couscous, octopus tentacles).
Sena Art Gallery, founded by Linda Chao Mbugua aims to create space for contemporary African art. representing, curating and showcasing exclusively diverse, emerging African artists’ from across the continent creating a platform where overlooked voices can be heard, seen, and celebrated.
With a background in exhibition curation, psychology, art gallery and artist management, and art therapy, Linda’s practice is rooted in understanding people and places, shaping exhibitions that invite reflection and dialogue. Her curatorial vision emphasizes storytelling and capacity-building, ensuring each exhibition is both a cultural moment and a catalyst for growth.
Myrna Van Der Veen is a visual artist herself with a background in graphic design, photography, sculpture and art direction. She believes in empowerment over charity and designs cultural frameworks that connect institutions, artists, and communities, embedding art into corporate spaces to create identity, distinction, and meaningful engagement.
Taste of Art echoes a growing appetite for multisensory cultural experiences in the city, making exhibition-going an experience that is more than visual. The slow pace of the tour, with time to sip and savour, allows the group to also spend more time reflecting on the artworks themselves, absorbing their details, texture and meaning.
Taste of Art has two more iterations in May, the 20th and 27th (Wednesdays).
KES 6,500 p.p (incl. delicacies and paired drinks)
17:30 (prompt start 16th floor)
Payment confirms RSVP: Paybill: 220333 /Account number: 20930
Send reference to +254 791 938 568 | +254 20 363 1234 | [email protected]
