Maxwel Ogae is a Nairobi-based matatu graffiti artiste wracking up millions from the lucrative business.
Maxwel’s interest in matatu graffiti started while he was a young kid since his dad owned a garage and did graffiti.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
Background
In an interview with KTN, the artiste said he grew up watching his dad doing graffiti on matatus from his shop in Eastleigh, Nairobi.
As time went by, Maxwel developed interest in the art which later came to be his passion.
“The journey started from my dad’s garage in Eastleigh; that’s where I started loving graffiti and I also studied Art and Design while in High School,” he said.
Although he pursued a different course in campus, Maxwel later scouted for an artiste who mentored him.
“I looked for a mentor who would hold my hand and teach me how to go about graffiti. He mentored me from 2012 to 2018 when we split and I became independent,” he said.
He explained that he had to leave so that he can grow his brand and make a name for himself in the industry.
“I left in 2019 and that’s how my journey started,” Maxwel said.
Ever since going solo, Maxwel has worked on vehicles and numerous matatus plying different routes within Nairobi.
“I have worked on a lot of cars, when I marked one year after going independent, some matatus that I had worked in were among the best,” he said.
Maxwel also explained that he is inspired to stay in the trade by experiences that he comes across on daily basis.
Challenges
Just like any other business, Maxwel has also faced challenges in his craft.
He noted that client expectations without considering the financial requirements of the project is one of his main challenges.
“You need to have patience because that’s the only way you’ll manage to get it right. With patience, the end product is always something well done,” Maxwel said.
Maxwel also talked of clients who delay payments or fail to pay as other challenges that he is forced to deal with.
