Remembering Rosemary Karuga: Artworks of alluring simplicity and extraordinary detail A vast chapter of the still mostly untold story of women’s art in Kenya starts with Rosemary Namuli Karuga. Karuga passed away on 9 February 2021 at the age of 93. She was one of the pioneers who made major contributions to contemporary art on the continent and is recognised as one of the finest East African artists of her generation. Karuga is known for her collage works depicting pastoral and domestic African scenes, commonly villagers, farmers and animals. They would go on to be shown internationally, but she began to produce commercial art only in her 60s, when she had retired from teaching.