“The dismantling of apartheid in South Africa was a breath of fresh air after so many bitter years of struggle by its people to rid themselvess of a brutal and bloody system that denied them basic fundemental rights of justice, equality and dignity.” As an artist and a humanist Rafiki Kariuki says he is proud to have played his part in this struggle by producing works that provoked thoughts and statements against the monstrous system of apartheid. In the heat of the struggle in the 1980s, he produced several pieces such as War on Apartheid, Freedom Fighter, Crying in Soweto, Wounds of Apartheid and Flame that spoke to the human condition, his primary interest in art. Often Rafiki Kariuki’s imagery depicts mankind as alienated, defeated, rejected, disillusioned and hampered, but there are also signs of hope and ways for mankind to triumph and to participate in the real meaning of life. In 1991 he exhibited a body of work entitled Vibes and Visions. In that exhibition he explored ideas about man, his environment and spirituality through paintings such as Mystic Man, Man of Vision, Neighborhood, A Dry White Season, Supplication and Meditation. He says. “My work poses many challenges in pursuit of political ,theoretical and spiritual concerns, and generates a multiplicity of forms and ideas that harness my training and aesthetic awareness". PA-S 2000