By Ogova Ondego
Published December 27, 2015
It may be a long holiday in Nairobi; many city dwellers are away till after New Year’s Day. But that does not mean the arts calendar in the Kenyan capital is closed.
Nairobi Gallery has organised an exhibition called Transitions that shows sculptures by John Odochameny and paintings by Peter Elungat in the Nairobi CBD.
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Nairobi National Museum’s Cultural Dynamism Gallery, on its part, has a two-month display of paintings titled Social Perceptions.
Being shown is the work of Moses Nyawanda, Stephen Njenga, Kevin Ndege and Samwel Njoroge. The paintings are said to be a response of the four artists to contemporary social issues.
All four painters are based in Nairobi Railway Museum Arts Studio. Other members of the studio are Peter Ndirangu, Lia Barhane, Joan Otieno and Sam Githinji.
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Wambui Kamiru and Xavier Verhoest are showing Who I Am Who We Are in the Creativity Gallery of Nairobi National Museum.
“This is a project that uses art and self-expression to create spaces and conversations for personal reflection on the themes of citizenship, civic responsibility, race, belonging, ethnicity and nationalism,”says curator Lydia Gatundu-Galavu.
The show, that began on December 7, 2015, uses art and self-expression to create spaces and conversations for personal reflection on the themes of citizenship, civic responsibility, and belonging.
The curator says the exhibition is based on archival material collected by the artists across Kenya between 2013 and 2015.
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The material consists of 80 life-size paintings called Body Maps; 1500 voices recorded in a public installation called In a Silent Room; nine documentaries; 80 interviews and 2000 photographs.
“This first major exhibition of Who I Am Who We Are showcases a selection of the paintings, stories, recorded interviews and films; it creates a mosaic of voices and impressions on what it means to be a Kenyan today,” Gatundu-Galavu says.
All the three shows are open 8.30 AM-5.30 PM daily. They are all managed by National Museums of Kenya.
