By Iminza Keboge
Published March 2, 2018
Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is set to celebrate the International Women’s Day with art, sports, music and panel discussions.
Nairobi National Museum (NNM) shall set the ball rolling with a quilt show running March 8 – 26, 2018.
“This exhibition that is celebrating a craft mainly perfected by women is also part of the Nairobi National Museum’s programme marking the International Women’s month of March,” says a statement from NNM.
The exhibition, held in the Creativity Gallery, is expected to display what is described as ‘exquisite quilts focusing around Kenyan history and culture’.
The show is presented by Kenya Quilt Guild that describes itself as ‘a vibrant cosmopolitan group of people who love the art of quilting’.
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Also celebrating women shall be Alliance Francaise. Here, Siti and the Band, a music group from the Indian Ocean Island of Zanzibar shall on March 8 perform its ‘swinging mix of traditional zanzibari rhythms with contemporary musical styles’.
Siti and the Band comprises vocalist and oud player Siti Amina Omar, violinist Rahma Ameir and qanun player Gora Mohammed. Omar, is said to have overcome great family and societal pressures to study taarab music at the Dhow Countries Music Academy. She is said to be following in the footsteps of the legendary Zanzibari musician Siti Bint Saad who popularised Kiswahili taarab across East Africa.
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Preceding Siti and the Band on the eve of the International Women’s Day (March 7) at Alliance Francaise shall be ‘My Story, Our Journeys’, a panel discussion led by radio presenter Annitah Raey and bringing together Wanjuri Njeri, Njeri Migwi and Betty Adera to speak about the unspoken ’emotional, physical and sexual abuse’ they have been through as there is ‘No more hiding, no more shame, no more stigma.’
On its part, the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) shall mark the occasion with a women’s 10-a-Side rugby festival at the Nairobi Railway Club on March 4, 2018.
KRU says it is ‘working within the different regions in the country to spread the gospel of women’s rugby’.
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Nicholas Aballa, Coordinator of Age Grade and Women’s Rugby at KRU, says KRU has been “constantly been working towards encouraging women to take up rugby and participate in the game as players, coaches and administrators.”
Aballa says “Nairobi Railway Club is the home of Mwamba RFC, a club that pioneered the growth of the women’s game in Kenya and [that] continues to be at the forefront of this endeavour.”
The curtains will fall on the festival on March 30, 2018 in Nakuru as part of the Great Rift 10s.
Here is the KRU Women’s 10-a-side rugby festival schedule:
- March 4, 2018: Railway Club, Nairobi
- March 18, 2018: Impala Club, Nairobi
- March 30, 2018: Nakuru Athletic Club, Nakuru.
