ONE-OFF AND NEW EXHIBITIONS
Kuona Art Pop Up | 1 June | 10am – 7pm
Image by Joy Maringa
Visit the studios of the artists of Kuona Collective, with the opportunity to purchase works, including small pieces that are easy on the pocket. Patrick Mukabi will run kids’ art classes (age 5 +) with charcoal and acrylic painting 10am – 4pm.
Kuona Artists’ Collective, Likoni Close, off Dennis Pritt Rd.
Graffiti Art Jam | Theme: Harmony | 1 June | 10am – 5pm
Image via @happening_arts
Come for the unveiling of the mural by resident artist & indulge in an art activity of your choice. Art materials provided. Bring your old fabric for customization. Carry your artwork home. Enjoy DJ Sets & Food from various vendors.
Ksh 1000 – Ticket includes an art activity (screen printing, fabric customization, paint-a-can) + soft drink.
Happening Arts, Dorobo Rd.
OPEN STUDIO: NADIA WANJIRU | 8 June | 12 – 7pm
Born in 2002, Nadia Wanjiru is a multi media artist living and working in Nairobi. She is a Fine Art graduate from The Kenyatta University. Currently, she is experimenting with charcoal on paper and canvas, watercolours, acrylics to develop her skills and techniques under her mentor Onyis Martin. She draws her inspiration from nature,human habits and experiences both personal and society at large.
Kobo Trust, 523 Riara Rd.
William Wambugu | Solo Exhibition
Detail of “Post-covid” by Wambugu
Opening reception: 2nd June 2024 from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Exhibition continues until 14 July.
In these large scale paper works Wambugu uses black ink mixed with dark coloured hues and occasionally collages, creating delicate lines and a variability of geometric forms. Veterinary surgical instruments hyper-realistically drawn, dark black, floating over large sharp white, glaring paper. Shades of figures emerging out of the geometric background. His exceptional pen brings the viewer to notice incredible details of his objects. His works are delicate and simple and simultaneously have strength and originality.
Red Hill Art Gallery, Gatatha Rd., Red Hill
WYCLIFFE OPONDO | Bottoming Up
Opening 4 June, 6pm. Showing until 28 June
Opondo brings street humour and graphic jokes in his signature sign-painting style to the gallery. As a self-taught artist, Wiki’s art journey started at children’s workshops at the Paa ya Paa Art Gallery back in the 1980s. In his youth, Wiki was influenced by popular culture and the proliferation of graffiti and street art, and while still at school he found occasional commercial work as a sign painter and matatu artist.
Alliance Francaise, Utali Ln.
EDWIN JONGO | Between the Lines
Opening 8 June, 2pm onwards. Showing until July 15
Jongo’s work primarily explores the lifestyle of the common mwananchi (ordinary citizen), utilising unique materials such as used cutting and grinding discs, and thin piping cord. These materials are intricately arranged on canvas to create figures with geometric features, giving his art a distinctive and modern edge.
Banana Hill Art Gallery, Banana Raina Rd, Banana Hill
LIFE SIZED ART EXHIBTION | Jennifer Msekwa, Felista Gatwiri, Reson Njeri, Mokeria Gitamo
Mifumo ya Kurithi by Jennifer Msekwa
8 – 15 June
Ardhi’s Mentorship program, in collaboration with Peter Elungat, kicks off this life-sized art exhibition. The two-week accelerator program will focus on various cohorts of female emerging artists entering the program and exhibiting monthly solo shows until July 31st. Current artists
Parallel Four Hostels Building, Entrance through Adreno’s Bistro, Ole-Sangale Link Rd.
TABITHA WA THUKU | Solo Exhibition
title still to come, 2024 by Tabitha Wa Thuku
Opening reception 19 June from 6pm. Exhibition continues until 14 July.
In the 35 or so years of her artistic career, Tabitha Wa Thuku has been journeying homewards. In different places and spaces, she has explored notions of home and belonging; to people, to herself and to the land. These seasons, as she calls them, come together to paint a rich tapestry of her life, and all the things she has seen and done on her odyssey.
Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square, Riara Road
BEYOND | MUNENE KARIITHI
Detail of painting by Munene Kariithi
Until 23 June
An exhibition of recent paintings relating to migration and diversity.
One-Off Contemporary Art Gallery, Rosslyn Lone Tree
Window Where No Light Goes | Joachim Kwaru
Kulipa Ushuru Ni Kujitegemea I (2024)
Until 13 July
Curated by Rose Jepkorir, the subjects of Nairobi artist Kwaru’s work revolve around day-to-day life offerings, questioning the value propositions in art practices and how or when meaning is embedded in artwork.
The African Arts Trust, Victoria Square, Riara Road
LAST CHANCE TO SEE
HOPEFUL HUES | Adam Masava & Crae
Until 7 June
Vibrant Visions of a diverse Nairobi by Masava and Crae of Mukuru Art Collective.
Village Market Rooftop
MABAKI – Adlan Yousif
Rusty Souls’s Voyage – Adlan Yousif
Until 10 June
Coming from the war zones of Darfur, Yousif was influenced by many scenes of oppression. Like many who grew up in the Darfur region, he saw iron as a material much used for destruction and turned it around to tell stories inspired by war-torn regions and societies. His vision leads to the implementation of sculptural projects, with scrap metal as the basic material allowing the expression of this real tragedy, and the transformation of this hard, rusty and cold material into expressive and poetic poems with a heightened sense of drama.
HOF Gallery in the Kibera Arts District
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
OLIDDE MUPIPA | Xenson
Untitled Series – Xenson 2019
Until 13 July
Xenson (Samson Ssenkaaba, b. 1978) is a Kampala-based multimedia artist. ‘Olidde mupipa’ (Luganda) is an idiomatic expression that translates to ‘you have eaten from the barrel (the dustbin)’. The phrase implies that one has arrived too late for something, that they have to make do with leftovers. More specifically, the expression refers to the steel drums, which are often sold and repurposed. In his practice, Xenson has adopted these steel barrels, and their offshoots, as a support for painting and as building blocks for the sculptures and installations that make up this exhibition.
NCAI (Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute), Rosslyn Riviera