The Nairobi based arts futurist collective Kairos Futura presents its new immersive exhibition at locations across the city.
Kairos Futura’s new exhibition Hakuna Utopia? In Search of Micro-Utopias explores themes of utopia, apocalypse and resilience in response to the changes the artists have observed living in Nairobi, this teeming city of 6 million people.
Each artist in the collective has developed a body of work in their medium addressing the definition of Utopia and its universal aspirational qualities. Seven artists are sharing their visions across the exhibitions: Shabu Mwangi, Ajax Axe, Abdul Rop, Lincoln Mwangi, Stoneface Bomba, Coltrane McDowell and Neemo Mungai.These range from painting and drawing to printmaking, sculpture and site specific installations across the city.
Nairobi is a place of stark contrasts – lush, wealthy neighborhoods are often adjacent to impoverished, neglected areas with barely a tree in sight. This dichotomy inspired the exhibition’s central question: is utopia something we overlook, or can it be found in unexpected places?
The artists of the collective have identified “micro-utopias” around the city – places where, despite extremely challenging conditions, arts and environmental groups are enacting change on a community level. These micro-utopias will be highlighted on a map created for the exhibition, which will showcase locations that the artists feel can offer glimpses of a better future.
Kairos Futura is known for engaging their audience in ways other than simply as spectators. In this case, people who visit the exhibition will receive a specially crafted “Micro-Utopia Passport”. This passport will be stamped at each of the micro-utopia locations they visit, making the multi-site exhibition into a bit of a treasure hunt. Each location will have an installation or performance art experience for the community to participate in. Kairos Futura aims to spark dialogue on social justice, ecological sustainability, and the power of community through these artistic experiences.
Finding the locations will be integral to the visit. Kairos Futura aims to encourage patrons of the arts to visit parts of the city that they may never otherwise experience, and to see that those areas largely termed as “slums” are in fact vibrant communities thriving in the face of extremely difficult living conditions, yet finding the time and energy for cohesion and for participating in environmental and artistic projects.
By combining immersive storytelling, performance art, and interactive installations, the artists challenge traditional notions of utopia and dystopia within Nairobi’s social and environmental contexts. As Ajax Axe, Director of Kairos Futura says,
We began to think of utopia and apocalypse as a social and personal construct. Who can prove me wrong if I declare a place to be a utopia?
The exhibition launches this Saturday at the Kairos Atelier in Industrial. Attendance is by RSVP and there are limited spaces.
The exhibition will continue at the Kairos Futura warehouse in the Industrial Area, plus in satellite locations in Mathare, Mukuru, Lucky Summer and the beautiful Nairobi Arboretum until 25 November. The Atelier is open for visits 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday or by appointment on the weekend.