Art to See in February

EVENTS & OPENINGS

Ukumbusho | Peteros Ndunde | Nairobi National Museum, Creativity Gallery | Opening Reception with Artist in Conversation Saturday 14 February | 2 – 4pm | Exhibition runs 11 – 28 February

In this exhibition titled Ukumbusho, Peteros Ndunde examines the physical and metaphysical dimensions of human existence through the lens of everyday Kenyan life. By transforming ordinary household objects into carriers of memory and meaning, he documents cultural continuities between past and present, offering future generations a clearer understanding of our shared nature.

A Taste of Art | Hyatt Regency | Thursday 12 February | 5pm

A curated culinary experience within the exhibition “The Art of Connection”, spanning five specially curated floors at Hyatt Regency Nairobi. Blending art and gastronomy, the event invites guests to explore visual art while enjoying carefully crafted flavors, creating a multi-sensory experience that celebrates connection, culture, and creativity. Limited to 20 guests. Please book by 11 February.

Wine & Art Soiree | Naishola Gardens | Friday 13 February | From 3pm

Artists’ Talk: Kuona Trust | Circle Art Gallery | Saturday 14 February | 2pm

A conversation at Circle Art Gallery on Saturday 14th Feb, 2026 at 2pm to learn about the early years at Kuona Trust and the support, resources, exhibitions, travel opportunities, workshops that happened over decades with some of the artists who were part of that journey and how the community supported each other and created the second generation of Kenyan artists post-independence.

Tigoni Art Walk & Exhibition II | Tigoni Organic Farmers Market | Little Falls Tea Garden, Tigoni | Saturday 14 February | Noon – 5pm

A curated open-air art experience set within the gardens and tea plantations.

Vibes & Inshallah: Spirituality & History  Nomad Corner, 43 Apple Cross Rd. | Saturday 14 February | 11am – 5pm

Welcome to Vibes & Inshallah, a moving pop up art workshop series built for connection, conversation and collective creation. Explore how movement and transition shape who we are and how we move through the world. Create narrative boxes collage art using black & white magazines, interpreting clarity, personal and shared stories of faith, heritage and journey. Artwork Theme: Black & White. Only 10 spots. All art supplies + a cup of tea. Investment KSH 1111.  To RSVP, DM @_muthoni.mwangi_  or WhatsApp: +254 784 123 063

Matiéres Voyageurs/Travelling Materials | Kabhula Lango | Alliance Française | Opening Reception Tuesday 17 February | Exhibition runs 9-28 February

This is an immersive work composed of artistic tableaux and a central installation: a large umbrella suspended from the ceiling, from which a performative image is projected. This performance centres on Mwan’engo, the reincarnated ancestor of a young man who haunts the young man, challenging his memories to help him see beyond illusions and imposed realities. The young man is torn between his ancestor’s anger and the illusion of his daily life, searching for freedom and identity.

The project is part of Kabhula’s ongoing research on the historical exploitation and contemporary overexploitation of natural resources, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research also explores the consequences of resource exploitation, which Kabhula has witnessed himself: migration, ecological challenges, and social transformations.

Michael Armitage, Maria Lassnig, Chelenge Van Rampelberg | NCAI | Opening 19 Februrary | Until 5 April

The Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) in collaboration with Kunsthaus Bregenz presents ‘Michael Armitage, Maria Lassnig, and Chelenge Van Rampelberg’ in an exhibition that brings together three distinct yet deeply connected artistic voices. Following its first presentation at Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) in 2025, this travelling exhibition arrives at NCAI for its second iteration, extending an intergenerational and transcontinental conversation shaped by shared inquiries into the human condition. Uniting drawings, lithographs, prints, and sculptures, the exhibition explores the body as a site of vulnerability, relationship, and belonging. Marking a significant moment for Nairobi, it features the first showing of works by both Michael Armitage and Maria Lassnig in East Africa. With the selection of works shaped by Armitage, the exhibition foregrounds influence, lineage, and artistic affinity, situating these converging perspectives within a renewed local and global context at NCAI. The exhibition is presented in partnership with the Maria Lassnig Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Austria, and the Austrian Embassy in Nairobi.

Woodcut Workshop with Michael Nyerere | Embe Creatives | Friday 20 February | 6 – 9pm

The second edition is here for the woodcut workshop , a perfect evening plan to meet new friends as you learn a new skill. KSH 3000 per person, all materials included. RSVP: 0708760986

Michael Nyerere Pop Up | Embe Creatives | Saturday 28 February | 10am – 6pm

Nyerere’s first popup of the year, where he will be dropping exclusive new merch.

ONGOING EXHIBITIONS

Yellowing | Munyu Space | Until 13 February

Yellowing is not a conventional exhibition. It is an ongoing artistic program rooted in process, collaboration, and collective authorship. Artists enter Yellowing with works in progress questions, fragments, and unresolved ideas rather than finished pieces. Art production and exhibition unfold simultaneously, allowing works to evolve through dialogue, experimentation, and public engagement.

The program emphasizes:
– Process over completion
– Collective responsibility over individual authorship
– Dialogue and critique as methods of production
– Art as a living, evolving practice

Hosted at ‪‪‪@munyu_space‬‬‬ Yellowing functions as a shared studio and semi-residency, activated through workshops, collective critiques, public talks, film screenings, and live artistic practices. The exhibition remains open, mutable, and responsive throughout its duration.

Tides of Light & Land | Liz Walker | One Off Gallery | Until 22 February

Liz Walker’s stunning photography is distinguished by her masterful use of intentional camera movement to transform landscapes into evocative, painterly visions. By deliberately blurring form and light, she moves beyond literal description to capture the emotional resonance of place, allowing colour, rhythm, and gesture to take precedence over detail. Her images suggest memory and atmosphere rather than fixed geography, inviting viewers into a contemplative space where landscape becomes an expression of mood and perception. Through this approach, Walker redefines the natural world as something felt as much as seen.

When the Snow Melts on Kilimanjaro and the Limpopo Runs Dry | Geoff Weedon | One Off Gallery | Until 22 Februrary

Weedon has produced a series of oil paintings which offers a sober, reflective interrogation of how environmental disaster reshapes the animal kingdom, focusing less on spectacle than on aftermath and vulnerability.  Through carefully observed forms, restrained compositions, an exuberant palette, the work traces the relentless erosion of habitat and the psychological weight borne by non-human life in the wake of ecological collapse.
Animals are presented not as symbols but as victims, their altered behaviors and precarious existence mirroring the broader consequences of human intervention.  In doing so, Weedon invites viewers to confront environmental catastrophe as an ongoing condition rather than as a distant event, emphasizing responsibility, loss and fragile resilience.