The Nairobi art season is stacked. From the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season Finale to the city’s steady run of gallery openings, Nairobi is closing the year with colour, conversations, and a calendar packed to the brim. Dive into the end-of-year art guide and mark your must-sees.
EVENTS & OPENINGS
Art Wonder & Wander | Runda Mall | Until 15 December
Discover “Art, Wonder, and Wander,” the free art exhibition at Runda Mall celebrating our local artists and adding a splash of color to your day. As you shop, wander through the displays and find the perfect piece to bring artistic wonder into your home.
XR NAIROBI– A Showcase of Digital Worlds | Shah House, Ngara | Wednesday 26 – Sunday 30 November
An immersive exhibition curated by Sawtooth Creative exploring Virtual Reality (VR), Extended Reality (XR) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) in preserving culture as part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season. Interactive walls, (Augmented Reality) AR scavenger hunts, digital murals, and panels. Sawtooth Creative is an immersive experience and design studio in Nairobi providing creative solutions for artists to learn emerging tech tools. Booking required.
Paper-making Workshop led by Chela Yego and Cynthia Nyakiro | NCAI | Thursday 27 November | Noon – 4pm
Set within the context of the ‘Between Signals’ exhibition currently showing at NCAI, this one-day workshop will introduce participants to the artistry of handmade paper. Through hands-on demonstrations, Chela and Cynthia will guide participants through the entire process of creating handmade paper. From cutting, blending, layering, and embedding paper with unique tones, textures, and effects, to experimenting with linen, hair, and other organic materials, this pedagogical workshop offers a chance to experience paper-making anew. Booking required via @NCAI254 link in bio.
Book Club | Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) | Thursday 27 November | 2 –5pm
Calling all art lovers, book lovers, and curious makers! NCAI and The East African Salon are teaming up for a book club exploring autobiographical performance art, inspired by the practices of Tracy Rose, Lerato Shadi, and Ato Malinda. Whether you’re into books, the arts, or just curious about creative expression, this session is open to all, no experience needed! Limited spots available, sign up via the link in bio @ncai254 to secure your place.
A Space For Us Celebration Show | Kairo Urovi & Vela | Munyu Space | Opening Thursday 27 November, 6-8pm | Exhibition until 29 November
A Space for Us brings together the photographic work of Kairo Urovi and Vela , two trans masculine artists using image-making as a force for cultural and social change. The exhibition is curated by Po Kimani, in partnership with the British Council. This show is built from care, rigor, and the refusal to shrink our lives to fit anyone’s expectations. It holds Black queer presence with intention and demands room for all our contradictions, softness, and power. Come as co-conspirators and community. Stay as long as you need. Please RSVP here.
Community Guidelines for the Trans Masculine Exhibition Space
1. This space centers trans masculine people and welcomes all who come with respect in their hands and clarity in their intentions.
2. Move slowly. Notice the room, notice your body, and let others have their own pace.
3. Name what you need. Ask without apology. Decline without guilt.
4. Witness others without prying. Curiosity is welcome; entitlement is not.
5. Harm is taken seriously. If something feels off, speak to a host immediately, interrupting harm is a shared responsibility.
6. If you cause harm, you will be met with accountability, not humiliation. Repair begins with honesty
7. Spiritual and ancestral lineages are honored here; speak and act like you are in the presence of those who walked before you.
8. Leave people more grounded than you found them. Keep the space steady, tender, and real.
A Care Bear will be on site for grounding, support, or any access needs.
A Lot Has Happened | Ian Gichohi | Paper Cafe X The Good Grain | Opening Thursday 27 November, 6-8pm | Until 31 January 2026
A Lot Has Happened | Ian Gichohi | Paper Cafe X The Good Grain | Opening Thursday 27 November, 6-8pm | Until 31 January 2026A Lot Has Happened by Ian Gichohi brings together five years of photographic experiments attending to the image itself and the surface that holds it with equal attention. In his studio notes, Gichohi writes of the process – looking without to better understand the noise within, and with this eye develops individual images and assemblages that are altogether quiet, meditative and honest.
Shelter Art Lounge | Shelter | Thursday 27 November | From 5pm
Welcome to SHELTER’S ART LOUNGE…Art, Vibes & Connection. This Isn’t Just your typical art show in a gallery— It’s an art experience at your local and favorite hangout spot. Art on the walls, curated music in the background, a cold or warm drink in your hand, bitings, conversations all around, either profound or filled with laughter is the aim for this night. Creativity meets community in a down to earth environment, raw, soulful, and alive. Step into a new spot, where your local and favorite pub hosts Kenyan visual artists pushing boundaries through their art telling stories that will surely speak uniquely to each of you while hanging out and having a drink. This is the third edition and last one of the year. Come through, tell a friend, bring a friend and let the art move you.
Urithi Collab Fridays | Heltz House, Ngara | Friday 28 November | 2 – 4pm
As part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season Musa invites fellow artists, critics, curators, and the public to Collab Fridays — open studio sessions designed to spark conversation, collaboration, and constructive feedback around his latest body of work. These gatherings create space for genuine artistic exchange, where ideas can evolve through dialogue and interaction. Visitors are encouraged to engage with the work, share perspectives, and connect with others in the creative community. Limited spaces – Booking required.
Ink & Imagination | Two Grapes Restaurant | Friday 28 November | From 2pm
A pop-up event to celebrate Illustrators, Storytellers, Comics, Digital arts, and the power of Africa’s imaginative community. UVC are curating a vibrant space with a mix of workshops, exhibitions, independent creators, and an after-hours Costume & Cosplay party @twograpesnairobi . It will be an afternoon/ evening of art, music, themed photo zones and creative awards. Tickets available on https://uncannyvalleycomics.hustlesasa.shop/. Early Bird end Monday 24/11/25.
Land, Politics & Ownership | The African Arts Trust | Opening Friday 28 November, 6pm | Until 28 February 2026
Land, Politics & Ownership | The African Arts Trust | Opening Friday 28 November, 6pm | Until 28 February 2026Land, Politics, and Ownership’ is an interdisciplinary project that interrogates the visual culture and contested realities of contemporary Addis Ababa through history. The collaborative practice of curator and artist Dagim Abebe and artist Natnael Ashebir navigates the tension between official historical archives and the intimate, often-erased archives of personal memory and lived experience. They employ a material language of texture, collage, and assembled media, using charcoal, soil, photographs, and printmaking techniques like image transfer and silkscreen. This approach makes the politics of space not just visible, but tangible, inviting viewers to physically and emotionally engage with the weight of displacement and the fragile acts of protection that define the modern urban landscape.
Rashid Amin | One Off Gallery | Opening Saturday 29 November | Until 18 January 2026
My work is an exploration of this fragile, essential connection and a quiet lament for the harmony we have broken. Using charcoal and soft pastels, I draw the human form and organic shapes, a figure that echoes the curve of a river. These are not just drawings, they are wishes, visual prayers for a symbiosis we’ve forgotten. The smudged edges and blending tones are deliberate, suggesting that our boundaries with the natural world are not hard lines, but permeable breathing spaces. – Rashid Amin
Kahare Miano | One Off Gallery | Opening Saturday 29 November | Until 18 January 2026
The show carries on where the last left off, with the triple themes of ‘Landscape Matters’, he has then added the themes of ‘Treasured Totems’ and ‘Memory, Betrayal and Dispossession’. Miano calls himself an engaged student of architecture and design, ‘immersed in the kitchen’ of learning. Like all Professors, the acquisition of knowledge never ceases, whilst all the while he has been fighting a savage illness. Miano confronts many historical and controversial issues with a deep understanding of line and form.
NAI HUNT: THE NAIROBI HERITAGE AR EXPERIENCE | Creatives Garage | Sunday 30 November | 10am – 6pm
An Augmented Reality (AR) based cultural exploration via web app and collectibles. Nai Hunt is an augmented reality scavenger hunt that combines gaming, storytelling and history while redefining education by transforming Uhuru Park into a classroom. Players use a web app, follow digital clues, and discover interactive stories hidden in landmarks across the park. Along the way they collect trading cards and handcrafted tokens created by local artists. The game animates Nairobi’s cultural past for young audiences while showing the potential of Artificial Intelligence(AI) and Augemented Reality (AR) in reimagining education. It is playful, accessible and deeply rooted in the stories that make Nairobi unique. Booking required. Part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season
Artist Performance: Muthoni ni Mimi |NCAI | Wednesday 3 December | 2 pm
‘I’m witnessing the death of a planet, one being at a time.’ – a spatial activation performed by Muthoni ni Mimi, one of the featured artists in ‘Between Signals,’ our ongoing collaborative exhibition with munyu. Muthoni is a soundscape artist who creates sonic memories of lived experiences. The event is free and open to the public; all are welcome.
This performance will then be followed by an artist talk between Kabi Kimari and Rosie Olang’ (Registration link in bio.)
Artist Talk: Paths of Desire | NCAI | Wednesday 3 December | 3pm
A conversation between Kabi Kimari and Rosie Olang’. The conversation will explore the idea of home and delve into ‘Paths of Desire’ (Kabi Kimari’s piece that is currently on show at NCAI). Please register to attend the artist talk using the link in bio. Bring something that reminds you of home!
Sisters Salons: Makers Edition | Cheche Bookshop | Thursday 4 December | 6-9pm
The LAM Sisterhood is happy to host this first Makers Edition of Sister Salons, collaborating with the luminous @chela.yego who will guide you through a Collage Portraiture Workshop. The Makers Edition invites you to enjoy the experience of creating. In this intimate workshop, we will explore ‘the story of you in 2025’ through reflections, prompts & experimental play. Join in and close the year with sweetness. Get tickets here.
Maskan | Alliance Française | Friday 5 – Thursday 11 December
Maskan, which showed at Creatives Garage in July this year, will be re-created at Alliance Française. This art installation seeks to confront the reality of femicide in Kenya, with real stories, sounds and visceral imagery. It has been produced by Usikimye in collaboration with Creatives Garage and curated by award-the multidisciplinary artist Thayù. The installation asks: what happens when maskan (home) turns into a site of erasure instead of safety? Read more in iN’s own review article and don’t miss this groundbreaking exhibition.
Kibera Arts Parade & Carnival | Starting from HOF Gallery | Saturday 6 December | From 2pm
A parade & carnival celebrating creatives living, working & visiting Kibera.
Fashioning the Future – Wearable & Identity | Heltz House, Ngara | Friday 5 |
Part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season, this workshop co-facilitated by Eneni Bambara and a Kenyan designer focused on fashion innovation using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital tools. RSVP here.
First Sato | Kuona Collective | Saturday 6 December | 2 – 7pm
Step into an afternoon where music, art, and atmosphere blend into something unforgettable. Expect electrifying performances, collaborative installations, and a community of creatives coming together to celebrate expression in its purest form. Whether you’re an art lover, a music enthusiast, or simply in search of new inspiration—Ffirst Sato is the place to be. Come, feel, listen, and be part of the collective energy.
Vision 2026 Collage Workshop | Provisions | Saturday 6 December | 2 – 5:30pm
Vision 2026 collage workshop with @mwadzame seeks to create a sense of understanding on what your new year would look like. Come let’s create extra ordinary stuff and have fun while doing it at @provisionskenya Kindly pay Kes 1500 to Till No: 5845259 and DM me with your name and confirmation to book your slot.
Creative Arena Competition + Exhibition | Shah House, Ngara | Saturday 6 + 12 – 14 December | 12 – 6pm
The Art Club Kenya hosts a live art creation session and competition (6 December). Founded by Prisca Ojwang’ and Eddie Matu, The Art Club Kenya is a dynamic creative hub bridging art, culture, and community through immersive art experiences. Part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season, RSVP here.
Following Creative Arena Competition, The Art Club Kenya opens an art exhibition (12 – 14 December) of the newly created pieces. RSVP for the exhibition here.
Kenyan Designer Collective Pop Up Boutique | Heltz House, Ngara | Friday 5 – Sunday 7 December | 9am – 7pm
An excellent opportunity to access these exclusive Kenyan designs.
Voices of Silent | Alliance Française | Wednesday 10 December | 7pm
A bold, visually arresting multidisciplinary production, inspired by true events, and developed from extensive interviews with real survivors of gender-based violence across Kenya. Every scene is shaped by the voices of women and girls who entrusted their stories to this project, transforming their lived realities into an artistic call for awareness and change. Limited capacity – first come, first served.
Urithi Exhibition | Musa Omusi | Heltz House, Ngara | 11-14 & 17-20 December
An exhibition by Musa Omusi, local designer and multidisciplinary artist renowned for his handcrafted, bold, graphic style. Their work will be exploring memory identity, and space through fabric, metal, wood, and paper. The process will involve collaborative workshops with artisans and community members. Part of the British Council’s UK/Kenya Season. RSVP here.
Into Protopia – Volumetric Concert & AI Festival /FINALE | Avis Aspire Centre | Friday 12 December | 11am – 6pm
Closing out the UK/Kenya 2025 Season is Nairobi’s first volumetric capture concert. This large-scale showcase blends music, film, gaming, visual art, and technology into a futuristic celebration of creativity by Kenyan & UK artists, AI performer Kamĩ, and kids’ AI play lab. Explore an Artificial Intelligence (AI) art and film gallery, play in the AfroGame arcade made by local indie developers, and visit an interactive AI Lab designed for children while catching a glimpse into the possible futures we can build when art, culture and technology work hand in hand. RSVP here.
Where Dreams Gather | Group exhibition | Trademark Hotel | Saturday 13 December
A one-day contemporary art experience and charity exhibition curated by Tewas Art. The exhibition features works by 10 emerging artists and includes an installation by Sharon Wendo. Artwork Image: @kendogavin
Get your tickets on Ticketsasa.com. Ticket includes: Delicious canapé menu + complimentary drink
Contact: +254 794 500 065 or email [email protected] for more information
This will be a special evening celebrating contemporary African art and giving back to the community. Featuring an installation by Sharon Wendo and works by 12 emerging artists.
Poster Art: @sharonwendo @fridah_ijai @nadiartist__
CULTURAL TAPESTRIES: Threads of Pan-African Identity | Curated by Sena Art Gallery | Nairobi National Museum, Creativity Gallery | Opening reception Saturday 13 December, 2 – 5:30pm
Sena Art Gallery is proud to close the year with a powerful celebration of emerging voices from across the continent, bringing together artists from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, and Nigeria—each weaving their own stories, histories, and identities into one vibrant Pan-African narrative, unveiling a dynamic group exhibition that honours the richness, diversity, and dialogue of contemporary African creativity.
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Threads of Consciousness | Angela Wambui | Gravitart | Until 15 December, by appointment.
Follow @gravitartgallery on Instagram for further details.
Group Show | Kamene Centre | Until 22 December | By appointment
This curated selection features works by @p_kamwathi, @gor.sudan, @nadiartist__, @mwass_githinji and many more. Contemporary art from the region is eclectic and fluid, honouring both historical and modern themes that shape the both regional and international markets . Through their work, the artists engage in conversations around Black studies, exploring social encounters such as urbanisation, cultural dialogue in the present moment, and self-expression as a lens for storytelling. By blending East African motifs and techniques such as the merging of human and animal forms, traditional sculptural practices and more, the artists offer powerful testaments to the diverse expressions of Blackness within East African identity today.
DM @kamene_centre to book an appointment.
Guardians of Memory | Njogu Kuria | Banana Hill Art Gallery | Until 28 November
Explore the art of memory. Discover breathtaking sculptures crafted from rubber, vinyl, and metal—each piece tells a story of resilience, culture, and identity. Open daily.
Freefall | Michael Nyerere | Nairobi National Museum, Creativity Gallery | Until 30 November
In the space between surrender and flight lies Freefall — new works by @nyerere_michael_studio . The @nairobinationalmuseum is delighted to host this evocative exhibition.
Megaliths Vol. I & II | Monty Blakk| Ardhi Gallery | Until 30 November
A powerful journey through chaos, scars, and healing. These large-scale acrylic works use the grisaille technique, painting in shades of black, gray, and white, to strip away distraction and let form and emotion speak. Monuments to resilience, they stand like megaliths: raw, intense, and deeply human.
In the In Between | Leah Warii | Nairobi Gallery | Until 30 November
Museum rates apply
The Middle Ground | Seven Artists | KOFISI Kaskazi (Matrix One Building, General Mathenge Drive | Until 11 December
The Seven Artists Collective presents a dialogue across generations, mediums and ideas. Exploring the space between diffrence and connectin, these works reveal distinct voices in pursuit of meaning. @kofisicentres RSVP to [email protected]
The Art of Togetherness | Chez Mahmadi | Opening 15 November, from 3 – 6pm | Until 13 December
Wild beauty meets abstract passion. Witness the captivating “Joint Art Exhibition” featuring the dynamic paintings of Karim and breathtaking photography by Zul. Celebrate “The Art of Togetherness”.
SOS Art Kenya | Kibera Arts District | Through 14 December
A new annual large-scale exhibition sharing more than 300 works about Peace & Justice. This show will be the largest exhibition that 𝐇𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚 has presented & will be in spaces throughout the 𝐊𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭. Most artworks for sale. Call 0741443678 for information and directions.
Between Signals | Group Exhibition | NCAI | Until 31 December
The Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) and Munyu Space present “Between Signals,” a collaborative exhibition,
Between Signals presents artistic practices that activate and challenge the spaces between analog and digital, perception and presence. Through immersive installations that engage light, sound, scent, texture, and time, the exhibition traces the in-between worlds where sensory and cognitive understanding is negotiated, inviting audiences to actively sense and reflect on their surrounding environments and experiences.
Curated by munyu, the exhibition brings together works by artists: Awuor Onyango, Kevo Stero, Kamwangi Njue, Kimani Sam K., Chela Yego, Cynthia Nyakiro, Muthoni ni Mimi, Natasha Khanyola, Anthony Muisyo, Sophia Bauer, Sound of Nairobi, James Kamande, Wakianda, Joy Mala, Ndung’u Mbithi, Adam Yawe and Tizzita Tefera.
I.N.N.A.T.E.L.Y N.A.T.U.R.E | She’Rustica | Two Grapes | End date TBD
She’Rustica By Design creates functional artistry and spatial design. I create bespoke, functional art and installation art
from discarded material, that embodies a blended rustic aesthetic. She’Rustica’s art is the result of a process of imagining and creating a delicate soft beauty from a rough and rigid world. Intentionally crossing the realm of physicality to invoke a state of introspection; to ask yourself, “What is my little thing?”. During the duration of the showcase there will be live interactions with the artist – keep an eye on socials @twograpes & @she’rustica plus @in.nairobi for details.
We Belong to Time | Tiemar Tegene and Engdaye Lemma | Circle Gallery | Until 3 January 2026
In We Belong to Time, printmaking becomes a language of transformation. Through transfer, layering, and pigment, Tiemar Tegene and Engdaye Lemma trace the ways emotion and experience leave their marks. Tiemar’s works move with the unpredictability of feeling – love, regret, and memory shifting like weather – while Engdaye’s prints echo the city’s restless pulse, its constant becoming. Together, their practices reveal time not as something we possess, but something that possesses us: each impression, each trace, a reminder that creation itself is a record of time passing through matter.
Too Many Words | Onyis Martin | Redhill Art Gallery | Until 5 January 2026
Onyis’s process and the resulting works speak of time as an accumulation of interactions and relationships rather than a simple forward progression of events.