SOS Art Kenya: A Global Call Lands in Kibera – Inside the Exhibition at HOF Gallery

On the Ground in Kibera

SOS ART Kenya is an open call exhibition, running across multiple venues in Kibera, with House Of Friends (HOF) Gallery Kibera as its anchor. The show brings together more than 200  artworks selected from over 300 entries by more than 100 artists — including youth, established artists, and contributions from private collections.

Media varies, with paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints on display. The only guideline: let the voice be you. Whether soft or confrontational, subtle or loud this exhibitions frames the personal as political and the local as universal.

Artwork By Saviour Juma

Roots: From Cincinnati’s Streets to Kibera’s Corridors

The SOS ART concept has journeyed to Kenya from the city of Cincinnati in the US, their mission very much aligned with that of HOF Gallery. both entities using the arts to empower people of all ages and backgrounds, including children, to express, educate, collaborate, and advocate for peace, justice, and positive community change.

SOS, in this case, stands for Save Our Souls. SOS Cincinnati was founded in 2003,

Recognizing that art can be a catalyst of change for a better world and that the artist plays an important role in this respect.”

The organization started as a grassroots, volunteer-led initiative aimed at giving artists, adults and youth alike, a public platform to express concerns around issues such as  justice, inequality, environment, and human rights.

Over the years, SOS ART Cincinnati grew beyond paintings and drawings. It branched into poetry, music, performances, printmaking, comics for children, and educational programs, always underpinned by the belief that art can catalyze social change.

Selection of works from the Open Submissions of SOS Kenya Exhibition

SOS envisions communities of creative people who are committed to using artistic practice, education and public advocacy to effect positive change on issues of peace and justice in their community, their region and the world. They wish to enable artists to move away from the consumer aspect of their work in order to be more reflective on social issues. They also hope to instill values of peace and justice, compassion, tolerance and love in children, from a very young age, through the practice of art.

SOS’s iteration in Kibera is not about importing artworks to Kenya, nor is the exhibition a replica of SOS’s exhibitions in the US or other countries where they have fostered relationships. Rather they are concerned with cross-pollination of ideas, bringing their same mission and values to an already receptive community. HOF Kenya’s roots run deep in community organizing, as evidenced by their establishment of a permanent gallery and subsequent “arts district” in the slum with the full co-operation and participation of the community.

Installation view, SOS ART Kenya

House of Friends began as a movement that creates opportunities to expand communities to think, learn solidarity, empowerment & liberation. Art with a focus on “Actions” that carry the weight of social justice messaging & allow for true collaborations, engaging participation & pondering conversations.

Where Art Reflects Social Issues

The walls of HOF Gallery and its satellite structures currently bear artworks shaped by the lived experiences of local artists, youth, and community members, encompassing their struggles, hopes, and calls for justice.

Artworks reflecting the recent protests around social and economic justice in Kenya, some referencing the finance-bill demonstrations, sit side by side with works that explore identity, environment, and daily life. One abstract acrylic on paper, titled Idea of Social Issues, was credited to a child under 12 within Kibera Arts District.

HOF Gallery represents more than a space for painting and sculpture. It is a hub for community gatherings, art tutoring sessions, performances, and dialogues rooted in social justice and liberation.

A kibanda for art lessons in the Kibera Art District

The goals of HOF Gallery encompasses more than professional visual art exhibition spaces. They want to make sure the space and the art create opportunities to expand the community to think, to learn solidarity, and to empower. To show art with a focus on “Actions” that carry the weight of social justice messaging & allow for true collaborations, engaging participation & pondering conversations.

See Also

Jute Portraits – Our City as Canvas

By welcoming SOS ART into the fabric of Nairobi’s cultural landscape, HOF is not only giving Kenyan creatives a voice but also creating opportunities for cross-cultural dialogues. A number of the works of the SOS ART Kenya exhibition will travel back to the Cincinnati for an exhibition there.

In a world marred by inequality, climate anxiety, political unrest exhibitions like SOS ART Kenya stand as vital spaces for collective grief, hope, and imagining. The exhibition is creating space for the artists, especially the youth to be seen, heard, and acknowledged.

Inside HOF Gallery, Kibera, during the SOS ART Kenya Exhibition

As well as giving voice to the community, SOS ART Kenya aims to plant seeds. Seeds for solidarity, seeds for justice, seeds for a better world. Because, as SOS ART’s founding mission reminds us: “Art can be a catalyst of change for a better world.”

SOS ART Kenya is at HOF Gallery, Kibera until 14 December. Follow @hofgallerykibera on Instagram. Contact 0741443678 for more infomation/directions/opening hours.