Public Art Installation: Monday Morning, Nov 7 2011@ Central Bus Station

The Nairobi Arts Trust announced on October 31st its collaboration with New York City’s Glassless Glasses Studio, an art activation collaborative, to unveil an exciting new public art installation in Nairobi, Kenya entitled MONDAY MORNING on November 7, 2011 beginning at 6 am at the Central Bus Station.
As part of the Glassless Glasses Studio’s Living Industries project, the installation consists of more than 10,000 bright yellow balloons being given to commuters on their way to work on a Monday morning with the sole request that they hold on to the balloon until they arrive at their jobs. The non-choreographed parade of neon yellow balloons in the heart of the city will transform what spectators and city-dwellers would otherwise think as an ordinary daily morning commute into a sequence of unexpected celebrations. Commonly referred to as “the Green City in the Sun,” Nairobi’s status as the most
populous city in East Africa makes it the ideal location for this avant-garde public art exhibit.

Yazmany Arboleda, founder of the Glassless Glasses Studio, explains: “Figuratively, the balloons represent celebration. They make us think of the happy moments that punctuate our lives. By contrast, the often monotonous nature of work makes this juxtaposition all the more compelling. This art piece hopefully opens up conversations about what we think and feel about work and how we approach it each day. The disparity between the repetitive nature of work and the charm and playfulness of a balloon – or thousands of them moving in a given landscape– imbues this art piece with a broad range of meaning.”

For more information, download the Monday_Morning_Kenya_Press_Release (PDF, 3.3Mb)

Canon Festival of Impressions, Nov 3-5 2011 @ National Museum

Canon is delighted to officially invite you to the Canon Festival of Impressions, set to run from the 3rd – 5th of November, 2011 at the Nairobi National Museum, Museum Hill.

Given the great importance Canon attaches to the beauty we have in the country, especially our wildlife they have dedicated the 4th and 5th of November, 2011 to presentation workshops with Jonathan & Angela Scott, the famed Big Cat Diaries photographers and Canon Brand Ambassadors. These workshops will take place at 10 am to 12pm on both days, at The Ford Hall.

On the first day, we will have a presenation on “Wildlife Photography: Making the Most of Your Opportunities,” and “Travel Photography: Out of Africa in Search of New Destinations.”

Additionally, the ‘Canon EOS Adventure’ photographic competition will be officially launched on Saturday 5th November, 2011 from 6pm by Jonathan & Angela Scott..

We look forward to seeing you at the Festival of Impressions.

RSVP Ms. Bernice Kinuthia : crservices@officetechnologies.co.ke

[Postponed] Homages: Cajetan Boy, Nov. 4-5 2011 @ Goethe


Due to unavoidable circumstances Cajetan Boy film screenings have been cancelled. A new date will be communicated later. Any inconvenience caused is highly regretted by G.I.

Dates: November 4-5, 2011
Venue: Goethe-Institut Auditorium
Time: Nov 4, 2011 at 4pm and Nov. 5, 2011 at 3pm
Entrance: Free

Kenyan Film is making big strides, but many of its protagonists are not well known, not even in Kenya. It’s time to pay homage to their works. Goethe Institut in their Homage series, which introduced Jacob Barua, Judy Kibinge, Willie Owusu, and Jane Murago-Munene to a keenly interested audience, continues with Cajetan Boy.

Cajetan Boy is a playwright, screenwriter, lecturer in screenwriting, mentor, performing artist, and the Products Development Leader for Et Cetera Productions Limited, an independent film and TV production house. His first full-length play was Benta (2000) which was published and later produced as a feature film in 2006. Many of his stage plays have also been produced as feature films.

Cajetan is an alumnus of the Maisha Film Lab. Other than film and stage, he has written extensively for Comic Books, Radio, and TV, i.e. several episodes of dramas, soaps and sit-coms. As usual in this series, a representative selection of his corpus of work will be screened, and accompanied by a discussion with the filmmaker.

Concert: Netnakisum, Nov. 3 2011 @ Goethe Institut


Date: November 3, 2011
Venue: Goethe Institut Auditorium
Time: 6pm
Entrance: Free

Netnakisum are direct, cheeky, cool, bright, funny, and also serious musicians, always highly professional in their playing and singing, always with sheer quality

Immediately when you meet Netnakisum, you will notice their infectious energy and style. These three Austrian women present their music with a rare joy and humour, not always found in the classical genre and all this from superb classically trained musicians.

An important source for them is also Austrian folk music, which they grew up with in their very musical families. Having this background, Netnakisum absorbed music and traditions from different cultures. They work their musical path from an Austrian “Jodler” via Mozart to a unique interpretation of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’.

Their repertoire is crowned by their own brilliant compositions.

This concert is brought by G.I. in cooperation with the Austrian Embassy Nairobi

Public Lecture: My story by Michael Joseph, Nov. 7 2011 @ National Museum

One year after retirement as Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom Mr. Michael Joseph will share a decade in which he lead the company to become the largest mobile phone operator in East Africa.

Date: November 7, 2011
Venue: Louis Leakey Auditorium
Venue: National Museum of Kenya
Time: 6.15pm (Doors open at 7pm)
Donations*: Kshs 500 non-members, Kshs 400 Members and Kshs 200 Students
Contacts: 0724255299 or 2339158 or info@kenyamuseumsociety.org

*Proceeds to fund the development of exhibitions at National Museum of Kenya.

David Stopps Public Lecture Series: How to make a living from Music, Nov 21-25 2011 @ Nairobi & Mombasa


The British Council is bringing David Stopps to the country for his celebrated Public Lecture Series-How to make a living from music

Nairobi
Dates: November 21-22, 2011
Venue: Sarova Stanley
Time: 8.30am-4.30pm (Mon-Tue)
Entry: RSVP with Simon for invitation*
Email Contact: Simon.Gachui@britishcouncil.or.ke and tel. no 0202836000

Mombasa
Dates: November 24-25, 2011
Venue: Travellors Beach Hotel
Time: 8.30am-4.30pm
Entry: RSVP with Simon for invitation*
Email Contact: Simon.Gachui@britishcouncil.or.ke and tel. no 0202836000

* Entry to the public lecture will be only for those who have confirmed with Simon and have been contacted to that effect.

Biography
David Stopps started his career as promoter of the famous Friars Club in Aylesbury, Bucks. From 1969-84 he presented many well known people, notably David Bowie, U2, Genesis, The Kinks, Blondie, The Police, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, The Jam, Kraftwerk, The Ramones and The Clash amongst many others. In 2009 he successfully re-opened the Friars Club after a break of 25 years – with over 90,000 members it is the largest music club in Europe.

In 1982, he went into management originally managing Marillion and then Howard Jones and later still The Fat Lady Sings. These days he still manages Howard Jones who continues to make albums and tours and who has now sold in excess of 8 million albums worldwide. He also manages Miriam Stockley who, as the featured singer with Adiemus, has sold in excess of 3 million albums. Together with his business partner, Joseph Stopps, he also manages dance mash-up mavericks, The Young Punx, and Italian multi-genre dance genius, Phonat. He is often on tour and completed extensive tours of the USA, UK, Japan and Australia in 2008/9.

David is Director of Copyright and Related Rights for the Music Managers Forum UK. He is also a member of the British Copyright Council and from 2002 to 2010 was the United Nations representative for The International Music Managers Forum at WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organisation) in Geneva. At WIPO he represented all featured artists worldwide concerning new international treaty negotiation in the field of copyright and related rights. He is also a member of the Performer Board and the Main Board of UK related rights collection society PPL which is the biggest neighbouring rights collective management organisation in the world. He is the author of the book “How to make a Living from Music’ which is published by the United Nations. Commissioned by WIPO, the book is mainly targeted at the developing world but is equally useful in developed countries.

David is also a Consultant and an Educator and has presented a series of international workshops mainly for musical authors, performers, managers, governments and collective management organisations, but also for telcoms, brands and any organisation interested in expanding their business using music. He has presented workshops in Jamaica, Barbados, Canada, Belgium, UK, New Zealand, South Africa, The Netherlands, Kenya, Brazil, Thailand, Antigua and Indonesia.

In May 2008 he received the MMF Roll of Honour award in London.

In 2010 he became a director of software company, 3DiCD Media, which intends to revolutionise the way music is marketed in the on-line environment.

His book how to make a living from music can be accessed online