Exhibition: ‘Forever is Not Ours’ by Margaret Njeri Ngigi, Apr. 29 – May 21 2023 @ One Off Contemporary Art Gallery.

Opening: April 29, 2023

Venue: One Off Contemporary Art Gallery

Time: 12 Noon – 4 PM

Exhibitions Run: Until May 21, 2023

Gallery open: 
​Tuesday through Saturday, from 10am – 5:00pm
Sunday, from noon to – 5:00pm

Forever is Not Ours

One Off Contemporary Art Gallery is enormously proud to host a solo photographic exhibition by Margaret Ngigi.  The artist is building a reputation for the initiation of visual conversations on taboo subjects and in this series of works, she explores the ticking clock which propels each of us towards an inevitable demise.  The exaggerated expression in each pair of eyes, the emphasis on the placement of the hands, the carefully choreographed costume choices all enhance the narrative of disquiet.  The striking portraits offer the audience much to reflect on.

Pop Up & Chill Handmaker’s Market, Apr. 30 2023 @ The Office Park Garden, Riverside Drive – Riverside.

Date & time: Sunday – April 30th, 10am to 6pm

Venue: The Office Park Garden, Riverside Drive – Riverside

Entry: KES 300. Free for kids under 12.

Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/4fdCVObOk

About

Come shop from East Africa’s top designers & makers on Sunday, April 30th from 10am to 6pm at the Office Park grounds in Riverside on Riverside Drive for some of the best locally hand-made goods.

Our market brings together a selection of lovingly handmade clothing, leather goods, jewellery, furniture, home decor, art prints, healthy food, baked goods and much more.

The perfect place to shop mindfully and get great quality locally handmade goods from some of the best local brands.

The Domain by Tiago Guedes, Apr. 25 2023 @ Alliance Française Nairobi.

Date: April 25, 2023

Venue: Alliance Française Nairobi
Time: 6 PM

Entrance: Free

SYNOPSIS – The chronicle of a family that owns one of the largest estates in Europe, on the south bank of the River Tagus. The Domain delves deeply into the secrets of their homestead, portraying the historical, political, economic, and social life of Portugal, since the 1940s, through the Carnation Revolution to these days.

| 2019 | 2h 46min.
 

Presented by the Embassy of Portugal in Nairobi as part of the celebrations of April 25 (Freedom Day).

Screening: Shimoni by Angela Wamai, Apr. 24 2023 @ Alliance Française.

Date: April 24, 2023

Venue: Alliance Française  

Time: 6 PM

Entry: Free (Prior Reservation Required. RSVP, Here – https://mookh.com/event/shimoni-the-pit-kenyan-premiere)

About | 2021 | 95 min.
It tells the story of a man at odds with his environment and at war with his inner demons. After being released from prison, Geoffrey is sent to the Kenyan village where he was raised. Formerly an English teacher, he is now forced to redirect his life in a community that he left behind, doing manual jobs that are alien to him.

Winner of the Bronze Stallion at the 2023 FESPACO (Pan-African Film & TV Festival)

Screening in the presence of the Director and the Film Crew.

Screening: Shimoni by Angela Wamai, Apr. 24 2023 @ Alliance Française.

Date: April 24, 2023

Venue: Alliance Française  

Time: 6 PM

Entry: Free (Prior Reservation Required. RSVP, Here – https://mookh.com/event/shimoni-the-pit-kenyan-premiere)

About | 2021 | 95 min.
It tells the story of a man at odds with his environment and at war with his inner demons. After being released from prison, Geoffrey is sent to the Kenyan village where he was raised. Formerly an English teacher, he is now forced to redirect his life in a community that he left behind, doing manual jobs that are alien to him.

Winner of the Bronze Stallion at the 2023 FESPACO (Pan-African Film & TV Festival)

Screening in the presence of the Director and the Film Crew.

Exhibition: Traceback by Muramuzi John Bosco (Uganda) & Sheila Bayley (Kenya), Apr. 22 – May 8 2023 @ Village Market – Rooftop.

Opening: April 22, 2023

Venue: Village Market – Rooftop

Time: 1-7 PM

Until: May 8, 2023

About

Traceback presents works that unravel truths about African culture, nature, and rural-urban societies majorly inspired by East Africa in relation to human psychology subtly intertwined with the artists’ culturally rich backgrounds and perspectives. The exhibition also expounds generally on social issues including migration (in an African context) and their impact on our behavior and culture.
Like computing, tracing back to your roots can be a continuous and sometimes uncomfortable process. Still, it is as vital as progression, especially because culture shock or loss is inevitable in the process of embracing modernization. Although with the two artists’ opinions, these twists and turns shape our path and journey to finding our true selves.

Curated by Thadde Tewa (of @tewasartgallery).

Exhibition: Traceback by Muramuzi John Bosco (Uganda) & Sheila Bayley (Kenya), Apr. 22 – May 8 2023 @ Village Market – Rooftop.

Opening: April 22, 2023

Venue: Village Market – Rooftop

Time: 1-7 PM

Until: May 8, 2023

About

Traceback presents works that unravel truths about African culture, nature, and rural-urban societies majorly inspired by East Africa in relation to human psychology subtly intertwined with the artists’ culturally rich backgrounds and perspectives. The exhibition also expounds generally on social issues including migration (in an African context) and their impact on our behavior and culture.
Like computing, tracing back to your roots can be a continuous and sometimes uncomfortable process. Still, it is as vital as progression, especially because culture shock or loss is inevitable in the process of embracing modernization. Although with the two artists’ opinions, these twists and turns shape our path and journey to finding our true selves.

Curated by Thadde Tewa (of @tewasartgallery).

Exhibition: ‘Forgive Us For Our Skins’ by Sujay Shah, Apr. 19 – May 20 2023 @ Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road.

Opening: April 19, 2023

Venue: Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square – Riara Road

Time: from 6 PM

Until May 20, 2023

About

Raised in Kenya, Sujay Shah has experienced the intermingling of cultural ideologies, myths and histories. Shah is interested in how we can cope with colonial and cultural pasts, which are built into our surroundings.

In his recent paintings, Sujay deconstructs, satirises and critiques some of the harmful legacies of colonialism through the lens of big game trophy hunting. The presence of certain objects in Kenyan homes, country clubs and Safari lodges, such as skin rugs, animal parts and mounted animal heads serve as a haunting reminder of this violent history. 

In the depicted fictitious dioramas and still lives, acts of brutality go side by side with luxury items such as Victorian objects, silverware, candelabra, and cabinets challenging the notions of what it means to be “civilised.” Intertwining horror, humour and surrealism, the exasperated animals are subjected to various states of disrespect, further undermining and trivialising the convoluted nature of these hunts. 

Allusions are also made to early conservation practices that forcibly evicted people from their lands, recasting them as poachers, and equally absolving these hunters who treated Africa’s wilderness as theme parks. By portraying aspects of museum displays, these different moments are merged into a single image to suggest how the perception and romance of Africa, to the outside world, was fabricated, exoticized, and stereotyped. Images of which still perpetuate and haunt us today. 

Sujay Shah is currently living and working in Kenya. He graduated with a B.F.A in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013. After college, Sujay lived in New York, working as a studio assistant for the artists Paul Bloodgood and Anne Chu. His work has been exhibited in the US (Savannah, Georgia and New York) and France (Lacoste). His work is in the permanent collection of the Savannah College of Art and Design. In Kenya he has been in group exhibitions at the Kenya Art Fair, If Not Now at the Cave Bureau, and I Will See What I Want To See at Circle Art Agency. In 2022, he was awarded a Venice travel fellowship by Wangechi Mutu Studio.