Kwani Literature Festival

5th Edition of Kwani? Litfest: Beyond the Map of English, Dec. 1-6 2015 in Nairobi

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Kwani Literature Festival
The fifth edition of Kwani? Litfest, a biennial gathering of writers, artists and thinkers from across Africa, takes place from 1st-6th December 2015.

This year’s literary festival, Beyond the Map of English: Writers in conversation on Language hosts readings, performances and discussions that explore issues of language and how this relates to African experiences and writing on the continent.

Confirmed participants include Nuruddin Farah, Taiye Selasi, Boris Boubacar Diop, Yvonne Adhiambo Owour, Wu Ming, Prof. Aldin Mutembei,FOKN Bois and Siphiwo Mahala.

Pechakucha Night

PechaKucha Nairobi, Nov. 18 2015 @ Foundry Africa, Nellon Place, Rhapta Road

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Pechakucha Night
Date: November 18, 2015
Venue: Foundry Africa, Nellon Place, Rhapta Road, Westlands
Time: Doors open at 6 pm

The presenters we shall have for this edition of PechaKucha are;
Photography-Jua Kali Project
Interior design organization-Craft Africa
Architecture-Aoad-Atleliers Olango Archicture and Design by Dick Olango
Visual Arts-Amina Abdala
Graphic Design-Ark Studios

PechaKucha drags you into a live situation with atmosphere, energy and real human interaction. The speakers will inspire you as they share their passions, their creativity and their achievements.

The event is being presented in cooperation with our special partners behind the Nairobi Design Week and the Foundry Africa.

The Art Space Artist Afternoon

Debate: The Art Space Artist Afternoon, Nov. 10 2015 @ The Art Space Kenya

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The Art Space Artist Afternoon

If you are an artist who is interested in knowing more about the space come through for an informal conversation. In this first conversation will talk about what The Art Space is and how we can work together.

This event is specifically for artists only and will start on time at 2pm to 4pm

where:The Art Space Kenya, Riverside Dr., Nairobi, Kenya, 00202

Photo Credit: Nairobi Now

the Great Migration Debate

Event: Migration Debate, Nov. 4 2015 @ Louis Leakey Hall – Nairobi National Museum

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the Great Migration Debate
Date: November 4, 2015
Venue: Louis Leakey Hall, Nairobi National Museum
Time: 6-8 pm

On November 4, 2015, the Rift Valley Institute’s Rift Valley Forum and the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat will host a panel to debate the proposition: Global migration is out of control—states must enforce stricter border controls and adopt policies to reduce migration.

Chris Horwood of the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, Nanjala Nyabola of Heinrich Boll Institute, Caroline Njuki of IGAD and Sarah Mallia of Pawa254 will present arguments. Journalist John-Allan Namu of KTN will chair the debate, which will be held in the Nairobi National Museum, Louis Leakey Hall from 6-8pm. Refreshments will be served after the event.

Register here

remains, waste and metonymy

Remains, Waste and Metonymy, Oct. 24 2015 @ British Institute in Eastern Africa

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remains, waste and metonymyBy approaching stuff as incomplete and emergent, Remains, Waste and Metonymy offers critical scrutiny to the assumed finality, stability and comfort of ‘objects’, ‘persons’ and ‘landscapes’. Always ‘in the making’ remains and waste often appear like unfinished biographies, stories and narrations that promise but rarely deliver entirely coherent meanings, bounded entities and stable wholes. Evoking presence rather than offering meaning (more metonymic than metaphorical) this indeterminacy is creatively explored to reveal the excessive multiplicities of time, substance and space.

The interventions presented are works-in-progress that explore new avenues of collaboration between artists and scholars around these themes of waste, remains and metonymy.

Featuring performances and pieces by:

Syowia Kyambi
Joost Fontein with Fawaz Elsaid and Mandela Samuel
Sam Derbyshire
Jackie Karuti
John Harries
Neo Sinoxolo Musangi
Annie Pfingst
Connie Smith
Sam Hopkins and Simon Rittmeier
Meshack Oiro

With thanks to National Museums of Kenya; Goethe Institute, Nairobi; Professor Stephanie Newell (Yale University)

RVF Oct. 2015

Rift Valley Forum (former Nairobi Forum) Event: Extractives Development & Violence in Eastern Africa, Oct. 13 2015 @ RVI Office

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RVF Oct. 2015
Extractives Development and Violence in Eastern Africa

Date: October 13, 2015
Venue: Seminar Room, Rift Valley Institute Office
Location: Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa
Entry: Prior RSVP ONLY

About
It is boom time in eastern Africa. In 2016, its economies will be the continent’s fastest growing, as investors pour money into burgeoning oil, gas and minerals industries. In response, regional governments are planning massive networks of roads, rails and pipelines that will span East Africa, the Horn, the Great Lakes, and South Sudan. These will benefit many of the region’s citizens by creating jobs, delivering new services, and opening the region to further development. But these projects will also impact areas that are perennially insecure, where competition for control of natural resources, economic assets, and political power drive recurrent violence. In these areas, there is a risk that these rapid and disruptive developments will aggravate and complicate existing conflicts and create new patterns of violence.

On 13 October 2015, the Rift Valley Institute’s Rift Valley Forum (formerly the Nairobi Forum), the Institute for Development Studies and the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies will host a panel discussion to explore how extractive development may affect the dynamics of violence in eastern African and examine policy and legal options to prevent violence. Refreshments will be served after the discussion.

Moderator
Melba Wasunna
Strathmore Extractives Industries Centre

Panellists
Mohamed Bakari
University of Dar es Salaam

Ngala Chome
British Institute in Eastern Africa

Eric Ndushabandi
University of St. Louis

Roba Sharamo
George Mason University

Pauline Skaper
International Alert

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