Opening: Sunday 27th March 2022
Venue: Red Hill Art Gallery
Time: from 11.00 am to 5.00 pm.
The exhibition is on view until 8th May 2022.
Exhibition: ‘Blowing in the Wind-ow’ by Longinos Nagila, Mar. 27 – May 8 2022 @ Red Hill Art Gallery
Exhibition: Group Show with selected artists from Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, Mar. 2-22 2021 @ Circle Art Gallery
Dates: March 2-22, 2021
Venue: Circle Art Gallery
About
In the gallery over the next 3 weeks we have a selection of new work from some of East Africa’s most experimental emerging and established artists. Come and visit the gallery for an overview of new paintings, sculpture and works on paper by the following artists;Paul Onditi, Longinos Nagila, Miska Mohmmed, Florin Iki, Jonathan Solanke Gathaara Fraser, Maliza Kiasuwa, Donald Wasswa, Onyis Martin, Nadia Wamuya, Paul Njihia, Wanjohi Maina, Shabu Mwangi, Dennis Muraguri and Cyrus Kabiru.
Image via the Gallery
Exhibition: Group Show with selected artists from Kenya, Uganda and Sudan, Mar. 2-22 2021 @ Circle Art Gallery
Dates: March 2-22, 2021
Venue: Circle Art Gallery
About
In the gallery over the next 3 weeks we have a selection of new work from some of East Africa’s most experimental emerging and established artists. Come and visit the gallery for an overview of new paintings, sculpture and works on paper by the following artists;Paul Onditi, Longinos Nagila, Miska Mohmmed, Florin Iki, Jonathan Solanke Gathaara Fraser, Maliza Kiasuwa, Donald Wasswa, Onyis Martin, Nadia Wamuya, Paul Njihia, Wanjohi Maina, Shabu Mwangi, Dennis Muraguri and Cyrus Kabiru.
Image via the Gallery
Exhibition: ‘From Here to When’, by Onyis Martin and Longinos Nagila, Apr. 4-23 2019 @ Goethe Institut Auditorium
From Here to When by Onyis Martin and Longinos Nagila, curated by Naijographia.
Opening: Thursday, April 4, 2019
Venue: Goethe Institute.
Time: 6 pm
Exhibition Dates: 04th – 23rd April 2019
Both a physical being—a living, talking, conscious, active individual—and a way-of-being in the world. The wandering subject stresses the fact that identity arises from multiplicity and dispersion… There is no body (and nobody) ‘except in movement.’
Stacy Hardy, Achille Mbembe Idiolect
About
The 21st Century has been referred to as the century of the migrant. Migrants, as opposed to other political figures—citizens, foreigners, elected political leaders— are defined by their constant displacement, their becoming-in-movement. The route of the journey shifts in speed, filled with moments of waiting and immobility, the process of migration involves insecurity of some kind over a duration of time.
From Here to When is an artistic exploration by Longinos Nagila and Onyis Martin into personal and social reasons for migration be they territorial, political, economic, or juridical, as they unfold in the long fabric of time. The artists’ itinerary includes dreams, memories, places never travelled and places that might be called home. By questioning notions of nationalism, place-bound social belonging, the movement of labour and more, the artisits hope to show that this century might not be as different from those that came before and how we could situate ourselves.
We are experimenting with the notion of the nautomat, which we learn from Raqs Media Collective, is a spaceship of the imagination. We hope the journey of our conversations, our actions, silences, might expand and intensify our attention to the world and our joys.
CONVERSATIONS AND EVENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE EXHIBITION
04 April 2019, 6PM
Nautomat 2: Exhibition Opening ft. Poetry reading & Coffee gathering, at Goethe-Institut
11 April 2019, 6PM
Nautomat 3: Artist Talk & Coffee gathering, Goethe-Institut
15 April 2019, 3PM
Nautomat 4: “Bunge la Wananchi”, Public off site event, Jeevanjee Gardens
23 April 2019, 5PM
Nautomat 5: Closing event with performance & Coffee gathering, Goethe-Institut
30 April 2019, 3PM
Nautomat 6: “Labour, migration and the question of the present – A performative reading and discussion”, University of Nairobi
Exhibition: Proximity to Power, Jul. 12 – Aug. 12 2017 @ Circle Art Gallery
Opening: July 12, 2017
Venue: Circle Art Gallery
Time: 6.00 pm
Exhibition: Until August 12, 2017
Participating Artists: Nicholas Odhiambo, Longinos Nagila, Onyis Martin, Lemek Tompoika and Peterson Kamwathi
Curated by Thom Ogonga
Exhibition: Utopia by Longinos Nagila, Jul. 7-23 2017 @ Simba Corp Apire Centre – Waiyaki Way
Opening: July 7, 2017
Venue: Simba Corp Apire Centre, Waiyaki Way
Time: 6-8 pm
Until: July 23, 2017
About
It’s horrible when people are only interested in buying labels, because it doesn’t bring them the happiness they think it will. – Miuccia Prada (Italian Fashion Designer)Luxury is a state of mind. – L’Wren Scott (American Fashion Designer)
In this conceptual installation, Longinos Nagila looks at the relationship between the buyer and seller who consume luxury goods.
Nagila uses the conversation surrounding migrants to Europe and the fake goods they sell, specifically on the streets of Italy, to people who yearn for an impression that they can’t afford.
His work explores the idea of a “new utopia,” a better world based on what luxury goods promise. This may be employment for the migrants who sell fake bags, or the impression of wealth/ status to the buyer of this fake luxury good.
Both buyer and seller are in search of this bigger dream at whatever cost and both buyer and seller are in some way linked, part slave – part dreamer to the life of fake “luxury.” This alternative utopia is played out on the open street where both dreamers are equalised and at the same time where their vulnerabilities are exposed. The seller is in constant fear of being arrested by the police and the buyer is in constant fear of being spotted buying a fake “luxury” good.
Nagila taps into his past as a construction worker and a rural – urban migrant (Busia to Nairobi) who eventually travelled and lived in Italy.
The exhibition is the most extensive of his work and features sculptural pieces, video art and paintings.
Exhibition: Of Ships Passing in the Night, Apr. 27 – May 27 2016 @ Goethe Institut & Alliance Française
“Of Ships Passing in the Night” is an art and photo exhibition which addresses the topic of migration and refuge.
Opening: Wednesday 27th April 2016, 6.30 pm
Exhibition Dates: Thursday 28th April to Friday 27th May 2016
Venue: Alliance Française and Goethe Institut
Admission: Free
About
Voluntary and forced mass movements have been some of the major phenomena of the last 100 years. Difficult realities and the aspiration towards a better future have compelled human beings to make the dicult decision to move elsewhere. Artists in most societies have created works that address not only the physicality of displacement but also the changes that emerge as a result of migration. Some of these changes are the trauma of forced displacement, the adjustment to new
influences and cultures, the plight of those left behind and the universal desire for holistic progress.A number of Kenyan artists have interrogated the displacement of mankind in their work. Their approaches to this issue are diverse, ranging from personal and institutional rituals of travel to the anatomy of those trapped in a form of no-man’s land.
This exhibition provides a tiny snippet into some of the artistic engagements around the issue of ‘Migrations and Refugees’ taking place within Kenya. A number of additional practitioners who enrich this exhibition are currently classi ed as refugees. The exhibition has been developed by Peterson Kamwathi, assisted by Thom Ogonga.
Exhibiting Artists: Mugisho Abija, Hassan Abdirahman Barre, Muktar Bashir, Mahet Ecubay, Jackie Karuti, Kivuthi Mbuno, Noor Ali Mudey, Patrick Mukabi, Alpha Mukange Mukangala, Shabu Mwangi, Longinos Nagila, Martin Onyis, Ray Piwi, Michael Soi, Koang Thakiy Stephena, Feleke Gebryes Tariku, Hamwenayo Vivier Tresor and Willy Wambugu.
Photo exhibition
The exhibition uses images from Agence France Presse (AFP), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) and Kenyan photographers to show the varying experiences of refugees in France, Germany and Kenya. The images show differing attitudes in and approaches by these countries in their eorts to control, embrace and facilitate the lives of refugees. The exhibition has been curated by Carl de Souza (AFP Chief Photographer, East Africa), Kirsten Milhan (Freelance Africa Correspondent, FOCUS-Magazine) and Thomas Mukoya (Kenya Reuters Photographer).
Exhibition: Democracy My Piss, Apr. 28 – May 26 2016 @ Kuona Trust
Opening: April 28, 2016
Venue: Kuona Trust
Time: 6 pm
Exhibition Runs Until: May 28, 2016
About
This is an art project and exhibition looking at democracy in Africa, taking common observations of political elections in Africa as a starting point.Often ‘democracy’ in Africa is established by the cycle: Queue – Voting – Dispute/Violence/Compromise – Long years between elections – Stasis – Queue. African politics feature accounts of unconstitutional extension of presidential terms, manipulation of electoral laws, party hopping, patronage and violence, and very rare nominal transitions when an incumbent is out-voted.
On the other end are ordinary people who are subjects to these politics being positioned as bit-players, pawns, the supporting cast to a centralized system of influential men and women but still they queue in millions to vote. Are they exercising a right denied for too long? Is there a need to make a mark even though that mark is mostly ignored? Is democracy an experiment? Is Africa defining its own kind of democracy?
http://kuonatrust.org/democracy-my-piss/
Exhibition: Freedom | Flight | Refuge, Until Mar. 13 2016 @ Circle Art Agency – 910 James Gichuru
Dates: Until March 13, 2016
Venue: Circle Art Agency, 910 James Gichuru
Technicians of the Sacred by Longinos Nagila, Feb. 4-18 2016 @ the Art Space
Exhibition Opening ” Technicians of the Sacred” by Longinos Nagila
Date: Thursday 4th February 2016
Venue: The Art Space off Riverside Drive
Time: 6 pm
Exhibition Runs Until: February 18, 2016
About
The technician is a dreamer and architect. Sacred can be taken to be something that is beyond human understanding. In today’s world we have human technicians trying to create something that is sacred. The technician represents himself, therefore, as a demi-god or God.
In looking at fashion and faith, Longinos exposes the irony of what the converted are called to hold as sacred.
The two live side by side, and it is the irony of their co-existence that Longinos tackles. His is an exploration of the irony of society, identity and religion. “Technicians of the Sacred” talks about the cultism found in material items and in the immaterial. By juxtaposing fashion and religion, the show raises questions about what is sacred and by extension what is traditionally or authentically African.
It also examines the role of Africa, its products and where these fit into the global conversation of Africa not as a receiver but also as a producer. This is evidenced more widely in the way in which there is growing African influence in fashion, products in technology and contributions through art and entertainment.
The artist
Longinos Nagila is a visual artist. He was born in 1986 in Kenya.
Longinos held his first solo exhibition in Lecce, Italy in 2009-2010 and since then he has continued to exhibit in Italy. In 2012-2013 he was one of the artists who exhibited at the Museo Africano in Verona, Italy.
In Kenya, he held his first solo exhibition at Shift – Eye Gallery in Nairobi.
He works with different mediums ranging from coffee, charcoal and acrylics. He is inspired by different artists from whom he has developed his own visual language. These artists include Andy Warhol, John Baldessari, and Egon Schiele, just to name a few.
His currently lives and work in Nairobi, Kenya where he has a studio at Kuona Trust Art Center.