Various Small Fires: Emerging Artists from Kenya, Tanzania & Eritrea: Circle Art Gallery

Nebay Abraha (Eritrean, b. 1996)

Nebay Abraha was born, Eritrea in 1996 and, like various Eritrean artists, he is self-taught. At a young age, he hosted two exhibitions along with a friend in Asmara, which encouraged him to continue his pursuit of art. He’s become known for his portraits and colourful collages. Towards the end of 2018, Abraha moved to Addis Ababa, and this self-imposed exile has been a catalyst for his creativity. Since moving to Addis, he has hosted an exhibition themed “Ethio-Eritrea” at the Fendika Cultural Center in June 2019, a collaboration with Ethiopian artist, Berhan Beyene. Since then he has participated in several group art exhibitions. Various Small Fires marks his first time exhibiting in Nairobi.

Austin Adika (Kenyan)

Austin Adika strives to represent a type of radiant beauty in humanity from both moments of joy and pain. His process starts from a keen selection of materials, paying attention to varying textures, flexibility and specific hues/colours. He then alters their shapes, working mainly by hand and a few readily available tools, to produce their final forms. Inspiration for the pieces is drawn from his immediate environs and acts of random observations, which he combines with research on concepts of particular interest and personal experience.

“Art is a vessel for me sail through and explore the vast sea of life. It challenges me to understand and appreciate numerous aspects of life and nature, and is a tool to be brave and express my ideas and emotions without seeking an ideal.”

Biniam Afwerki (Eritrean, b. 1992)

Beniam Afwerki is a devoted self-taught painter, printmaker, poet, and graphic designer. He develops his ideas into bright, striking imagery which incorporates poetry. He has staged various art exhibitions and was the first runner-up in the adult non-professional category in a competition held by the European embassy in Eritrea. His motivation and inspiration come mostly from works of local Tribal artists, the social appearance of the people he lives with, and the local stories told through verbal deliberations.

Liberatha Alibalio (Tanzanian, b. 1994)

Liberatha Alibalio is a contemporary textile and multimedia artist based in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. After graduating from the University of Dar-es-Salaam with a BSc. in Textile Design and Technology (2018), she began working as a visual artist, with a focus on fabrics and textiles, fibers, dyes, and other multimedia forms. Having grown up in Kagera, Tanzania, her work is informed by her childhood in the countryside, and she uses it to reflect on the past and the creation of new narratives that draw on her identity and context. She has participated in several exhibitions in Tanzania, including the Other Worldly exhibition, and the East Africa Biennale in 2019. In 2020, she was part of the first cohort of the Nafasi Academy, a learning program for emerging artists hosted by the Nafasi Art Space in Dar-es-Salaam, during which she participated in several artist-led workshops, collaborated with other young contemporary artists, and exhibited her most recent work at the graduation show. In 2021, Alibalio participated in the Afro Ndi Luso artist residency at Modzi Arts in Lusaka, Zambia. Her current focus is on developing a practice that uses storytelling to create narratives for the future.

Ian Gichohi (Kenyan, b. 1997)

Ian Gichohi is a photographer living and working in Nairobi, Kenya. In his photography, Gichohi aspires to a painterly softness and sensitivity to his subjects, creating captivating images across the genres of still life, landscape, and portrait photography. With place as a central theme, his work is an exploration of our relationships with the immediate environment. He uses texture, contrast, colour, and composition to illuminate the ways in which objects around us can offer a glimpse into the ways we live. He is currently a student of architecture here in Nairobi.

Florin Iki (Kenyan/Italian, b. 1999)

Florin Iki is a Kenyan-Italian visual artist based in Nairobi. Born in a family of artists and having lived among different cultures, she was exposed to various art disciplines from a young age. She produces her work in a variety of media including painting, drawing, collage and installation work. She has exhibited in various group shows in Kenya. Her practice focuses on questions of identity, youth, emotional states, mental health, and women. Florin’s work is observational, she analyses her feelings and emotions and uses her personal experiences when making her work, searching for unfamiliar paths within herself. The figures in her work are often anonymous allowing the viewer to find their own feelings and stories in them. She has exhibited in various group shows in Nairobi, most recently an Artsy online exclusive show with Circle in July 2021. She currently lives and works in Nairobi.

Mihayo Kallaye (Tanzanian, b. 1996)
Mihayo Kallaye is a multimedia painter based in Dar-es-salaam. Following the completion of his BSc. in environmental sciences and management, he joined the Nafasi Academy hosted by Nafasi Art Space in Tanzania. He creates figurative paintings where his forms are inspired by Makonde wood carving traditions, working with rich colours and textures, sometimes using plastic to enhance tactile aspects of the work. An ongoing area of interest is the activities of daily life in his society, particularly questions of environmental sustainability.

Using participatory-based research, his creative process provides a space for the non-artistic community to participate in the contemporary art world by sharing their stories. The conversations and discussions of his research often focus on environmental issues that exist in his society, and these form the basis for what become the textured mixed media paintings. His paintings seek to capture cultural beauty while also communicating a message about his society. His work has been exhibited in the East Africa Biennale 2019; at the National Museum of Tanzania in 2020, and published by Bare hands an online publication in Texas in the USA, 2020.

Anita Kavochy (Kenyan, b. 1993)

Kavochy Anita is a Kenyan artist born in Kibera who primarily draws, paints, and experiments on different mediums and materials. Her work seeks to re/cover the layers of emotions that constitute the self and the relation to the world, the work questions the notion of home and belonging. Kavochy studied at BuruBuru Institute of Fine Art in 2014 before joining Maasai Mbili Artist Collective in the same year. Her practice began in collective learning and working alongside Maasai Mbili Artists Collective, participating in exhibitions, and workshops both individually and collaboratively.

Wanini Kimemiah (Kenyan, b. 1995)

Wanini Kimemiah is a community-taught, cross-disciplinary visual artist and writer from Nairobi. Their practice spans lens-based art, textile art, wirework, painting, collage and alternative photographic processes such as cyanotypes. They draw inspiration from their educational background in genomic sciences, as well as their interactions with people and objects in day-to-day life. They explore themes such as embodiment, presence and perception, time, and have a fascination with the uncanny, otherworldly and sometimes eerie experiences one may encounter as they go about the business of living.

The works exhibited in Various Small Fires are an attempt to turn ordinary objects and situations into a surreal experience. There is much wonder to be found by looking at what one is already so used to in a different light. In seeking out unfamiliarity within the familiar Kimemiah invites the viewer to think more deeply about the things they might take for granted, even though it might be uncomfortable, perhaps even frightening to realise that something can be so much bigger, stranger and more intricate than previously thought.

Winifrid Luena (Tanzanian, b. 1992)

Winifrid Luena is a Tanzanian visual artist working across various mediums including photography, video art, digital design and illustration. He is based in Dar Es Salaam and has since 2016 been involved in various exhibitions both in Tanzania and abroad. Luena has won awards for his work, including the Absa L'Atelier award in 2019. Luena is interested in psychological and sociological application of art. He uses art to explore different themes related to individuality, identity and history.

Wanjohi Maina (Kenyan, b. 1986)

Wanjohi Maina is a self-taught artist based in Nairobi. Maina began practicing art full-time in 2015, after quitting his job as a pump attendant. He joined the Kuona Artists’ Collective and has been based there since 2017. He has evolved his skills working individually as well and through assisting more established artists on various projects; artists he has worked with include Peterson Kamwathi, Dennis Muraguri, David Thuku, Kaloki Nyamai, and Longinos Nagila. Whilst Maina started out a painter, he has since expanded his media to include drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. Wanjohi has exhibited his work in group exhibitions in Nairobi, including One Off Contemporary Art Gallery, the French Cultural Centre in Nairobi, The Attic, and Circle Art Gallery.

Hawkers' Republic is an ongoing body of work in which Maina focuses his eye on the street vendors, or hawkers, as they’re commonly referred to. This work is an extension of earlier drawings and print-based works on the same subject. The works are made on steel sheets, from which he cuts out the silhouettes, then etches in the details, working with acrylic highlighter and spray paints for highlights and to describe the different objects. Hawkers are a ubiquitous part of Kenya's major urban areas, and form a significant part of the country’s ‘informal’ economy.

“As a cyclist, I am forced to jostle for space with these ‘friends of fate’ as they ply their trade in gridlocked traffic of our capital. I am fascinated with how creative they get while trying to earn their daily dues. You can buy anything, from fresh vegetables, electronics and household equipment, to toys from the window of your vehicle. If I were not a visual artist, perhaps I would be that guy hassling you to buy my wares on the windscreens and windows of your vehicles…” - Wanjohi Maina

Adam Masava (Kenyan b.1991)

Adam Masava is a self-taught Kenyan artist raised in the infamous Mukuru slums, Nairobi where he draws inspiration for his art. He started painting eight years ago and has since established a name for himself both locally and internationally. He incorporates different media in his art with the most famous one being corrugated iron sheets, which are also part of the primary building materials in the slums. He repurposes them into canvases with the end result being very unique textured art pieces. His legendary aerial view subjects are achieved by the fact that he paints from the balcony of his studio at the Mukuru Art Collective. He founded the art club as a way of providing an alternative avenue of livelihood to the numerous unemployed and at-risk youths as well as being a sanctuary for youths interested in art. His art is his way of showing the positive side of where he grew up which is riddled with negative connotations.

He has exhibited in Germany (Hamburg, Essen, Mulheim), The Netherlands (The Hague), The United States (Washington D.C & South Dakota). Locally he has shown at I.S.K ( F.O.T.A), The Art Fair, Affordable Art Exhibition, Manjano and the Polka Dat Gallery.

Sujay Shah (Kenyan, b. 1991)

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). He 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.

Taabu Munyoki (Kenyan, b. 1996)

Taabu Muyoki’s interest in art first emerged when she took art as a subject in high school. She went to pursue a B.A in fine art at Kenyatta University, graduating in 2019.As a student, Munyoki took part in several competitions, including the annual Manjano competition where she placed 2nd in 2018, and 3rd in 2019. In 2018 she was included in Early 21st Century Young African Artists at Saatchi Gallery, London, a group show of artists that participated in the 2018 MASK Prize annual show. In 2019, Munyoki was an artist in residence at Nafasi Art Space in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She is currently based at Kobo Artists Studios in Nairobi, where she receives mentorship from Kenyan artist David Thuku.

Taabu Munyoki’s art evolves from observations of her world, human relationships, and her interactions with people and spaces around her. Her background - a Christian upbringing in the rapidly evolving urban area of Nairobi - is the lens through which she filters these experiences. Munyoki works predominantly with canvas, combining painting, printmaking and drawing for two-dimensional works and incorporating resin for sculptural works. Her interests in illustration and graphic design lead her to work with bold colours, and incorporate patterns in her work. Faraja (kiswahili for ‘comfort’) and Does My Hair…, both 2021 are two complimentary works created based on her experiences of spaces where women have their hair done, and the attending politics of hair.