24 Nairobi

24 Nairobi - pilot project of 24 Kenya

24 Nairobi is the pilot phase of a larger project titled 24 Kenya. The project is a showcase of alternative, innovative, realistic and professional African aesthetic and perspectives. The project idea evolved out of a general fatigue with dominant and stereotypical images and narratives that purportedly express Africa, its abilities, realities and peoples.

24 Nairobi brings together local, regional and international creative professionals to interact and work to evolve powerful, realistic images and narratives that would reflect the life, diversity, cultures, energy and dimensions of a city in Africa. The team will develop, create, produce, showcase, publish, distribute and archive a body of artistic work that portrays the immense dynamism and depths of facets of Nairobi’s life.

24 Nairobi will display the work of contemporary image and story creators, who will portray, interrogate and communicate the immense dimensions and varieties of life, expression, meaning and being in Nairobi in gritty, realistic imaginative and stimulating ways. The project uses the work time formula to reveal Nairobi and its distinct urban character. It is the first stage of an image and narrative project that shall engage artists and others to explore, subvert, challenge and transcend prevailing image and narrative stereotypes.

24 Nairobi is a Kwani Trust project, with eight participating writers and photographers. It is curated by Nicholas Ysenburg & Binyavanga Wainaina, and is a collaboration with arts, heritage and culture sector partners in Kenya.