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NCAI Established in 2020, the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) is a non-profit visual art space dedicated to the growth of contemporary art in East Africa.

Swipe through a week in Lucky Summer.For some of the students, art began simply by watching others make it.One student t...
31/08/2026

Swipe through a week in Lucky Summer.

For some of the students, art began simply by watching others make it.
One student told us he started creating after watching artists at Tempo Art Centre. A friend introduced him, and he has been learning from them ever since.

Another discovered that what we often call “waste” can become something beautiful.

These moments remind us what becomes possible when young people have the tools, materials and guidance to explore, experiment and express themselves freely.

Art doesn’t always begin with knowing what to make. Sometimes, it begins with seeing what’s possible.

In partnership with Art Centre
📍 Tumaini Skills Training Centre, Lucky Summer

Resounding Rhizomes Opens on 24th September at NCAIResounding Rhizomes, curated by Aude Christel Mgba, looks at how seed...
19/08/2026

Resounding Rhizomes Opens on 24th September at NCAI

Resounding Rhizomes, curated by Aude Christel Mgba, looks at how seeds and plants move through the world. Travelling across oceans and borders, they take root in new soils, enter new diets and economies, and settle into new rituals and languages. In this process, they participate in transforming the places and the people they reach and are in turn transformed.

Resounding Rhizomes brings together works by Taqwa Bn. Ali, Leo Asemota, Rehema Chachage, Jim Chuchu, Letaru Dralega, Fabiana Ex-Souza, Em'kal Eyongakpa, Linda Lamignan, Maggie Otieno and is developed in partnership with Sustaining the Otherwise as part of the multilocational program Practicing Otherwise.

📅 Opens: 24 September 2026
🗓 On view until: 10 January 2027
📍 Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute

Jim Chuchu,
The Camera Cannot Eat,
2025
(video still)

'Tabula Rasa' (2026), a large-scale drawing by Peterson Kamwathi, created directly on NCAI's walls, has sparked exciteme...
14/08/2026

'Tabula Rasa' (2026), a large-scale drawing by Peterson Kamwathi, created directly on NCAI's walls, has sparked excitement and curiosity alike. The work extends across all three galleries, effectively wrapping around the other works in the exhibition. Kamwathi uses different visual elements, drawn lines, string, the extension of a sisal plant, and lines of sight of figures in the drawings to create moments of contact and connection across a series of ostensibly unrelated events across the expanse of the drawing. Kamwathi plays with different heights and sightlines, the physical postures of the figures, and even incorporates animation into what is his largest single work to date.

Created specifically for this exhibition, the work is ephemeral and will be painted over when the exhibition closes, ending its physical presence.

Visit the exhibition and encounter this work before it disappears with the close of the exhibition on 23rd August 2026.
Entry is free.

Images 1-5
Installation view of 'Tabula Rasa', Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, 2026

Video
Study for Tabula Rasa (2026), by Peterson Kamwathi

05/08/2026

Just three weeks left to experience 'Tabula Rasa', Peterson Kamwathi's solo exhibition at NCAI.

'Tabula Rasa' invites you to slow down, look closely, and question what is remembered, what is erased, and the stories hidden in everyday life.

One of the exhibition's most striking works, a monumental drawing created directly on the gallery wall, will be painted over when the exhibition closes. It exists only for the life of this exhibition and can never be experienced in the same way again.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how the exhibition came together; make time to come see it in person.
If you've already visited, come back for another look. You might notice something entirely new.

📍 Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI)
📅 On view until Sunday, 23 August 2026.
🎟 Free entry

Join us on Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 2:00 PM for the second exhibition walkabout for ‘Tabula Rasa’ by Peterson Kamwath...
30/07/2026

Join us on Saturday, 8 August 2026, at 2:00 PM for the second exhibition walkabout for ‘Tabula Rasa’ by Peterson Kamwathi.

Led by the artist, Peterson Kamwathi, alongside curator Don Handa, this guided walkabout offers a unique opportunity to engage deeply with the exhibition, its themes, and Peterson's artistic practice.

Through conversation, reflection, and close looking, participants will gain fresh perspectives on the exhibition and the questions it raises about memory, power, violence, and identity.

📅: Saturday, 8 August 2026
🕚: 2:00 PM
📍: Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI)

Admission is free. RSVP via this link: http://nairobicontemporaryartinstitute.artsvp.com/8b5317.?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_2q6m6vcv1s

How do we make sense of a world flooded with histories, symbols, and information?In Consta(Nations) (2023–25), Peterson ...
28/07/2026

How do we make sense of a world flooded with histories, symbols, and information?

In Consta(Nations) (2023–25), Peterson Kamwathi invites us into a moment of quiet contemplation. At the centre, a solitary figure sits with their back turned, surrounded by a vivid grid of images, from cash crops like cotton and sisal to maps, barcodes, a microscope, and fragments that speak to systems, histories, and the movement of people, labour, and information.

Echoing the colour bars of an analogue television with no signal, the work reflects on a world where the challenge is not a lack of information, but an overwhelming abundance of it. Through Consta(Nations), Kamwathi asks us to slow down and look more closely at the histories and structures that continue to shape the present.

Experience this work alongside the rest in our ongoing exhibition, 'Tabula Rasa', a solo exhibition by Peterson Kamwathi, before it closes on 23 August 2026.

Image 1
Peterson Kamwathi
'Consta(Nations),' 2023-25
Charcoal, Graphite pencil, colour pencil, soft pastel, silkscreen, woodcut, Spray paint on 300 gsm arches aquarelle paper

Image 2
Installation View of 'Tabula Rasa' by Peterson Kamwathi.

What memories does a scent hold?Join us at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) for an immersive Olfaction & Pe...
17/07/2026

What memories does a scent hold?

Join us at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI) for an immersive Olfaction & Perfume-making Workshop led by Joy Mala, where chemistry, art, and storytelling come together through the powerful language of scent.

Explore how fragrance can evoke memory, emotion, and healing as you experiment with ester-based perfume making, guided breathwork, and sensory exploration. Create your own signature fragrance while discovering how smell connects us to our deepest experiences.
No prior experience is needed—just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

📅 Saturday, 25 July 2026
🕚 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
📍 Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, Rosslyn Riviera Mall

Spaces are limited. Register using this link: https://forms.gle/tKNhKTnynXS1GgyY7 to secure your place. Sign-ups close at 12:00 PM on Monday, 20 July 2026, or earlier if all the available slots are filled.

In ‘Flavour ya Strawberry,' a lone child hangs suspended, playful yet determined, surrounded by crowds, soldiers, and a ...
08/07/2026

In ‘Flavour ya Strawberry,' a lone child hangs suspended, playful yet determined, surrounded by crowds, soldiers, and a fractured world where individuality fades into the collective.

Drawing from the spirit of the 2024 Kenyan Gen Z protests, when a protester inhaled from a tear gas canister and quipped that the police should bring strawberry-flavoured tear gas next time, Peterson Kamwathi captures the quiet power of humour, resilience, and hope that persist even in moments of unrest.

Come experience this work and many more from 'Tabula Rasa,' Peterson Kamwathis solo exhibition on view at NCAI until 23 August 2026.

Image 1
Peterson Kamwathi
'Flavour ya Strawberry,' 2023-24
Graphite pencil, colour pencil, soft pastel, andsilkscreen on 300 gsm canson watercolor paper

Image 2
Installation View of 'Tabula Rasa' by Peterson Kamwathi.

As a security precaution due to today's Saba Saba-related uncertainty, the gallery will remain closed to the public.We h...
07/07/2026

As a security precaution due to today's Saba Saba-related uncertainty, the gallery will remain closed to the public.

We hope to resume normal operations tomorrow, Wednesday 8th July, at 10:00 AM.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you back then.

Please note that due to a private event at the gallery today, we will be closing early at 5:00 PM.We will resume our reg...
02/07/2026

Please note that due to a private event at the gallery today, we will be closing early at 5:00 PM.

We will resume our regular operating hours tomorrow, Friday, 3rd July, from 10:00 AM.

Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to welcoming you back.

Address

Nairobi
00100

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10:00 - 19:00
Wednesday 11:00 - 19:00
Thursday 11:00 - 19:00
Friday 11:00 - 19:00
Saturday 11:00 - 19:00
Sunday 11:00 - 19:00

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