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| Established | 2005 |
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| Location | Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya |
| Coordinates | 1°17′12″S36°49′04″E / 1.286789°S 36.817833°E |
| Type | Art Gallery |
The Nairobi Gallery (Swahili: Nyumba ya sanaa ya Nairobi) is an art gallery located an at the edge of the Nairobi central business district. The gallery is dedicated to showcasing African art.
The building was designed by C. Rand Ovary, the construction of which was completed in 1913 for the Ministry of Native Affairs, during colonial times, served as a government office that would have the function of counting marriages, births and deaths. From 1963, the building was used as the Provisional Commissioner's office until 1984. The building was later used as Kanu's branch office of Nairobi until 1997. In 1995, the building was declared a national monument. In 1997, ownership of the building was passed to the National Museums of Kenya. In 1999, the state corporation began the process of renovating the building. In 2005, the renovation work was completed and the gallery opened for the first time. [1] During 2019, the National Museums of Kenya collaborated with Google to digitize the Nairobi gallery's exhibits to the Google Arts & Culture platform as well as add an adapted version of Google Street View to the museum's rooms. [2]
The gallery has a collection of pan-African stamps from different countries of the continent as well as a collection of Joseph Murumbi's photos. [3] In the "Joseph and Sheila Murumbi's Room", there are several pieces of furniture such as a Lamu sofa, a Zanzibar cupboard and posters about African heritage. The gallery also contains African jewelry. [4] Part of the jewelry belongs to the Turkana culture. The gallery also contains African stools, traditional weapons, containers used by different Kenyan communities to store things or cook. [5] The gallery also contains Nubian baskets and wood carvings. [6] The gallery contains sculptures and paintings by artists from different parts of Africa such as Nigeria with works by Bruce Onokbrakpeya, Joseph Olabode and Asiru Olatunde Osogbo. The gallery also contains traditional clothing such as Egunguns. [7] The gallery contains traditional textiles such as a collection of kangas. [8] In 2015, the gallery showed work by Kenyan artist Peterson Kamwathi. [9] In 2018, the gallery organized an exhibition featuring works by nine East African women artists, including artwork by Margaret Trowell, Rosemary Karuga, Magdalene Odundo, Theresa Musoke, Robin Anderson, Yony Wait-e, Joy Adamson, Geraldine Robarts and Nani Croze. [10] In 2019, the gallery exhibited Tinga Tinga paintings which originated in Tanzania. [11] Also in 2019, the gallery presented an exhibition with artists from Tanzania that included works by artists Robina Ntila and Muzu Suleiman. [12]
African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, such as: African-American, Caribbean or art in South American societies inspired by African traditions. Despite this diversity, there are unifying artistic themes present when considering the totality of the visual culture from the continent of Africa.
The National Gallery of Canada, located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up 46,621 square metres (501,820 sq ft), with 12,400 square metres (133,000 sq ft) of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the largest art museums in North America by exhibition space.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art.
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated 341 kilometres (212 mi) by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. It is the headquarter of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania, northern Mozambique, and Kenya. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique. At present they live throughout Tanzania and Mozambique, and have a small presence in Kenya. The Makonde population in Tanzania was estimated in 2001 to be 1,140,000, and the 1997 census in Mozambique put the Makonde population in that country at 233,358, for an estimated total of 1,373,358. The ethnic group is roughly divided by the Ruvuma River; members of the group in Tanzania are referred to as the Makonde, and those in Mozambique as the Maconde. The two groups have developed separate languages over time but share a common origin and culture.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), formerly the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, is located on George Street in The Rocks neighbourhood of Sydney. The museum is housed in the Stripped Classical/Art Deco-styled former Maritime Services Board (MSB) building on the western side of Circular Quay. A modern wing was added in 2012.
The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversity research and conservation. Its headquarters and the National Museum are located on Museum Hill, near Uhuru Highway between Central Business District and Westlands in Nairobi. The National Museum of Kenya was founded by the East Africa Natural History Society (E.A.N.H.S.) in 1910; the society's main goal has always been to conduct an ongoing critical scientific examination of the natural attributes of the East African habitat. The museum houses collections, and temporary and permanent exhibits. Today the National Museum of Kenya manages over 22 regional museums, many sites, and monuments across the country.
The kanga is a colourful fabric similar to kitenge, but lighter, worn by women and occasionally by men throughout the African Great Lakes region. It is a piece of printed cotton fabric, about 1.5 m by 1 m, often with a border along all four sides, and a central part (mji) which differs in design from the borders. They are sold in pairs, which can then be cut and hemmed to be used as a set.
The Iziko South African National Gallery is the national art gallery of South Africa located in Cape Town. It became part of the Iziko collection of museums – as managed by the Department of Arts and Culture – in 2001. It then became an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture. Its collection consists largely of Dutch, French and British works from the 17th to the 19th century. This includes lithographs, etchings and some early 20th-century British paintings. Contemporary art work displayed in the gallery is selected from many of South Africa's communities and the gallery houses an authoritative collection of sculpture and beadwork.
The Nigerian National Museum is a national museum of Nigeria, located in the city of Lagos. The museum has a notable collection of Nigerian art, including pieces of statuary, carvings also archaeological and ethnographic exhibits. Of note is a terracotta human head known as the Jemaa Head, part of the Nok culture. The piece is named after Jema'a, the village where it was discovered. The museum is located at Onikan, Lagos Island, Lagos State. The museum is administered by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments.
Tingatinga is a painting style that originated in East Africa. Tingatinga is one of the most widely represented forms of tourist-oriented paintings in Tanzania, Kenya and neighbouring countries. The genre is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Tingatinga. Tinga Tinga also insipired kids animation tales, namely Tinga Tinga Tales.
Kenya National Archives and Documentation Services (KNADS) is situated at the edge of the central business district in downtown Nairobi along Moi Avenue next to Ambassadeur Hotel. The archives look out on the landmark Hilton Hotel, while on the rear side is Tom Mboya street. It was established in 1965 in a building that initially housed the Kenya Commercial Bank. It holds 40,000 volumes. It was established by an Act of the Parliament of Kenya in 1965 and was placed under the office of the Vice President and the Minister of Home Affairs. It is currently under the office of the Vice-President and State Department for National Heritage and Culture. The Kenya National Archives building also houses the Murumbi Gallery which contains African artifacts that were collected in the 19th century.
Syowia Kyambi is a multimedia and interdisciplinary artist and curator whose work spans photography, video, drawing, sound, sculpture and performance installation. She is of Kenyan and German descent, based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is known for her "performative installations that recast historical (Western) narratives and intervene in spheres of colonial activities" with work reputed for tackling "complex and sometimes difficult or tabooed matters" that afford "multiple points of entry, grounded in a sense of place and history while recognizing the mutability of those concepts."
Kawira Mwirichia was a queer artist and curator from Kenya who lived in Athi River. She was a multi-disciplinary artist known internationally for her kangas along with more traditional fine arts mediums such as painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Adama Delphine Fawundu is a Sierra Leonean-American multi-disciplinary photographer and visual artist promoting African culture and heritage, a co-founder and author of MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora – a journal and book representing female photographers of African descent. Her works have been presented in numerous exhibitions worldwide. She uses multiple mediums to create works with themes about identity, utopia, decolonization, and stories of the past, present and future. She is a Professor of Visual Arts at Columbia University.
Rosemary Namuli Karuga was a Kenyan visual artist. In 2017, she was named Artist of the Month by the National Museums of Kenya. She is known to be the first woman artist to have studied at Makerere University.
Michael Armitage is a British artist who was born in Kenya. In May 2022, the Royal Mint announced that he would design a new £1 coin for the United Kingdom, to be issued in 2023.
Rhodia Mann is a writer, researcher, bead and jewelry designer, and historian of several traditionally-pastoralist tribes in Kenya, including the Samburu and Borana tribes of northern Kenya. She has published six books and is the creator of a documentary, The Butterfly People.
African Heritage House is a national monument in Kenya, classified and gazetted under the National Museums and Heritage Act in 2016. Designed by Alan Donovan, built to preserve forgotten architectural designs of the African continent. The house is facing the Nairobi national park, and the public can visit the house for a tour, lunches, dinners, events, conferences, and overnight stays.
The Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art is a privately-owned museum located on the main campus of the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos State, Nigeria.