A day out at pallet with Jumah Jatteh in Kenyan brand, KikoRomeo. KikoRomeo meaning “Adam’s Apple” in Kiswahili, was founded in 1996. Transcending cultures and fashion trends, KikoRomeo puts sustainability at its core.
Yule delves into the realms of love and affection, capturing the essence of a crush or a deep desire to be with someone who resonates as your soulmate. It's an expressive proclamation of feelings, acknowledging that the heart yearns for what it wants, and the pursuit lies in making it work. Costume Design & Styling: Afabri Designs & Koincidence Jewelleries: Kiarie Afrika
For KikoRomeo 2020 Featuring: Urban Pitchaz and Abak Akol Styling: Clint Okanga (@clintokanga), Edwin Maina (@photoman254), and Michael Mwangi (@mbaalamwezi) Jewelry: Theresia Kyalo Set Assistants: Ronny Onkeo, Bady Nyamwario Location: Clint Okanga
The latest from Wanuri Kahiu charts a precarious love story between two young Kenyan women in a society where homosexuality is banned. "Fun, fierce, and frivolous African art." This is how director Wanuri Kahiu defines Afrobubblegum, her vision for the future of filmmaking on the African continent. Her latest feature, which showed at Cannes, embodies this ethos perfectly. A love story between two young women (played by newcomers Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva) in a society that still bans homosexuality, Rafiki is saturated with joy, heartbreak, and a richly effervescent cinematography that showcases Kahiu's native Nairobi in all its vibrancy. When Kena and Ziki first lock eyes, it's a genuine coup de foudre despite the fact their families are political rivals. The young women grow close, but as they are not able to show their attraction in public — or even to their relatives and friends — they are forced to sneak small moments in private. Together they create their own world, vividly evoked through Kahiu's filmic eye, where their love isn't anything other than an expression of their commitment to each other. The space they create, however, isn't immune to the biases of the outside world. Co-written with Jenna Bass (at TIFF last year with High Fantasy) and inspired by Monica Arac de Nyeko's story Jambula Tree, Rafiki is a celebration of love.
A beautifully told love story written in Nairobi takes centre stage in this enigmatic film captured by CJ Pixels on the majestic Lamu Island. King Kerby continues to deliver music and expand his sonic expression with Dj Mura as we finalize a rollout of the songs recorded last year so that we can put you on to the current sound. Cheza Nami is melodic and transports you to a tropical feeling, from us to you, enjoy.
Ikondera was produced by Raphael Kariuki in Nairobi, Kenya & Bayreuth, Germany. All ethnographic recordings used on this record are part of the Unesco World Heritage with friendly support of Klassik Center, Kassel. During marriage celebrations in the Kisenyi (Lake Kivu) region, Hutu women and girls sing and dance an imbyino or popular song. This particular song is responsorial, with unison choir and soloist in alternation. An infectious, joyful feeling is transmitted through the soloist, the choir and people in attendance through the song-and- response pattern. Original recording: Ikondera (Song of bride’s friends) – An Anthology of African Music Disk 2, The Music of Rwanda, no.11
Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu uses her colourful artwork to confront the missing attention to black women within society: “It’s kind of an ironic thing that I’m producing that image out of the very lack of it.” Mutu creates impressive collages of magazine cutouts, which stir up the image of the black woman in our culture: ”For me, every little bit of culture can be used to investigate almost any other bit of culture.” The female body has been a central theme throughout Mutu’s practice, balancing the grotesque and beautiful with great precision and leaving the viewer in a constant limbo between the two. Another central point is the notion of action, letting the spectator sense that the work is part of something else, something bigger: “There is a dynamic quality to the work, even though they have been captured in one moment, there is movement.” Wangechi Mutu (b. 1972) is a Kenyan artist, who lives in New York. Mutu is considered one of the leading contemporary African artists and her work has been exhibited at various museums such as Tate Modern in London, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and The New Museum and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. She holds a BFA from Cooper Union and a MFA from Yale University.
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