Exhibition: ‘Before Line / After Image’ by Jackie Karuti, Mar. 29 – Apr. 26 2023 @ Goethe Institut Nairobi.

Opening: March 29, 2023

Venue: Goethe Institut Nairobi

Time: 6 PM

Artist Talk: April 13, 2023 at 6 PM

Until April 26, 2023

Book Launch: Jackie Karuti’s Debut Monograph, “Notes Movement Method”, Apr. 27 2022 @ Circle Art Gallery

The Nairobi Launch of Jackie Karuti’s debut monograph, Notes Movement Method.

Exhibition preview & book launch

Date: Wednesday, 27 April 2022

Venue: Circle Art Gallery

Time: 4 – 8 pm

About

Jackie Karuti was the main prize winner of the 2020 Henrike Grohs Art Award. This book is published as part of the award, with support from the Goethe-Institut and Grohs family. Additional support was provided by The African Arts Trust. This book was produced by the Visual Arts Network of South Africa. 

The book is led by thoughts around Karuti’s ongoing method of inquiry; How Clouds are Formed which has been a developing body of work assembled in many parts using objects, images, spare parts & movements. The intention was to produce an artist workbook that sends one out into the field to move, question & discover. It is largely an attempt to recognize the work that emerges in the present while navigating various site visits through drawings, text, sculptural forms and moving images.

Text and image contributions by Wanja Kimani, Bojana Cvejić, Jackie Karuti & Roseline Olang’.

Additional images by James Muriuki & Densu Moseti

The book is will be available for purchase during the launch for KES 2,500.

Exhibition: There Are Worlds Out There They Never Told You About, Jul. 8-26 2016 @ Goethe Institut

Opening date: 8th July 2016
Venue: Goethe Institut Nairobi
Admission: Free

Until: July 26, 2016

About
The exhibition ‘There Are Worlds Out There They Never Told You About’ by Jackie Karuti elaborately introduces the audience to her imagined worlds seemingly set in a galactic and underwater universe. It is a selection from Karuti’s latest work, an impressive collection of drawings, installations, videos, animations and text which depict evidence of other worlds in space, among the stars and perhaps even in the ocean.

There exists a myth about an underwater civilization descended from slaves thrown overboard during the middle passage from Africa to the Americas. Where do people who die away from ‘home’ go? What would it mean to migrate or run away to worlds that exist in our imagination? And if the present exists in a way that is not necessarily one in which you have agency, can you perhaps fly away to another time and space?

Exhibition: Of Ships Passing in the Night, Apr. 27 – May 27 2016 @ Goethe Institut & Alliance Française

“Of Ships Passing in the Night” is an art and photo exhibition which addresses the topic of migration and refuge.

Opening: Wednesday 27th April 2016, 6.30 pm
Exhibition Dates: Thursday 28th April to Friday 27th May 2016
Venue: Alliance Française and Goethe Institut
Admission: Free

About
Voluntary and forced mass movements have been some of the major phenomena of the last 100 years. Difficult realities and the aspiration towards a better future have compelled human beings to make the dicult decision to move elsewhere. Artists in most societies have created works that address not only the physicality of displacement but also the changes that emerge as a result of migration. Some of these changes are the trauma of forced displacement, the adjustment to new
influences and cultures, the plight of those left behind and the universal desire for holistic progress.

A number of Kenyan artists have interrogated the displacement of mankind in their work. Their approaches to this issue are diverse, ranging from personal and institutional rituals of travel to the anatomy of those trapped in a form of no-man’s land.

This exhibition provides a tiny snippet into some of the artistic engagements around the issue of ‘Migrations and Refugees’ taking place within Kenya. A number of additional practitioners who enrich this exhibition are currently classi ed as refugees. The exhibition has been developed by Peterson Kamwathi, assisted by Thom Ogonga.

Exhibiting Artists: Mugisho Abija, Hassan Abdirahman Barre, Muktar Bashir, Mahet Ecubay, Jackie Karuti, Kivuthi Mbuno, Noor Ali Mudey, Patrick Mukabi, Alpha Mukange Mukangala, Shabu Mwangi, Longinos Nagila, Martin Onyis, Ray Piwi, Michael Soi, Koang Thakiy Stephena, Feleke Gebryes Tariku, Hamwenayo Vivier Tresor and Willy Wambugu.

Photo exhibition
The exhibition uses images from Agence France Presse (AFP), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) and Kenyan photographers to show the varying experiences of refugees in France, Germany and Kenya. The images show differing attitudes in and approaches by these countries in their eorts to control, embrace and facilitate the lives of refugees. The exhibition has been curated by Carl de Souza (AFP Chief Photographer, East Africa), Kirsten Milhan (Freelance Africa Correspondent, FOCUS-Magazine) and Thomas Mukoya (Kenya Reuters Photographer).

Exhibition: Freedom | Flight | Refuge, Until Mar. 13 2016 @ Circle Art Agency – 910 James Gichuru

Dates: Until March 13, 2016
Venue: Circle Art Agency, 910 James Gichuru

Joint Exhibition: Fore.Cast by Wambui Kamiru, Jackie Karuti & Gor Soudan, Jul. 15-22 2015 @ Goethe Institut

Opening: July 15, 2015
Venue: Goethe Institut Auditorium
Time: 7 pm

Exhibition Dates: July 16-22, 2015
Venue: Goethe Institut Auditorium
Time: 1-6 pm
Entry: Free

Exhibition: Labyrinth by Jackie Karuti, Jan. 22 – Feb. 6 2015 @ Kuona Trust

Exhibition opens: 6pm Thursday, 22nd January 2015
The exhibition runs until Friday, 6th February 2015
Free Admission

About
Labyrinth explores the banality of life by use of repetition. It reflects a bored consistency with an implied journey to an unknown destination,borne out of being stuck in the same place, doing the same thing over and over again.

Jackie has chosen a variety of media to approach this thought provoking work by experimenting with both sound and video,installation art, as well as an interesting set of mixed-media pieces.

To view more of Jackie’s work,visit her website.

Exhibition: Where Books go to Die, Mar. 13 – Apr. 11 2014 @ Goethe Institut

Kuona Trust is delighted to invite you to the opening of WHERE BOOKS GO TO DIE, an exhibition by one of our artists, Jackie Karuti, opening on 13th March at the Goethe Institut, Nairobi.

The exhibition replicates a library scene set in a dystopia world inspired by the four elements Earth, Air, Fire & Water. These four elements are believed to be the forces that govern existence for they hold immense power to not only build but also destroy. The symbolism of the elements is translated into a series of smaller installations that depict the state of most libraries as seen in Nairobi as well as in most parts of the world.

About the Artist
Jackie Karuti is a visual artist working in the fields of painting, performance art and installation. Her paintings depict a world of opposites set within a black and yellow palette. With her gradual embrace of new media and immateriality, Jackie has incorporated a conceptual and experimental artistic approach to her work through her performance pieces and installations which collectively focus on themes such asgender, identity and urban culture. Jackie has exhibited and participated in workshops in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the USA. She also writes and has collaborated in various photography projects.

Her studio is based at Kuona Trust in Nairobi. You can find more of her musings on her blog

Opening night: Thursday, 13th March 2014 from 7pm
Venue: Goethe Institut, Nairobi