MATZA Edgelands has announced that the Nairobi edition of DIGITAL INFORMALITIES, will be held on January 23 to February 10 in Mukuru Lunga Lunga. Thereafter, there will be an exhibition at the same location from February 10–28.
The first two editions of MATZA Edgelands took place in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2022, and Cúcuta, Colombia, in July 2022. From January 23 to February 10, 2023, Nairobi will host a team of eight national and international artists and architects from Kenya, Venezuela, and Switzerland. DIGITAL INFORMALITIES will explore how digitalization has given shape to a massive surveillance of the city, and new forms of informal business, alliances and reciprocities.
The MATZA Edgelands project will be 19 days of immersion, work and investigation through visits, meetings and discussions with experts, community stakeholders and inhabitants in the city of Nairobi. It will be in collaboration with the Wajukuu Arts Collective, with a specific focus on the area of Mukuru Lunga Lunga. This will close with a grand opening of the exhibition that will run to the end of the month. By inviting artists from different fields of expression, MATZA also wants to explore how artists currently benefit from or misuse digital technology to their advantage. MATZA will give voice to different mediums such as photography, videos, music or sounds which will be projected or broadcasted.
This project was initiated by Séverin Guelpa and Anja Wyden Guelpa in close collaboration with the Edgelands Institute and Civic Lab Geneva.
The artists in the project are as follows: Lawrence Shabu Mwangi (KEN), Joan Otieno (KEN), Mounir Ayoub (TUN, CH), Flurina Rothenberger (CH), Ngugi Waweru (KEN), Nabalayo Wattimah (KEN), Ngure Wanjiru (KEN) and Ronald Pizzoferrato (VEN).
The experts involved are: Wajukuu Arts Collective (KEN), Mukuru representative (KEN), Grace Mutungu, John Walubengo, Grace Githaiga, Irungu Houghton, Victor Ndede, Peter Ouko, Chao Tayiana, Stephen Githuita Mwangi, Silantoi Suzzane, Constant Cap, Bridget Andere, Jaimee Kokonya, Njoki Jacqueline Gichinga, Sibonelo Hlanganani Gumede (S-A), Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health – TICAH (KEN), Barack Otieno (KEN), Nest Collective (KEN), Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute – NCAI (KEN), Patrick James Naef (CH), Yves Daccord (CH), and Beatriz Botero (COL).