Nairobi Art, Design, and Shopping Day

Nairobi has a serious contemporary art scene and almost no visitor ever sees it, because the good spaces are unmarked, scattered across the city, and impossible without a car. This day is built for people who buy things, or who want to look properly rather than through a gift-shop window. The route moves between working studios and galleries in Karen, Langata and the city, adjusted to what is showing that week rather than fixed in advance, because half these spaces run month-long exhibitions and the point is to catch them. Expect painting, sculpture, textiles and photography from Kenyan and East African artists, with the chance to meet whoever is working when we arrive. Kazuri Beads in Karen is the anchor stop: a workshop founded in 1975 employing around three hundred and forty women, most of them single mothers, hand-rolling and painting ceramic beads. Entry is free and the workshop floor is far more interesting than the shop. We also cover the craft markets, though we will steer you away from the ones selling imported goods as Kenyan. On price, USD 130 per person covers the private vehicle, driver-guide, fuel, gallery entries and lunch. What you buy is yours and we do not take a commission from any gallery, studio or shop on this route, which is worth saying because commission arrangements are common in this trade and they quietly determine where you get taken. At two sharing this is USD 115 to USD 130 per person, from USD 175 for one traveller. The driver waits, there is room in the vehicle for canvases, and we can arrange shipping quotes for anything too large to fly with.