Various Small Fires
A Group Exhibition on Emerging Artists from Kenya, Tanzania, and Eritrea
Featuring: Nebay Abraha, Austine Adika, Biniam Afewerki, Liberatha Alibalio, Ian Gichohi, Florin Iki, Mihayo Kallaye, Patrick Karanja, Anita Kavochy, Wanini Kimemiah, Winifrid Luena, Wanjohi Maina, Adam Massava, Denise Muthoni, Taabu Munyoki, Eddy Ochieng’, Sujay Shah, Nahom Teklehaimanot
Various Small Fires brings together the work of 18 early-career artists based in East Africa - Kenya, Tanzania, and Eritrea. Working across and sometimes combining various media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles, these artists offer the audience a glimpse into the ever-growing creative scene in the region. The themes in the work vary from the personal and the internal, to the more observational outward looking. In the works of Anita Kavochy and Liberatha Alibalio we see the physical, tactile properties of their chosen media - paper in the former and textiles in the latter - harnessed to offer abstract accounts of their environments. Ian Gichohi, Wanjohi Maina, Adam Massava, and Eddy Ochieng’ turn their gaze outward, recording the movements and activities within urban spaces, in this case Nairobi. The theatrical interiors of Sujay Shah and the dreamlike photographs of Wanini Kimemiah embrace the uncanny as a means to think about their experience of the world. These are just a handful of examples of the range of perspectives present in the show. Most of these artists are showing at Circle for the first time and we are pleased to have the opportunity to share these artists’ work with our audience, and offer collectors a chance to discover artists that they might not already know.