Kaloki Nyamai (b. 1985, Kenya), founder of Kamene Cultural Center, and Michael Armitage (b. 1984, U.K./Kenya), founder of NCAI, are the newest additions to MOWAA’s inaugural artist council. They join West African artists Nengi Omuku (b. 1987, Nigeria), Victor Ehikamenor (b. 1970, Nigeria), Yinka Shonibare CBE RA (b. 1962, U.K.), and Dr. Odun Orimolade, Curatorial Director at Yaba Art Museum, Yaba College of Technology. The inaugural council affirms MOWAA’s position as a leading and innovative cultural hub, uniting African and diasporic narratives.
MOWAA will open on November 11th with its debut exhibition, Nigeria Imaginary: Homecoming, curated by Aindrea Emelife. A follow-up to the 2024 Venice Biennale’s Nigeria Imaginary, the show will be accompanied by the launch of new facilities, including art storage, conservation spaces, research units, and archaeological labs. These additions are designed to support knowledge production, collaboration, and education, contributing to a regenerative cycle of learning aligned with Africa’s evolving cultural rhythms.
Nyamai’s Kamene Cultural and Research Center remains a key voice in Nairobi’s contemporary art scene. With its accessible location and commitment to community, Kamene supports collaboration across East Africa’s artistic networks. In the recently opened Kamene space, Gods in Action is currently showing. Curated by Raheim Shahid, the exhibition features a collaboration between Norwegian-Sudanese artist Khalid Shatta and Sudanese artist Hera Hassan. It draws connections between the Kenyan landscape and shifting notions of the divine across Africa and its diaspora, beginning with Sudan’s Nuba Mountains.
Meanwhile, Armitage’s NCAI is presenting Notes on Friendship: Breaking Bread, curated by Selom Kudji in collaboration with SCCA Tamale. The show transforms the space into a literal “sit-down place,” where overlapping histories and present-day realities intersect. With 23 artists from East and West Africa, the exhibition spans music, film, and painting. Armitage is also showing his first solo exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery, Crucible, which explores East African themes of cyclical life and modern distress, showcasing his mastery of figuration rooted in regional traditions.
Film by Leonard Atawugweh Kublaloe (OBL Studios) .Image courtesy of NCAI
Council members will serve a two-year term, with the option to extend, ensuring continuity and alignment with MOWAA’s mission. As Ore Disu, Director of MOWAA Institute, explains:
“Sustainable progress in the arts requires more than individual brilliance – it demands long-term institutional thinking and action. MOWAA’s Artist Council embodies this approach, bolstering artistic practice with infrastructure and ensuring that those shaping culture help shape the systems that sustain it. MOWAA is committed to working with others to build a regenerative and interconnected creative ecosystem. Residencies, archives and arts education cannot thrive in isolation; they must be grounded in dialogue – between artistic experimentation, real world conditions and Africa’s deep historical knowledge systems.”
Click here to check out MOWAA’s website.
