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FORGING
URBAN CITIZENSHIP

A DIGITAL EXHIBITION ON ART, ACTIVISM AND CREATIVE WORLD-MAKING IN AFRICAN CITIES

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The Artists

KENYA

  • 01 Dorphanage →
    PROJECT: THE BURDEN OF THOUGHT
    DISCIPLINE: SPOKEN WORD POETRY
    TAGS: INTROSPECTION // SOCIAL CRITIQUE // HIP-HOP
  • 02 MC Sharon →
    PROJECT: PROJECT BLACK SPOT
    DISCIPLINE: RAP / PAINTING / WRITING
    TAGS: GENRE-BENDING // AFRO-FUSION // GREEN HOUSE MOVEMENT
  • 03 Muthoni Mwangi →
    PROJECT: GAME OF PROTESTS
    DISCIPLINE: VISUAL COLLAGE / RESEARCH
    TAGS: CLASSISM // VIRTUAL GALLERY // MIGRATION
  • 04 Willie Oeba
    PROJECT: I am not a poet, my life is a poem
    DISCIPLINE: MULTIDISCIPLINARY
    TAGS: KENYA
  • 05 Social Justice Centres Travelling Theatre →
    PROJECT: FLASH MOBS & URBAN POLITICS
    DISCIPLINE: THEATRE / PUBLIC ART
    TAGS: CIVIC ENGAGEMENT // MURALS // 2027 ELECTION

MALAWI

ZIMbabwe

  • 11 Allience Goriwoto →
    PROJECT: MARWADZO ASINGAONEKWI
    DISCIPLINE: MUSIC / VISUAL STORYTELLING
    TAGS: INVISIBLE PAIN // DEPRESSION // EMPATHY
  • 12 Eresina Hwede →
    PROJECT: THE HIJACK
    DISCIPLINE: THEATRE SKIT / WRITING
    TAGS: UNEMPLOYMENT // SOCIAL CONTRACT // POTHOLE POLITICS
  • 13 Gregory Luiz Sibanda →
    PROJECT: MAKOKOBA MICROCOSM
    DISCIPLINE: PHOTOGRAPHY / AUDIOVISUAL ESSAY
    TAGS: TOWNSHIP ARCHIVE // INFORMAL TRADE // BULAWAYO
  • 14 Memory Chirere →
    PROJECT: GRAFFITI ART & POETRY IN HARARE
    DISCIPLINE: POETRY / PHOTOGRAPHY
    TAGS: URBAN INTERVENTION // CLASS IDENTITY // POLITICAL COMMENTARY
  • 15 Musariri Musariri →
    PROJECT: MUMVURI WEMASHOKO (SHADOWS OF WORDS)
    DISCIPLINE: EKPHRASTIC POETRY / PHOTOGRAPHY
    TAGS: AFROFUTURISM // RESISTANCE // DIGITAL HUMANITIES
  • 16 Tatenda Kimberley Gakanje →
    PROJECT: URBAN SPACES
    DISCIPLINE: INTERACTIVE INSTALLATION
    TAGS: BATIK // TIE-DYE // SENSORY EXPLORATION // BELONGING

ABOUT

Sixteen artists. Five Cities. One collaborative effort to examine how youth-led creative activism is reshaping civic cultures from below.

"Urban citizenship emerges as a permanent work-in-progress, an unfinished (and unfinishable) work of art under construction and open to new impulses from the dreams, hopes, refusals, protests and resistances of urban dwellers."

— About the Project
READ ABOUT THE PROJECT

NAIROBI EXHIBITION 2026

The physical exhibition of Forging Urban Citizenship was open to the public from 23-30 June 2026 at Munyu Space in Westlands, Nairobi. Over the course of the week, visitors were invited to explore and interact with a whole range of artworks, including mixed-media collages, paintings, poetry, spoken word, photography, music, theatre and videos in a separate screening room. On 26 June, there was an official vernissage with live performances during which visitors and artists could mingle and celebrate the art of urban activism.

"This photo gallery seeks to preserve some of these interactions, community energy and spatial interventions that defined our time together in the physical space, documenting a crucial chapter of how we reclaim and rewrite our cities."

— Gallery Archive
EXPLORE THE PHYSICAL GALLERY

THE TEAM

Meet the researchers, geographers and curators organizing the exhibition and researching creative urban citizenship from below.

"Principal Investigator: Hanno Brankamp (University of Glasgow) // Co-Investigators: Marion Chirwa Kajombo, Farai Chipato, Deborah Dixon, Reggemore Marongedze // Curators: Ukombozi Social (Muthoni Matu, Chepkoech Rotich)"

— Organizing Roster
MEET THE TEAM

CONTACT

Reach out to our principal investigator or follow our ongoing projects and dialogues on social media.

Email: Hanno.Brankamp@glasgow.ac.uk
Instagram: @forging.urban.citizenship

— Get in Touch
GET IN TOUCH