The Nairobi Gallery (

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

: Nyumba ya sanaa ya Nairobi) is an art gallery located in the capital of Kenya. The gallery is dedicated to showcasing African art.

History

The building was designed by C. Rand Ovary, the construction of which was completed in 1913 for the Ministry of Native Affairs, during colonial times, served as a government office that would have the function of counting marriages, births and deaths. From 1963, the building was used as the Provisional Commissioner's office until 1984. The building was later used as Kanu's branch office of Nairobi until 1997. In 1995, the building was declared a national monument. In 1997, ownership of the building was passed to the

National Museums of Kenya The National Museums of Kenya (NMK) is a state corporation that manages museums, sites and monuments in Kenya. It carries out heritage research, and has expertise in subjects ranging from palaeontology, archeology, ethnography and biodiversit ...

. In 1999, the state corporation began the process of renovating the building. In 2005, the renovation work was completed and the gallery opened for the first time. During 2019, the National Museums of Kenya collaborated with Google to digitize the Nairobi gallery's exhibits to the

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

platform as well as add an adapted version of Google Street View to the museum's rooms.

Collections

The gallery has a collection of pan-African stamps from different countries of the continent as well as a collection of Joseph Murumbi's photos. In the "Joseph and Sheila Murumbi's Room", there are several pieces of furniture such as a Lamu sofa, a Zanzibar cupboard and posters about African heritage. The gallery also contains African jewelry. Part of the jewelry belongs to the Turkana culture. The gallery also contains African stools, traditional weapons, containers used by different Kenyan communities to store things or cook. The gallery also contains Nubian baskets and wood carvings. The gallery contains sculptures and paintings by artists from different parts of Africa such as Nigeria with works by Bruce Onokbrakpeya, Joseph Olabode and Asiru Olatunde Osogbo. The gallery also contains traditional clothing such as Egunguns. The gallery contains traditional textiles such as a collection of kangas. In 2015, the gallery showed work by Kenyan artist Peterson Kamwathi. In 2018, the gallery organized an exhibition featuring works by nine East African women artists, including artwork by Margaret Trowell, Rosemary Karuga, Magdalene Odundo, Theresa Musoke, Robin Anderson, Yony Wait-e, Joy Adamson, Geraldine Robarts and Nani Croze. In 2019, the gallery exhibited Tinga Tinga paintings which originated in Tanzania. Also in 2019, the gallery presented an exhibition with artists from Tanzania that included works by artists Robina Ntila and Muzu Suleiman.

Gallery

File:Adornment from East and West Africa.jpg, Adornment from East and West Africa File:African spoons (Nairobi Gallery).jpg, African spoons File:Desert containers (Nairobi Gallery).jpg, Desert containers File:Nairobi Gallery Vestments.jpg, Traditional Vestments File:Carved gourds (Nairobi Gallery).jpg, Carved gourds File:Nairobi Gallery Trade beads.jpg, Trade beads

References

{{reflist Art museums and galleries in Africa Museums in Kenya Art galleries established in 2005 National monuments and memorials Buildings and structures in Nairobi Government buildings completed in 1913 1913 establishments in Kenya 2005 establishments in Kenya