The Nest Collective 

 is an interdisciplinary artist collective from Nairobi. Founded in 2012, the group works in the media of film, music, fashion, visual art, and literature. Their films include the queer anthology “Stories of Our Lives”, which has screened in over 80 countries and won numerous awards. They also founded HEVA, a fund to support East African creative entrepreneurs  the first of its kind. 

Twelve black-and-white photographic portraits of the artists. Some look serious, others smile, one looks sideways into the distance, one has closed eyes, and in one portrait you can’t make out a face behind the chain veil; moreover, this person is wearing three seat cushions and a bone-like pile of wood on his head. 

With their holistic practice based on applied research, The Nest Collective produce films, fashion, literature, and works in other media. Their interventions engage audiences through multiple approaches, encouraging nuanced discussion and engagement with the issues raised, thereby developing aesthetic and artistic value. Their work finds diverse platforms, spaces, and audiences, including academics, cultural practitioners, civil society actors, and young people in the city. 

The Nest Collective is particularly interested in contemporary urban experiences in African countries. For the group, they are the starting point for an engagement with their own history and thinking about possible futures. Although the group often responds to global contexts and entanglements, it is primarily aimed at Kenyan young men and women. Nevertheless, The Nest Collective is happy to see its work appeal to other audiences. 

One of the members is fashion theorist and producer Sunny Dolat. “Design from Africa has always had a certain moment for a long time, a window of opportunity that usually doesn’t last more than a few months before the wheel moves on and the continent has to wait another five to eight years to be considered hip again,” he says. 

“These moments are always bittersweet for me, because part of me is genuinely happy for the people who are able to benefit from the opportunities at this time. But I’m also aware of the fleeting nature of these moments, which will undoubtedly pass, and we’ll have to wait another few years before we’re ‘hot’ again. I hope that with all the conversations that have taken place over the years, the Global North has learned not to reduce the culture and aesthetics of a continent to a ‘moment,’ but instead to find ways to ensure that Africa and African creatives are valued in a lasting way.” 

During documenta fifteen in Kassel 

the collective denounces the negative consequences of Kenya’s urbanisation with the help of an imposing multimedia installation.

Return to Sender mimics a dystopian garbage landscape. The installation made of old clothes resembles a garbage dump in front of the orangery.
Return to Sender - Delivery Details (2022) is a companion piece that explores the context of the garbage mountain, which can only be seen in Kassel’s public space for 100 days, but is a never-ending reality in Kenya and many other African countries. 

The video, shown inside the installation, looks at this difficult scenario from the point of view of different participants. 

INVITED ACTORS 

J.P. Waithera, Jim Chuchu, Njeri Gitungo, Njoki Ngumi, Noel Kasyoka, Sunny Dolat 

Website 

https://www.thisisthenest.com/ 

Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch33ZpUoiaO/ 

Youtube, vimeo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy4LB1nYIHs&t=29 

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/storiesofourlives