Syowia Kyambi

Interdisciplinary Contemporary Artist

About the Artist

Portrait of Syowia Kyambi
Syowia Kyambi (© Axel König/StMWK)

Syowia Kyambi (b. Nairobi) is an interdisciplinary artist and curator working across photography, video, drawing, sound, sculpture, and performance installation. Her practice delves into the complex intersections of identity, memory, cultural heritage, and post-colonial experience. Through immersive installations and performative interventions, Kyambi collapses historical narratives into the present, often introducing mischievous and disruptive agents that challenge colonial legacies and interrogate systems of remembrance and erasure.

Rooted in a deep connection to land, earth, and the idea of home, Kyambi's work opens critical dialogues about what is archived, what is forgotten, and how we might see the world anew. Her emotionally resonant and politically charged pieces invite audiences into spaces of reflection, resistance, and reimagination.

Kyambi holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Transart Institute, New York. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at the 14th Dakar Biennale, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and the National Museums of Kenya, and is held in prominent collections such as the Robert Devereux Collection (London), Kouvola Art Museum (Finland), the National Museum of Kenya, and the Sindika Dokolo Foundation. She has participated in numerous residencies and exhibitions across Africa, Europe, and the United States.

Between Us

Between Us

Between Us unravels and examines critically our perception of what is acceptable, what is private, and the meaning we impose on what we see, informed by how we are shaped by the society we live in and the conventions we live by. The work stages socially engaged, layered narratives that draw universal emotions associated with vulnerability, disruption, perception, and beauty.

Fuji C-Type Matt mounted on Aluminium with Aluminium Sub Frame160cm by 33.34cm

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