KIJANA

KIJANA is a platform dedicated to creative collaboration. It brings together artists and field specialists to exchange ideas, experiment across disciplines and create visionary expressions. Shaped by dialogue and collective spirit, KIJANA supports residencies, showcases, and community projects that merge creativity with sustainability and exchange with innovation. It is a space where local and global voices meet to reimagine art in everyday life. 

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Bridging Spaces 2025 was a pilot residency project carried out in partnership with Kibera Arts District in Nairobi, Kenya. The open call welcomed artists from all over the world, but most applications came from East Africa, which helped us pinpoint topics relevant to artists in the region. Summarized in the words of a fashion designer from Tanzania, a concept emerged — Beyond Garment. 

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Over the course of the three-week residency, Beyond Garment evolved from a project concept into a movement, created by five residency artists, local creatives, organizers and community members. Interactions between artists and the community during studio days, workshops and public events revealed the possibilities of using fabric in creative and unpredictable ways. From a street runway to a fabric art exhibition, we explored performativity, upcycling and digitalization, but most importantly — the power of working together. The impact was significant, with continued collaboration between participating artists and the strong public response to the two main events: the KIJANA Street Style fashion event and the Beyond Garment fabric art exhibition. ​