From Theatre Royal to Pop-up GalleriesTimeline of Art Venues in Nairobi

NoWhile Nairobi is praised as East Africa’s new cultural capital1, a closer look into the city’s art history shows that such a function is nothing new. At a glimpse, the 1980’s saw substantial investments coming from international music industries such as Polygram, CBS or EMI that attracted major artists from around the world: Alpha Blondy from the Ivory Coast, Burning Spear from Jamaica or Ladysmith from South Africa all came to Nairobi to record music2. Around the 1960’s, a whole host of fine art galleries opened: Sorsbie’s Gallery, New Stanley Gallery or Gallery Watatu3 and ambitious panafrican art centers such as the Chemchemi Creative Centre were started with the goal to “radiate to the benefit of the rest of Kenya and of East Africa”4 . From the 1940’s, cultural and artistic infrastructure were built including a Conservatoire of Musi