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DTSTAMP:20251216T100358
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260213T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260213T170000
SUMMARY:Exhibition:Tukilile Vaa
DESCRIPTION:Kaloki Nyamai is a multidisciplinary artist based in Nairobi. His practice explores Kenya's histories and collective memory\, blending Kamba traditions with contemporary narratives. Using acrylic paint\, rope\, photo transfers\, and stitched yarn\, his free-hanging immersive works blur the boundaries between painting\, sculpture\, and installation. For his U-M project\, Nyamai will present one large unstretched piece and two framed paintings at the Institute for the Humanities\, as well as a second free-hanging work at the U-M Museum of Art.\n\nThe physicality of his complex constructions inspire wonder in the viewer. The works are vast in scale\, embedded with stories\, where past and future merge both poetically and conceptually. In each composition\, the artist proposes a powerful alternative to the flatness of singular narratives of Kenyan history and identity presented as the definitive postcolonial account. He likens the formal act of stitching to symbolically unifying a wounded or fractured community.\n\nNyamai founded the Kamene Cultural & Research Center in Nairobi\, a creative and collaborative hub dedicated to the preservation\, promotion\, and innovation of African cultural practices.\n\nAbout the artist:\nKaloki Nyamai (*1985 in Kitui\, Kenya) is a multidisciplinary artist working with installation\, painting\, and sculpture based in Nairobi. From an early age\, his mother introduced him to painting and taught him to draw\, fostering an ever-lasting interest in art throughout his life. He often finds inspiration in his grandmother’s stories of the Kamba people\, a Bantu ethnic group of eastern Kenya. Using materials like acrylic paint\, sisal rope\, photo transfers\, and stitched yarn\, Nyamai’s free-hanging pieces evoke the healing of historical wounds and a collective yearning for renewal. His works blur the boundaries between painting\, sculpture\, and installation\, creating cohesive\, immersive experiences where past\, present\, and future converge poetically.\n\nNyamai studied Interior Design at the Buruburu Institute Of Fine Arts (BIFA) and then pursued painting after working in other creative fields. His large-scale paintings and mixed-media installations intricately explore historical narratives\, examining their resonance in the present. Nyamai has shown his work across the globe in solo exhibitions at the Norval Foundation\, Cape Town (2024)\; James Cohan Gallery\, New York (2024)\; Galerie Barbara Thumm\, Berlin (2023 and 2022)\; SEPTIEME Gallery\, Paris (2019)\, and other venues. In 2023\, he featured part of his series Dining in Chaos in the “Unlimited” section at Art Basel in Basel. He has participated in group exhibitions and biennials\, most recently at the Sharjah Biennial 16\, Sharjah (2025)\; The Völklinger Hütte\, Völklingen (2024)\; the Kenyan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale\, Venice (2022)\; and the Dakar Biennale (2022). His works are part of numerous private and institutional collections around the world\, such as the Dallas Art Museum\, the Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art\, and the Arthur Primas Museum.
UID:142791-21891568@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/142791
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Visual Arts,Art,Exhibition,Humanities
LOCATION:202 S. Thayer - Institute for the Humanities Gallery
CONTACT:
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20250804T113309
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20260213T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20260213T110000
SUMMARY:Lecture / Discussion:Craft Lecture by Lena Tuffaha
DESCRIPTION:IN-PERSON ONLY\n\nLena Tuffaha is a poet\, essayist\, and translator. She is author of three books of poetry: *Something About Living* (UAkron\, 2024)\, winner of the 2024 National Book Award and winner of the 2022 Akron Prize for Poetry\, *Kaan & Her Sisters* (Trio House Press)\, finalist for the 2024 Firecracker Award and honorable mention for the 2024 Arab American Book Award\, *Water & Salt* (Red Hen)\, winner of the 2018 Washington State Book Award and honorable mention for the 2018 Arab American Award. She is also the author of two chapbooks\, Arab in Newsland\, winner of the 2016 Two Sylvias Prize\, and Letters from the Interior (Diode\, 2019)\, finalist for the 2020 Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize.\n\nHer writing has been published in journals including *Los Angeles Review of Books*\, *Michigan Quarterly Review*\, *The *Nation*\, *Poets.org*\, *Protean*\, and *Prairie Schooner* and in anthologies including *The Long Devotion* (Georgia Press)\, *We Call to the Eye and the Night* (Persea Press)\, and *Gaza Unsilenced* (Just World Books). She was the translator and curator of the 2022 series “Poems from Palestine” at the *Baffler magazine.* In 2024 she curated a year-long subscription of Palestinian poetry books with Open Books\, Seattle’s poetry-only bookstore.\n\nFor any questions about the event or to share accommodation needs\, please email kimjulie@umich.edu--we are eager to help ensure this event is inclusive to you. The building\, event space\, and restrooms are wheelchair accessible. Diaper changing tables are available in nearby restrooms. Gender-inclusive restrooms are available on every floor of the Union. ASL interpreters and CART services at in-person events are available upon request\; please email kimjulie@umich.edu at least two weeks prior to the event\, whenever possible\, to allow time to arrange services.\n\nU-M employees with a U-M parking permit may use the Church Street Parking Structure (525 Church St.\, Ann Arbor) or the Thompson Parking Structure (500 Thompson St.\, Ann Arbor). There is limited metered street parking on State Street and South University Avenue. The Forest Avenue Public Parking Structure (650 South Forest Ave.\, Ann Arbor) is five blocks away\, and the parking rate is $1.20 per hour. All of these options include parking spots for individuals with disabilities.
UID:136974-21879385@events.umich.edu
URL:https://events.umich.edu/event/136974
CLASS:PUBLIC
STATUS:CONFIRMED
CATEGORIES:Contemporary Literature,Books,Creative Writing,Culture,Free,Graduate,Lena Tuffaha,Literature,Michigan Union,Ann Arbor
LOCATION:Michigan Union - Anderson ABCDE
CONTACT:
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