Japanese / English
Nishio Workshop Nairobi designs and organizes art and cultural exchange programs between Japan and Africa in Nairobi and Tokyo. Our current programs include "Nairobi Residence" which invites internationally renowned Japanese artists to stay and create artworks in Nairobi in cooperation with Kenyan artists and citizens, "Nairobi Art Tour" which guides Japanese tourists to varied art sites around Nairobi to help them learn the latest trends and historical and social backgrounds of East African contemporary arts and "Arakawa Africa" which is an annual exhibition geared toward identifying African elements in Arakawa ward, Tokyo. We are also making preparations to set up a Japanese contemporary arts centre in Nairobi, which has never been done before in Africa.
Sakiko Nishio [Program Director]
Art coordinator/ Translator. She is in charge of managing strategies for realizing ideas, such as writing project proposal, applying for subsidies, accounting, public relations and translation. After discontinuing her studies at Kyoto City University of Arts, she studied political science at Waseda University. She is currently involved in editing and translation and also studies contemporary artistic activities in public places of African metropolis at the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies at Kyoto University.
Yoshinari Nishio [Art Director]
Artist. He is in charge of the making and creating process of concepts. He obtained a Ph. D in Fine Arts from Tokyo University of the Arts and currently studies at Nairobi Arts Trust/ Centre for Contemporary Art of East Africa, as a trainee of the Japanese Government Overseas Study Program for Artists. He has developed art projects worldwide referring to the relationships between fashion and communication.
Peter Mwashi Litonde [Staff]
He is a facilitator gifted with critical, creative and social sense in workshops and collaborative creation within a community. Majoring in community development as well as writing and theatre performance, he has been engaged in varied art programs around Korogocho slum in Nairobi; Miss Koch, Koch Fm radio, Child Peace in Kenya and recently Smiles Africa.
David Omondi Wagude [Staff]
He is a performer and researcher with a refined sense of life and physical abilities developing from his background in Kibera settlement, Nairobi. He studies sports and exercise science at Kenyatta University and works at several gyms as an instructor. He also studies Japanese language and basic art and is a regular participant in the Japanese Language Speech Contest in Kenya.
＜Independent projects＞
・Designing and implementing art projects
・Planning and managing residency programs
・Planning and holding exhibitions and events
・Survey and research on the art scene in Africa
・Developing human resources that connect Japan and Africa
＜Profit-making business＞
・Local coordination: creation of artworks, research, tours and etc. concerning the Arts.
・Writing contributed articles about art scene in Africa
・Translation: Japanese, English and Swahili
・Publication on art projects
・Production and sales of original goods
・Others
Please feel free to send any comments or inquiries to the email address in the contact page.
