If you understand Art as the imaginative representation of the world, then it is not only an integral part of everyday life, but can also be seen as a barometer of intellectual freedom. Art in the public sphere, the performing of cultural expressions in public, is a further distillation of this and a critical indicator of a culturally healthy society.

Nairobi pulsates with a wealth of new forms of cultural expression, many of which exist beyond the frontiers of conventional institutions. The idea behind ‘It’s a pity that we only exist in the future’ was to explore the city’s terrain with the aim of representing these phenomena within the context of discourse about public space.

This was not an exhaustive show, but rather a sample of the city’s cultural nuggets, tracing a seam of art forms existing within different social, cultural and geographical groups. Showcasing work by the Maasai Mbili art collective, Solo 7, Hapa TV, Biki Kangwana and Jacob Wachira, the Nyayo Monument Photographers, Slum TV, Lukas Pusch, Ukoo Flani and Cultural Video Foundation

Maybe we do not only exist in the future, but we also exist in the present, it’s just a question of knowing how to see ourselves. And that is one of the things that African Maximalism is trying to do. We try to make things visible, we try to connect loose synapses within the city, the country, the continent, and re-establish broken circuits. We create situations, we dream of being catalysts.

African Maximalism is as an open source movement, inclusive to all that want to learn the language. It’s about the freedom of producing innovative work, without the burden of being an individual. We are a movement with no leader, an idea with no manifesto, an aesthetic with no rules. Come and join us.

Thanks to: Alex Nikolic (concept). Supported by: Goethe Institut Nairobifull project