Past Residents Syowia Kyambi
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Photo by James Muriuki
Syowia Kyambi’s practice examines how our contemporary human experience is influenced by constructed histories, creating installations that include a performative practice to narrate stories and activate objects, exploring cultural identities, linking them to issues of loss, memory, race, and gender. She is an alumnus of the Art Institute of Chicago and the recipient of the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow. She was shortlisted for the Financial Times Emerging Artist Award and recipient of the Wellcome Trust Fund in the United Kingdom. Her work has been shown in museums in Belgium, Finland, Kenya, Mali, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Zimbabwe, France, South Africa and the USA.
I am currently exploring ashes as a regenerative material in my practice and will develop a series of body prints using a performative process as a starting point. I am keen on engaging with the community in University of the Arts, Helsinki and further developing methods of interdisciplinary practice, sharing alternative knowledge systems and exploring questions around nationalism, gender and concepts of safe spaces. —Syowia
The residency is realised in context of Residency Fellow Programme at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Arts Helsinki. The programme is supported by Saastamoinen Foundation.