Book Launch: Ink & Pixels: The Wild and Wondrous Tales of Kenyan Comics

Event: Exhibition // Q & A session // Book Signing // Live Caricature
Opening: 13/09/2017, 6.00 PM
Location: Goethe- Institute Auditorium, Maendeleo house, Nairobi

Published under the Contact Zone series, the book `Ink & Pixels: The Wild & Wondrous Tale of Kenyan Comics is a culmination of a project initiated by the Goethe-Institut in 2015 involving local artists in the Kenya comic scene. The publication represents an attempt to collect some of the landmark works done by these artists and contains several essays on the history and development of the Kenyan comic scene written by Kimani wa Wanjiru.

The launch of the book was preceded by an exhibition of the artist`s work, which was first shown at the Goethe-Institut Kenya and started touring in Germany in 2016.The exhibition attempted to give an overview of a scene of comic artists in Kenya whose opportunities to present their work to a wider audience are rare. It constitutes the first of its kind for the Kenyan comic scene. Previous exhibitions and projects tended to focus on political caricatures and editorials. At the same time, there are almost no publishers to issue comic books or graphic novels. The comic artists in Kenya therefore often work in an off-zone and publish mainly online or independently. Based on this observations a catalogue was published that represents an attempt to collect some of the momentous works by Kenyan comic artists. It constituted the first of its kind for the local comic scene and also pays tribute to the pioneers and trail blazers in the industry.

Participating artists include: Chief Nyamwea , Godfrey Mwapembwa (Gado), Paul Kelemba (Maddo), Alfred Muchilwa, Bella Kilonzo, Celestine Wairimu, , Eric Ngamau, Eric Muthoga, Joe Barasa, Dan Muli, James Kamawira, Maurice Odede, Morietz Muthui, Movin Were, Msanii Kimani wa Wanjiru, Msingi Sasis, Emmanuel Oluoch, Victor Ndula and Shujaaz.