Ngwatilo Mawiyoo and Tomeletso Sereetsi are the featured artists at the Artistic Encounters series at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi on June 26, 2019. The evening will be conducted by series creator Zukiswa Wanner.
In Artistic Encounters, two artists of different genres meet and create an art experience of their combined work then share it with the audience. In 2017, the first year of the series, Nairobi audiences experienced artist Victor Ehikhamenor and poet Koleka Putuma; trumpeter Christine Kamau and poet Philipp Khabo Koepsell; novelist Lola Shoneyin and storyteller Maimouna Jallow; and author Angela Makholwa and actress Patricia Kihoro.
In 2018, Artistic Encounters kicked off with novelist, short story writer, and academic Pede Hollist and actor Hana Kefela. That performance was followed by mbira player Prudence Katomeni and poet Adipo Sidang’; novelist Niq Mhlongo and actor Nick Ndeda; spoken word artist Ngartia and novelist Olumide Popoola; poet Dami Ajayi and Kenyan musician Makadem; and Sitawa Namwalie, Yewande Omotoso, and Shan Bartley.
In 2019, the series started in March with novelist and publisher Shadreck Chikoti and actor and spoken word poet Abu Sense followed in April by poet Kagayi Peter and musician Chris Adwar.
Tomeletso Sereetsi is the lead singer and guitarist of Sereetsi & the Natives an act with a refreshing new sound blending traditional Botswana rhythms with Western influences, all built around the signature sound and tradition of the four string folk guitar. The band, which has performed all over the world memorably at the Gaborone Book Fair and the Ake Festival, has two albums Four String Confessions (May 2015) and Motoko (2018).
Ngwatilo Mawiyoo is one of the leading poets in Kenya having performed on stages all over the world. Her work includes the chapbooks Blue Mothertongue (2010) and Dagoretti Corner (2016) as well as the EP Introducing Ngwatilo (2011). She was shortlisted for the Brunel Africa Poetry Prize in 2015 and in 2016.
The two will be sharing the stage at the Goethe-Institut in Nairobi on June 26 starting at 6pm.
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