REVEAL! Comic Arts Festival 2025 with the theme “Comic in Education— adding fun to teaching and learning” runs in venues in Nairobi, Kenya from March 14 – 16, 2025.
In 2017, Kenyan writer, activist, and journalist Msanii Kimani Wa Wanjiru wrote Ink & Pixels: The Wild & Wondrous Tale of Kenyan Comics as part of the Goethe Institut Contact Zone series. Following its publication, the Nairobi resident set up REVEAL! Comics ConversationsEA to discuss, celebrate, and feature comic artists, launch new comic books, and host interviews and hangouts. They have been the driving force in comic conversations in Kenya with events like the launch of Wana Wa Magere, the Kenyan comics anthology, and Nalotuesha. Nemaiyan. Namunyak – Three Tales. Kimani Wa Wanjiru was also the curator of the Alliance Francaise hosted NYrobi Comic Fest 2024.
REVEAL! Comics ConversationsEA announced their most ambitious project with the REVEAL! Comic Arts Festival 2025, which will take place in venues around Nairobi starting March 14. The festival had a preview event centering the legendary comics series Pichadithi that included a panel featuring Kiarie Kamau (East African Educational Publishers), Paul Maddo Kelemba, and Msanii Kimani Wa Wanjiru.
The REVEAL! Comic Arts Festival 2025 with keynote addresses, workshops, and panel discussions will be hosted at the Alliance Francaise and Maktaba Kuu in Upper Hill starting on Friday, March 14. The events will centre children, mirroring the festival theme of “Comic in Education.” There will be guests like Wandia Njoya, Colombian ambassador Pedro Leon Cortes Ruiz, Ms Yu & Gitahi, among others. All the events will be free.
The highlights of the Festival will include:
| DAY 2: Friday, March 14 | ||
| 02.00— 04.00 pm | Publishing comics for schools: Stakeholders’ conversations: artists, art studios, curriculum designers, publishers, distributors & donor agencies | Moderator |
| 04.30 — 05.30 pm | Key Note Address: Comic in Education— adding fun to teaching and learning | Prof Wandia Njoya |
| DAY 2: Saturday, March 15 | ||
| 10.30 — 11.00 am | Remarks by the Ambassador of Colombia: South to South Collaboration & Partnership in Education | H.E. Pedro Leon Cortes Ruiz |
| A critical look at South-South international collaboration in education and the place of comics in this partnership. This will be delivered by the Colombian Ambassador to Kenya in commemoration of the two countries’ 50-years collaboration | ||
| 11.00 am – 01.00 pm | Teaching and Learning STEM and other related subjects: The Manga experience | Ms Yu & Gitahi |
| a) A presentation on “teaching and learning STEM and other related subjects: The Manga (Japanese) experience; b)Coding: Introduction to programming using MANGA. A demonstration of QUEREO, a programming challenge | ||
| 02.00 – 04.00 pm | Women in comics: Panel Discussion | Moderator |
| In commemoration of the International Women’s Day, we will host a discussion by Kenyan women comic artists to share their experience and stories too. What is the place of women comic artists in Kenya? Women characters in Kenyan/African comic stories. | ||
The Festival will end with a comic book launch with a publication aimed at teaching and learning about renewable energy using comics.
| DAY 4: Saturday, March 16 | ||
| 02.00 — 05.00 pm | Solar Comic Book Launch | REVEAL! Team |
| “The Magic of the Sun,” a collection of 5 comic stories aimed at teaching and learning about solar energy. The book has also been translated into Kiswahili and French | ||
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