Sound & Solidarity: A Kilele Summit 2026 Recap
The Kilele Summit, East Africa’s first and only music, tech and culture summit was back for its third edition, this February 23rd - 28th. This summit was created to platform artists and collectives from the region that are working in diverse, and under-represented styles from the folkloric to the futuristic. Kilele mixes panels, presentations and workshops with installations, showcases and after-parties over six thrilling days in The Mall, Nairobi each February.
This year Kilele brought together a list of electrifying artists, collectives and innovators under their Sound & Solidarity theme. Through this theme Kilele looked for artists and projects that directly “built links between generations, locations, technologies, and collaborative expressions”.
In line with Kilele’s goals of highlighting the connections and differences in art from around the world, the summit hosted a wide variety of artists, and performers, including:
Mehmet Aslan (Switzerland) / Bizi Bingi (Kenya) / Black Obsidian Soundsystem (UK) Jim Chuchu (Kenya) / Marko Ciciliani (Croatia) / Coaches, Breathren, nNje, Sarah Bitamazire, Ogutu Muraya (Kenya) / Jolie (Denmark/Tanzania) / Sammy Karugu, Basile Huguenin-Virchaux and Astrid Bin (Kenya / Switzerland/UK) / Kampire (Uganda) / KiChAkA (Kenya) / Kimina (Kenya) / Labdi (Kenya) / Lilywhite (Kenya) / Maganda Shakul (Uganda) / mau from nowhere (Kenya/UK) / MC Yallah (Kenya) / Christos Michalakos (Greece) / Mina (UK) / Mizizi Ensemble (Kenya/Australia/Norway) / mokeyanju (Nigeria/Germany) / Mxshi Mo (South Africa) / Ogoya Nengo (Kenya) / Odd Okoddo (Kenya/Germany) / Pwani Tapes - Hotkeys, Mazera, Mrezi (Kenya) / R_R_ (Latvia) / Sisso and Maiko (Tanzania) / SLY DIG (UK) / Taamuli (Kenya) / Youth (UK).
The summit also hosted several residency programs, including the exciting collaboration, Embodied Archives, between Kenyan multi-disciplinary artist Jim Chuchu and Swiss musician and artist Mehmet Aslan. These artists were supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, and the Swiss Arts Council, in exploring the body as an evolutionary archive and a site of universal human truth. Through sound, voice, movement and collective performance the project investigated embodied memories across cultures, challenging ideologies and offering new ways of sensing connections.
Additionally, Kilele hosted Mxshi Mo, a South African electronic musician, who, in a full circle moment, was brought back to Kilele by a community of artists who supported the screening of 6SENSE, a short documentary produced by filmmakers and producers, Amilcar Patel, Chris Kets and the Kamva Collective, at last year’s edition that detailed his challenges navigating life and the music industry as a visually impaired artist. The screening left a lasting impact on many, and those who contributed made it possible for the artist to return as part of a residency program with the Instrument Maker’s Lab, a space for artists to innovate around the technology of music. This year’s lab, hosted a weekweek before the summit, was presented by Kenyan object storyteller Adam Yawe, Kenyan music producer Kimina, and Berlin based inter-disciplinary artist, Astrid Bin, focused on themes of accessibility in hardware and instrument design.
Kilele also saw a residency with Pwani Tapes, a record label whose primary aim is reissuing music from the coastal region. The two organizations hosted Hamisi “Mrezi”, a mtamwi musician from Silaloni, Kwale County whose practice spans marimba, handmade percussion, and embodied rhythm; Mazera, a Mwanzele singer from Tsunza and a longstanding regional icon whose voice carries decades of lived coastal history; and Nairobi-based producer and DJ, Hotkeys, whose groove-driven blends of African traditional sound, house, and dance music keep the floor moving. These artists made and recorded four tracks in five days and performed them at this year's Zahabu showcase on Friday evening. Pwani Tapes were also featured in a panel discussion breaking down the ethics and pitfalls of re-releasing music that wasn’t previously distributed widely.
Community driven initiative Frequency Shift, an endeavor shared by Calotropis Radio, Black Rhino Virtual Reality (BRVR) and Creatives Garage, brought accessibility to the summit. These collectives developed a public facing platform for storytelling, dialogue, DJ Sets and complementary visual media to cater to submitters who couldn’t physically attend. Stream A featured specific panels and presentations, while Stream B gave space to a selection of DJs to share their mixes, filling the airwaves up on The Mall’s rooftop where attendees could grab a drink and enjoy the sunshine during the day. Each day the stream would gently segue listeners into the much needed nighttime break as various DJs from within the Kilele community would come up to The Mall rooftop to play a Sundowner set before the evening performances. Each DJ accentuated their time with a unique flavour that exposed many summiters to new sounds and stories.
In addition to more music focused presentations and performances, Kilele also provided space for visual art. “Sonic Commons” one of two exhibitions during the week brought together five artists, who displayed work in visual mediums as well as through an auditory listening experience. The exhibition engaged sound as a shared relational field, considering how listening informs how we respond, negotiate and imagine our collective lives. This exhibition was curated by Sound of Nairobi (Sophia Bauer and Raphael Kariuki) in collaboration with Rosie Olang' Odhiambo and E.N. Mirembe, and featured works from artists around the world, KMRU, Adam Yawe, Douglas Opoku Antwi, Jiyun Park, Camilo Sandoval, and Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S.). The summit also featured an interactive art piece from Ethiopian filmmaker Keiria Shishay, titled “Transmitting Memory”. The installation asked, how do we preserve memory amidst archival and memorial erasure? What tools can we use to push against the forgetfulness that follows with this erasure? Can a stranger’s photo become a projection of subjective memory - a tool of remembrance? The piece invited participants to write down a memory they’d like to store in a photograph to share with the world.
The summit was fertile ground for new music discovery. Each evening was punctuated by an eclectic array of artists Musical performances and after-parties hosted at The Mist brought attendees together to experience sounds and formats they’d most likely never encountered. The week featured a unique performance by artist Marko Ciciliani titled, "Archipel Arpeggio"; this was a performance made with a self-developed digital instrument which uses a spherical, multidirectional loudspeaker. The loudspeaker creates bundled sound beams that cause strong sound reflections in the space, turning it into an acoustically rich experience. The result was an entrancing noise experience that had attendees transfixed for the duration of the showcase.
Another highlight of the week included an electrifying performance from the Mizizi Ensemble a collection of artists, Labdi Ommes (KE), [Monrhea] (KE), Nyokabi Kariũki (KE), Bernt Isak Wærstad (NO) and Jane Arnison (AU). They exist as an interdisciplinary artist collective transforming sounds, movement, visuals and technology into visceral, site-driven performances. The performance presented the inquiry, what remains? The group draws from a wide artistic vocabulary, whether it be contemporary dance and club music or bespoke instrument design, live-coding, classical music, film scoring or traditional Kenyan music; their foundation allows for a diverse range of experimentation. The performance captivated the Kilele audience, from the bespoke instruments created for and around the artist's specific needs, to the immersive visual presentation. The performance was captivating and in true Kilele fashion left the audience with even more to think about when it comes to artistic expression and the various ways we might showcase our ideas.
The final day of the Kilele Summit was a beautiful celebration of the time spent learning and experiencing fresh forms of technological and artistic work. Performers like MC Yallah (UG/KE) and DJ Kampire got the crowd hyped with her energetic rhythms, while duo Embodied Archives held the audience with their reflective performance, using digital instruments and vocals to create a sonic experience that had attendees floating. mau from nowhere (KE) brought out a full band to showcase live versions of some of his most beloved songs, while Mina and Maganda, another cross-culture duo, closed out the showcase with a high octane hybrid performance that primed everyone for the after party that continued at The Mist.
Kilele Summit 2026 was not only a time to share, network, create and be inspired by the movers and shakers in our communities, but also exchange with artists and creators from around the world. Follow Kilele Summit to keep updated on next year’s festivities!
