Listening into Waterways
The Current V: Flotation #1 closing gathering at Kamene Cultural Center, Nairobi

September 5, 2026 | 5:00–8:00 pm, followed by drinks and bites

Kamene Cultural Center – Santack Estate, Ngong Rd, Nairobi

The event is free of charge with mandatory registration at

qrco.de/listeningintowaterways

Priya Basil is a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a curator based in Berlin. Her work draws on her trans-territorial roots to weave across genres and cultures, from family histories (Be My Guest) to what questions emerge when writers encounter museum collections (Objects Talk Back).

Batila is a Congolese musician, performer, singer, and songwriter based in Berlin. A poet and musician from age ten, he developed a powerful relationship with ancestral rhythms and storytelling. Batila bridges the past with the present, blending Congolese traditions with reggae, jazz, and electronic sounds to create his signature "Bantu Soul". 

Shiraz Bayjoo is a Mauritian multidisciplinary artist working in film, painting, and installation, based in London. Originally from Mauritius, his research-based practice focuses on personal and public archives addressing cultural memory and postcolonial nationhood in the Indian Ocean region, including the intersection of colonial extraction and ecological erasure within enslaved and plantation landscapes. 
 

Natasha Ginwala is a curator, researcher, and writer. She is the curator of TBA21–Academy’s fellowship, The Current V: Ancestral Ocean (2026–2028). She has been the artistic director of Colomboscope since 2019, and was recently co-curator of Sharjah Biennial 16 (2025) and Associate Curator at Large at Gropius Bau, Berlin (2018–2024). Ginwala has curated several international biennials, exhibitions, art festivals, and community-based encounters since 2010 and is a widely published author with a focus on contemporary art, visual culture, and social justice. 

Sana Ginwalla is a curator, artist, and archivist, born, raised, and based in Lusaka. With roots in India and Burma, her work explores identity, migration, and belonging. She is the founder of Everyday Lusaka and Zambia Belonging, initiatives that make visible what lies at the margins of memory.

Kenge Kenge is a music ensemble from Western Kenya rooted in the cultural heritage of the Luo people who dwell along the shores of Lake Victoria. Formed in 1996, Kenge Kenge stands as a vital custodian of Kenya’s traditional sounds. They fuse the acoustic roots of benga with contemporary sensibilities, helping evolve the genre while preserving its traditional structure.

Tabu Osusa is a Kenyan music promoter, producer, composer, and mentor. A key part of the East African music industry, he is the founding Executive Director of Ketebul Music and the East Africa Project Co-ordinator for Singing Wells, with a focus on documenting East African traditional music. 

Parisa Vaziri is a scholar of comparative literature and film, based in Ithaca, NY. In her first book project, Racial Blackness and Indian Ocean Slavery: Iran’s Cinematic Archive, she places the understudied history of African enslavement in the Indian Ocean in relation to the history of transatlantic slavery.

Kamene Cultural Practice and Research Space is a dynamic, collaborative hub dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and innovation of African cultural practices. It serves as a creative platform where artists, scholars, and practitioners come together to explore, research, and elevate the diverse cultural expressions of the African continent. Through interdisciplinary projects, workshops, and research initiatives, Kamene aims to not only preserve traditional cultural practices but also adapt them for modern contexts, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of Africa's rich cultural heritage. The space strives to create a global dialogue around African culture, encouraging both local and international collaboration.

The fifth cycle of The Current fellowship program (2026–2028), entitled Ancestral Ocean and led by Natasha Ginwala, traces oceanic kinships, cultural languages, embodied legacies, ancestral memory, and marine historiographies resonant across the Indian Ocean World, with particular emphasis on islands connecting Afrasian pasts, presents, and futures, cultivating site-responsive artistic and scientific practices across island and coastal nodes. The Current V’s first convening took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in January 2026, followed by a flotation–an itinerant research journey–to Kenya, spanning Nairobi and Lamu, in September 2026. Supporting engagements within culturally rooted contexts that encourage slow, conscious mobility and deep listening, The Current V aims to cultivate long-term relationships across the Indian Ocean basin, expanding TBA21’s long-standing commitment to pan-oceanic alliances.