Multidisciplinary visual artist Kaloki Nyamai is among the 111 artists exhibiting at the Venice Biennale, which runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026.
Based in Nairobi, Nyamai has built an international reputation for immersive installations, paintings, and sculptural works that explore history, memory, identity, resilience, and renewal through materials and traditions found in the Kamba community.
Born in Kitui in 1985, Nyamai’s mother introduced him to drawing and painting at an early age, while his grandmother, a traditional Kamba singer and storyteller, immersed him in oral histories and cultural rituals that he uses in his art.
Nyamai studied interior design at the Buruburu Institute of Fine Arts (BIFA) in Nairobi before transitioning fully into fine art after working in other creative industries. His background in design influences his large-scale installations and exhibitions, which blur the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Working with materials such as acrylic paint, sisal rope, stitched yarn, charcoal, burnt surfaces, and photo transfers, he creates works that examine the resonance of history in contemporary society. His free-hanging installations symbolise healing, resilience, and the continuity of collective memory.
By juxtaposing ancestral references with contemporary imagery and media, Nyamai merges the past and present and explores how memory and history influence modern Kenyan identities.
Nyamai titles his works in Kikamba with indigenous stories and philosophies in his practice. Among his notable projects is Ila Nae Kana Taku (When I Was a Child Like You), presented at the Kenyan Pavilion during the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. The mixed-media series explored longing, nostalgia, and intergenerational memory through figurative imagery.
His recent works continue to investigate themes of ancestry, kinship, political injustice, and wealth through monumental suspended installations commissioned for major exhibitions, including the 2025 Sharjah Biennial.
His solo exhibitions have been held at institutions and galleries in Cape Town, New York, and Paris; international exhibitions and biennials, such as the Dakar Biennale, Kampala Biennale, Stellenbosch Triennale, and Ostrale Biennale in Dresden.
His work forms part of several institutional and private collections globally, including the Dallas Museum of Art and the Southern African Foundation for Contemporary Art.
In 2023, Nyamai launched Kamene, an artist residency and creative space in Nairobi named after his mother to support emerging and established artists through cross-cultural collaboration and mentorship.