The basic set-up involves a couch, a discreetly placed microphone, a camera, one or more guitars and an artist capable of vocal acrobatics. Welcome to the acoustic live recordings dubbed “The Nairobi Sessions”. Created and curated on YouTube by Producer David “Blackman” Muthami, the series was inspired by a desire to showcase Nairobi's urban sound and culture through artists with unquestionable talent, unknown or otherwise. “There's a vibrant music scene here that is surprisingly missing in the African music dialogue. There isn't much talk about Kenyan and East African music.

I've wondered for a while what format to take in exposing this rich heritage,” he shares. Conversations with kindred spirits soon set the ball rolling and by late January, the first two videos featuring Kenyan songstresses Sara Mitaru and Nanjira Sambuli went up. But why live acoustic recordings? “[Because] it reveals the artist in a way that mainstream or studio recordings don't usually allow. It also gives artistes the opportunity to take us back to the original idea before the song went to studio and was surrounded by other musical elements.

It's vulnerable,” Blackman explains. With a central premise of showcasing musical talent, “The Nairobi Sessions” also features musicians and artistes who happen to be passing through Nairobi. So far Ugandan crooner, Maurice Kirya and US-based Naomi Wachira have been featured on “The Couch”. Blackman adds, “I also want to show the beauty of Nairobi [the latest video included a time lapse of the city by Mutua Matheka]. This means that starting with the next episode, we're going to move away from ‘The Couch’.”

And that’s just one of the many changes Blackman hopes to institute during the projected year-long run of the series. Already there’s talk of an international TV platform that is interested in putting some of the sessions on air. “We also wish to grow into different elements to broaden the perspective of what our city has to offer. Lots of surprises in store,” Blackman excitedly states. Enjoy “The Nairobi Sessions” at www.youtube.com/blackmankenya

Goethe Institute recently hosted ‘Dreams of Nairobi’, an exhibition that ran from the 19th of January to the 15th of February, featuring architectural and design initiatives displaying six achievable projects that offered ‘the best responses to the specific urban design issues of Nairobi City’. With rapid urbanization and a population of more than 3 million people, local think tank African Urban Futures saw a need for designers to come up with creative urban design solutions that addressed the specific issues facing Nairobi.

“One of the main aims of the exhibition was simply to start a conversation about urban design in Nairobi. Every city in the world is growing but the conversations need to be informed by key questions - do we want to grow like this, or like that? How do we imagine our city? Could things be done a better way?” Says African Urban Futures CEO Dan Aceda. African Urban Futures is focused primarily on the research and development of achievable and scalable architecture and urban design projects that are informed by the idea of sustainable design and Green architecture. Designs were required to align themselves to plans considered by Vision 2030 while offering a direct response to economic needs.

Submissions that displayed sensitivity to the principles of Green design and sustainability were considered highly. Displays included a popular Nairobi Dam redesigned with broad community and spaces, and modernized Courthouses that incorporated lush outside areas and interiors conducive to communication and interaction. Aceda says “the next stage of the project is plugging in with political processes, and setting up relationships with research organisations in order to support the long lobbying and advocacy process to take these designs further. With administration of the city moving to County Governance under new provisions of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 it’s the time for fresh ideas and new groups to take up the call for innovative change.

African Urban Futures are excited that those conversations are happening daily, with different Government and campaign groups completely open to new ideas and ways to engage with the community under the new political landscape.” It feels like a good time to start the conversation. The exhibition will continue online at www.dreamsofnairobi.org. Dreams of Nairobi is part of the UN-Habitat promoted ‘I’m a City Changer’ campaign, a global movement with the aim of sensitizing and creating awareness on urban issues to achieve better cities.

If there’s a formula for kick ass break dancing then it has to include: enthusiastic acrobatic movement, some major swag and unbelievable flexibility—right in the middle of the city when you throw in youths from Nairobi filming their B-Boy dance moves like this

. It’s a new year and lovers of hip hop lovers are wondering; where are the B-Boy break dancers?

When we were kids my dad started ‘checking’ each one of us for artistic talent,” says Ng’endo Mukii. “He’d put a pencil in your hand and a flower or banana in front of you… in the end, I was the only one who still wanted to draw flowers and bananas.” It paid off; the young filmmaker is a graduate of the UK’s Royal College of Arts and recently won Best Animated Film at the Kenya International film festival for her thesis film ‘Yellow Fever.’ “‘Yellow Fever’ is inspired by the concept of race, both scientifically and culturally,” explains Ng’endo. It delves into the touchy issue of skin bleaching and the hazards it can bring.

Through a young and naïve female narrator, the film allows viewers to learn about the damaging practice of skin bleaching; a practice that seems motivated by cultural issues, personal insecurities and issues of low self-esteem. Ngendo says, “[These women struggle] between seeing, being seen and seeing what other people see in you.” A salon attendant in the first scene of the film has bleached her skin; her face in the mirror is almost Caucasian and yet her hands are traitorously dark.

In the live action dance sequences that intersperse the otherwise animated film, the camera lingers almost sensually over the chocolate skinned contours of three dancers’ bodies as they writhe and glide under a flattering spotlight, beautiful and unashamed. Fresh from campus and buoyed by the strong impression her film has made locally, Ng’endo is careful not to bask in the success of ‘Yellow Fever’ just yet. “I only entered it in KIFF so that people at home could see it. I wasn’t expecting a win.”

When asked about her plans for her career now that she’s based permanently in the country, she’s cautious about betraying too much enthusiasm. “I’m interested in doing more animated and live action films, in fact I’ve got a couple of scripts I’m working on.” If the subtlety and style with which she navigates the issues of ‘Yellow Fever’ are anything to go by, Ng’endo Mukii is definitely part of the new generation of Kenyan filmmakers to watch right alongside Wanuri Kahiu and Tosh Gitonga. Quite a far-reaching impact for a bunch of flowers and a couple of bananas, isn’t it?