Cyrus Kabiru Kenya, b. 1984

Biography

“Most of my projects are freestyle. I don’t plan tomorrow. And I’m very happy.”

Cyrus Kabiru was born in 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya, where he still lives and works.

Kabiru is a self-taught multi-disciplinary artist, known for his sculptural spectacles or C-Stunners, which are made of retrieved objects and recycled materials sourced on the streets of Nairobi. His intricate sculptural works push the boundaries of conventional craftsmanship, sculpture, photography, design, and fashion. His works deal with transformation and renewal. The design of his works embeds his vision of the future. Each C-Stunner is the product of an innovation process intimately linked to his life-story. Recently, Kabiru has also focused on the deconstruction and reconstruction of radios, bicycles, and other pop objects.

In 2010, he was the resident artist at the Han Nefkens Foundation in Barcelona, Spain. He was the first artist to participate in the Flow Series talks program – a joint initiative of the Han Nefkens Foundation and the Antoni Tàpies Foundation. In 2013, he was selected for an innovator fellowship at TED’s The Young, The Gifted, The Undiscovered program. In 2016, he was chosen by Quartz as one of the most promising Africa Innovators in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2021 he was the resident artist at AKKA Project Venice, Italy. Lately one of his radios has been acquired by the Met Museum in New York City after his participation at the group exhibition Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room.

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Works