Afrofuturism: Cyrus Kabiru makes art from trash

DW (English)

Kenya’s capital Nairobi has a bustling art scene and today we meet Cyris Kabiru who transforms everyday waste into striking works. They’ve even been exhibited at the Met Museum in New York!

Transcript

00:00We meet Cyrus Kabiru, who makes visual magic from found materials.

00:08He creates his artworks out of discarded objects.

00:12He makes his own kinds of unique radios and sound systems, bicycles, and exotic eyewear.

00:19I grew up in Nairobi on a slum called Korogocho.

00:26We were surrounded by the dam sites.

00:29So, yeah, I get inspired by the trash.

00:34I love using waste, I love using wires, I love using metal, I love using plastic.

00:48When I see these, I don't see trash.

00:52For me, I see an amazing artwork.

00:56For you to make something like this, you must think outside the box.

01:02Cyrus is also inspired by Kenya's road, where motorcycles have replaced the old black bicycles

01:08that were once popular here.

01:12Their nickname, black mamba, refers to the black mamba snake that is commonly found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

01:19So, I decided to get the old black mamba and redo them and make them more artistic.

01:28I call them the end of black mamba.

01:30When I travel, I always have an empty suitcase that I will carry trash from that certain country.

01:42So, you'll get an eyewear with beads from India, metal from Switzerland.

01:48You won't even recognize whether it's an African, Chinese, Asian or European and all that.

01:55I've traveled more, even I think more than 40 countries.

02:01With big exhibitions, the most recent is the Met Museum, which is a big step as an artist, especially from Africa.

02:13Cyrus made it in the art world without any artistic training in school.

02:18In Kenya, we don't have art in school, so we don't have that art culture.

02:25We still have that problem of associating creativity with voodoo.

02:32They even told my mom, she needs to be careful with me because I'm a bit weird.

02:39Despite the initial skepticism of his neighbors, Cyrus's artistic career continues to grow from strength to strength.

02:46And next, he will be exhibiting in at least four countries.

02:51I look forward to hearing more about his future travels.

02:56We'll talk next time.

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