Wam artlook

The Kenyan art scene shows a certain element of universality not only in the kind of audience that attends the events but also in the kind of performers on stage. From visual arts to performance, Kenyan have always shown their ‘Karibu Kenya’ spirit. Nigerian Vivian ofre on stage during grand slam poetry championship where she lost to Kenyan Timelines, photo courtesy of creative spills  There was a scare in 2025/26 Grand Slam competition when a Kenyan and a Nigerian poet tied in the finals. Now, this brought in serious uncertainty among the organizers of Slam Poetry Competition in Kenya. If the Nigerian had to win the competition, she would have to represent Kenya in the 2026 World Poetry Slam Championships! Luckily for the organizers, the embarrassment was mitigated after a runoff between the Kenyan poet Timelines (Dennis Mwangi) and the Nigerian, Vivian Ofre saw Timelines crowned as the 67th slam king hence a representative of Kenya on the global stage.  Ofre is not the only ...

  Since Creative Spills took over poetry competition in Kenya, the competition has grown significantly and produced tens of slam Kings and queens. It has also introduced various activities in order to bolster poetry appreciation in the East African country.  The Kenya chapter of Poetry Slam is run by an organization called Creative Spills. Creative Spills was founded in 2010 and has since run the country’s premier poetry competition since 2013. Creative Spills has seen spoken world poetry develop in Kenya and become part of the country’s top annual entertainment event.  Ian Gwagi, Creative Spills Director. Photo courtesy of Slam Africa festival 2025/26 The history of modern performance poetry in Kenya traces its origin to pre-colonial Kenya. Back then poetry and song were merged into one and took a form of recitation, singing, incantation and lamentations among others. There is scanty of information about the pre-colonial Africa concerning entertainment, especially the ve...