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Afrofuturism: Cyrus Kabiru makes art from trash
DW (English)
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5/8/2025
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!
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00:00
We meet Cyrus Kabiru, who makes visual magic from found materials.
00:08
He creates his artworks out of discarded objects.
00:12
He makes his own kinds of unique radios and sound systems, bicycles, and exotic eyewear.
00:19
I grew up in Nairobi on a slum called Korogocho.
00:26
We were surrounded by the dam sites.
00:29
So, yeah, I get inspired by the trash.
00:34
I love using waste, I love using wires, I love using metal, I love using plastic.
00:48
When I see these, I don't see trash.
00:52
For me, I see an amazing artwork.
00:56
For you to make something like this, you must think outside the box.
01:02
Cyrus is also inspired by Kenya's road, where motorcycles have replaced the old black bicycles
01:08
that were once popular here.
01:12
Their nickname, black mamba, refers to the black mamba snake that is commonly found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
01:19
So, I decided to get the old black mamba and redo them and make them more artistic.
01:28
I call them the end of black mamba.
01:30
When I travel, I always have an empty suitcase that I will carry trash from that certain country.
01:42
So, you'll get an eyewear with beads from India, metal from Switzerland.
01:48
You won't even recognize whether it's an African, Chinese, Asian or European and all that.
01:55
I've traveled more, even I think more than 40 countries.
02:01
With big exhibitions, the most recent is the Met Museum, which is a big step as an artist, especially from Africa.
02:13
Cyrus made it in the art world without any artistic training in school.
02:18
In Kenya, we don't have art in school, so we don't have that art culture.
02:25
We still have that problem of associating creativity with voodoo.
02:32
They even told my mom, she needs to be careful with me because I'm a bit weird.
02:39
Despite the initial skepticism of his neighbors, Cyrus's artistic career continues to grow from strength to strength.
02:46
And next, he will be exhibiting in at least four countries.
02:51
I look forward to hearing more about his future travels.
02:56
We'll talk next time.
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