Local action over space fantasies
14:45 - 15:15
La Centrale, Nuvola Lavazza
Narratives for sustainable futures. Artists and activists join forces in the heart of urban Kenya.
Looking to the future by imagining extraordinary technologies and space exploration can detach us from the present and from the importance of the concrete actions that define our tomorrow. Kairos Futura is a collective born in Nairobi to respond to this very challenge, bringing together art, science, activism, and design to rethink the future of African cities and make them more liveable and inclusive.
At the core of its mission, Kairos Futura works closely with local communities: in temporary spaces—such as the “Space Stations,” labs that invert the extraterrestrial and futuristic narrative to envision a local future. Or through installations, workshops, and new participatory methods, where the collective designs and showcases social and ecological “micro-utopias,” making visible concrete and possible changes in the heart of a six-million-inhabitant metropolis.
It is up to art and artists to activate spaces for reflection and dialogue, where people can imagine and build together practical solutions to urban problems.
At Utopian Hours, Natasha W. Muhanji—writer, editor, and digital strategist for the collective—will share how writing and creativity can give new voice to the youth and inspire cities to become ever more just, courageous, and ready to face the challenges of tomorrow.
Natasha W. Muhanji is a Kenyan writer, editor, and digital strategist at Kairos Futura, where she helps to build narratives around imaginative futures and community-centered innovation. Her work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including Voices of the Revolution and Our Stories Redefined (2024). She is the winner of the East Africa Sondeka Awards 2023 Short Stories Prize, a CC Adetula Creative Writing Fellow, and an alumna of the WSA Creative Writing Academy.