Taswira Unmasked: When Art Becomes Protest

Nairobi, Kenya — 23 - 30 Sept 6pm 2025

What picture emerges when the mask comes off? Taswira Unmasked dares to ask this question, transforming art into a vessel of protest, reflection, and vision for change.

(Image from Wakio Mzenge)

The Big Idea

“Taswira” — Swahili for picture — meets “Unmasked,” the act of revealing. The result is an immersive audio-visual exhibition where 18 young theatre actors use sound and image to grapple with governance, leadership, and social justice. Each work is posed as if it were the artist’s final, uncompromising statement — their last personal protest.

Rather than celebrating noise, Taswira Unmasked champions responsible protest: sharp, intentional, and resonant. It challenges audiences to listen closely, to discern nuance, and to recognize wisdom in defiance.

The Experience

Visitors step into a gallery of unfiltered truths. The walls hold color, line, and form — intimate testimonies on the pressures of governance, the failures of leadership, and the hunger for justice. Every artwork comes alive through sound. By scanning a simple QR code, audiences unlock the voice, thoughts, or chosen soundscape of the artist, blurring the line between seeing and listening.

In this space, art is not observed — it is encountered. It speaks, breathes, and confronts.

Curatorial Vision

The exhibition is curated by Wakio Mzenge, a multi-award-winning actor, experimental theatre director, and founder of Beyond the Mainstream Storytellers. Mzenge also leads the Pokeza Skills Program, under which this project was developed.

Their Journey

Taswira Unmasked marks the culmination of the Pokeza Skills Program, a 12-week capacity-building initiative nurturing young creatives for the challenges of the cultural industry. The 2025 cohort is historic: the first to receive dedicated sessions on Governance and Leadership, facilitated by Emerging Leaders Foundation – Africa. These discussions sparked urgent debates, surfacing a reality often ignored — young people are ready to confront the systems shaping their future.

The exhibition is therefore not just an artistic milestone. It is a bold declaration of a generation unwilling to remain silent. It testifies to a youth culture that refuses “business as usual.” Instead, it leads, creates, and challenges the status quo.

For press inquiries, interviews, and exhibition details:

btmstorytellers@gmail.com