It's What We Make It

at Opportunity Factory

IT'S

WHAT

WE

MAKE

IT

!

ALL

THESE

BLOCKS

ARE

MOVABLE

.

YOU

CAN

BE

CREATIVE

AND

SHARE

JUST

ABOUT

ANYTHING

WITH

THEM

,

A

POEM

ON

LIFE

AND

THEN

WISE

WORDS

ABOUT

DESIGN

?

!

The 2023 Nairobi Design Week festival themed ‘It’s What We Make It’.

There are many hours of activities, talks, workshops and experiences to go through, and you want to come on multiple days.

📅 9am-5pm on Saturday 11th - Sunday 19th March

📍 Opportunity Factory, Mbagathi Ridge, Karen.

🎟️ KSh100 Adults / KSh50 U-18 & Students for entire weekend, leather wristband from sandstorm included- Tickets on hustlesasa.

🚌 Electric buses from Karen Stage, by the City Clock opposite Crossroads Mall. (11th, 12th & 19th March only)

This year, Nairobi Design’s publicly available open calls curated 50+ physical, 50+ digital exhibitors, and 20+ programmes with partners.

RSVP and save it in your calendar.

Ongoing Flagship project:

We are proud to announce that we were selected and supported by the British Council to run #shiftingnarratives through our podcast Afrika Design.

Afrika Design

Stories of African culture through design need to be shared more widely from our past, present & future to show how diverse, inclusive and dynamic African design is. 

  • New Narratives booth inviting people to record the stories behind their names, lives and cultures.
  • Press launch, opening, partners event and closing events to thank the British Council for supporting and funding #shiftingnarratives, thereby promoting the diversity, appreciation and sharing of African creatives processes in solving problems, systems and solutions within and outside the continent.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

SATURDAY 11th

All day - Free Mind Sessions & Safia Abji

Baraza Stage

9am - 12pm - Art Law Kenya

12pm - Mwalimu Nyatiti (performance)

12:15pm - Opening Ceremony

1:00 pm - Lunch break

1:30pm - The Design and Art of Tracing the Wild

2:30pm - Music Interval

2:45pm - Afrika Design - Mugendi M'Rithaa & Adrian Jankowiak

3:15pm - Music Interval

3:30pm - Creative Identity Workshop with New Comma

4:15pm - Music Interval

4:30pm - Careers in Design panel with Thinkplace, New Comma and Hisi Studio.

5:30pm - Music Interval

5:45pm - Sustainable Fashion panel with Free Mind Sessions and David Avido

6:30pm - Close

SUNDAY 12th

All day - Free Mind Sessions & Safia Abji

12pm - Mwalimu Nyatiti (performance)

12:15pm - Opening Ceremony

1pm - Lunch break

1:30pm -  Emerging Tech And Its Role In Supporting Human Coexistence With Wildlife (Tracing the Wild)

2:30pm - Music Interval

2:45pm - Afrika Design -Kenneth Kanaabi & Adrian Jankowiak

3:15pm - Music Interval

3:30pm - New Comma

4:15pm - Kuiyu (performance)

4:30pm - Goran Hielscher - Creative wellbeing workshop

5:30pm - Performance

5:45pm - Cosplay workshop with Jess Atieno

6:30pm - Close

Monday 13th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Tuesday 14th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Meet the Physical Exhibitors 2pm- 4.30pm

Wednesday 15th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Opportunity Factory Makers meet-up 2pm-4.30pm

Thursday 16th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Digital Exhibitors Show & Tell 1.30-4.30pm

Friday 17th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Design Students Association Exhibit at UoN Towers

Saturday 18th

Exhibition Open 10am - 4.30pm

Sunday 19th

10am-4.30pm : Closing Day - Your last chance to see all the exhibits in place, and the return of some of the vendors from the opening weekend.

3pm : Presenting the Design Intelligence Awards, including finalists from 2022.

Nairobi Space Station: Kanairo 2299 Launch Reception

Sunday, March 19, 2023
1:00 PM  5:00 PM

Join us at McMillan Memorial Library on March 19th at 1pm for the official launch date of the Nairobi Space Station: A Wild Future Initiative. This Is An Immersive Storytelling Event Set In the Year 2299 in a Rewilded Nairobi that has become its own wild future, city state.

Kairos Futura will be awarding a 10,000 KSH for the best wild future costume.

Tracing the Wild

"Tracing the Wild" is a new data-story sculpture that visualizes lion and other predator data from Kenya Wildlife Trust as an interactive artwork created by Sovereign Nature Initiative in collaboration with artists, designers and story gatherers.

More information about the project here

50+ PHYSICAL EXHIBITORS

Our open call invited designers to apply for a space provided by Nairobi Design and Opportunity Factory.

50+ DIGITAL EXHIBITORS

Digital exhibitors showcased in high resolution on TCL displays.

30+ VENDORS

Two alleyways to explore and shop on 11th, 12th & 19th. Those invited to sell their mostly Kenyan made products, this year without a fee. Food and drinks also available.

New Comma x Nairobi Design

We've partnered with New Comma, a platform with over 2000 young, African creatives with an open call that curated digital works from Kenya and beyond.

Workshops with Makers

Co-create a rug with Africa Collect Textiles

Enn Ceramics pottery workshops

Dragonfly Screen printing masterclass

Making fashion and wellbeing - Free Mind Sessions & Safia Abji (All Day).

The Art Club

Goethe Institute partnerships

Kibera Fashion Week

More Melano or Less? By Wakianda and Emmaus Kimani.

Electric Buses from Karen Stage

Meet by the City Clock opposite Crossroads Mall. Bus will loop and run every 30 mins. In partnership with BasiGo.

Design Intelligence Awards

This year we'll be highlighting successful applicants from the 2022 edition of the Design Intelligence Awards. We also invite applications for the 2023 edition.