A quick look back on Kilele 2025.
Over 6 glorious days Kilele returned to The Mall, and delivered that ‘difficult second album’. It proved to be the step forward we hadn’t dared to imagine - a rich, vibrant, thought-provoking mix of showcases, panels, workshops and installations that truly lived up to our mantra of Kilele being ‘a space for adventurous music and culture in East Africa.
Here’s some highlights while we sift through the various strands that made up the event. We’ll be releasing content over the next months including some of the panels and presentations, radio recordings, a documentary, and more.
First up, the aftermovie is here:
Top Facts - we welcomed 2400 guests, and 87 participants from 20 countries.
50.5% of those were non-male
18 Showcase performances
14 panels and talks
12 workshops
Radio broadcasts listened to in 15 countries
Image Gallery - general impressions
Rooftop / Basscamp - sundowners, showcases and networking
Instrument Makers Lab
This year we initiated a new space for experimentation around instrument building. Safe to say this was a major highlight. Huge shout to Elektron for the support!
Special attention should be paid to the Embaire project, which saw Samuel Karugu, Basile Huguenin-Virchaux and Astrid Bin create a xylophone / synth out of skateboards. This project was supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesberg.
Panels, presentation and workshops
Showcases
There were outstanding showcaes through the week, including the opening ceremony featuring Odd Okoddo,and the return of Mzizi Ensemble amoung others
Sound Communties @Unseen
We took a break to check out some films from the community at Unseen. Some impressions here.
Want to support some of the artists you saw at Kilele? Check out this Buy Music Club list:
https://www.buymusic.club/list/kilele_summit-kilele-sounds
Calotropis Radio
What to say about our roving radio alchemists? This was a wonderful addition to Kilele, bringing not just live streams from the Summit but a new perspective on proceedings. We are thankful!
Collaborators:
The Clearing w/ Bizi Bingi, TCHNO, BYT, COSMOS / Le Guess Who?, Kibera Creative Arts (Kica), Mathare Social Justice Center, Creatives Garage, C&, The Mist, Petriole, Unseen Nairobi, and many more!
With thanks to our donors, partners and friends
Africalia - Africalia's mission is to contribute to the recognition of culture as a
key sector of development cooperation, as a vector for sustainable and
inclusive human development, and as an area where international
solidarity between communities and individuals can be expressed in a
creative and enriching way.
Pro Helvetia - the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia supports and promotes Swiss culture in Switzerland and throughout the world
Australian High Commission Nairobi - the AHC are supporting the FEMX stream of Kilele, fore-grounding non-male participation in the summit
Goethe-Institut - the Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global presence
Santuri Culture is the sister organisation of Santuri East Africa and responsible for delivering Kilele 2025.
Tech Partners
ADAM Audio - ADAM Audio was founded in March 1999 in Berlin. Since then the company has been developing, manufacturing and distributing loudspeakers in the field of Professional Audio.
Elektron - is a Swedish developer and manufacturer of musical instruments founded in 1998, as well as having its headquarters, R&D and production in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Focusrite PLC is an English music and audio products group based. The Focusrite Group trades under eight brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, ADAM Audio, Novation, Ampify Music, Optimal Audio and Sequential.
Image-Line - Makers of the legendary FL Studio, one of the most iconic peices of music software of all time.
Orchestral Tools is a forward-thinking sample library development team with offices in Berlin and Freiburg, Germany. Originally founded in 2005 by Hendrik Schwarzer, the company creates premium-quality sampled instruments that encompass both the traditional orchestra as well as modern sound design, with influences from classic film scores, contemporary orchestral music, post-punk, field recordings, and musique concréte.
Contact:
kilele@santuri.org