STORIES OF OUR LIVES | THE NEST COLLECTIVE

The Nest Collective is a multidisciplinary collective based in Nairobi, Kenya, operating since 2012. Through the projects of its member artists, the collective focuses on social and political issues.
One of the battles taken up by the collective concerns the LGBTIQA+ community living in Kenya, a minority often subjected to violent and discriminatory treatment.

Originally conceived as a documentary project, Stories of Our Lives (2014) is presented as a black and white film, and its duration is about an hour. The film narrates five different stories, in the form of five short films, inspired by real events: “Ask Me Nicely”, “Run”, “Athman”, “Duet”, and “Each Night I Dream”.
The stories told through this project address the difficulties of living and interacting in a distrustful and discriminatory society, fractured relationships, misunderstandings that break once strong bonds of friendship, but also the wonderful freedom of expressing one’s identity. Stories of Our Lives is an intimate and sincere portrayal of the Kenyan LGBTIQA+ community.

The screening of Stories of Our Lives is prohibited in Kenya, and a lot of people involved in the production have chosen to remain anonymous to avoid potential repercussions.
Despite Kenya not having the strictest policies in Africa regarding sexuality and gender identity, homosexual acts are harshly punished with up to fourteen years of detention, and discriminatory and violent actions, even by authorities, are widespread. In such contexts, it is extremely dangerous to act, although it is crucial to do so to achieve a state of civilization. In this regard, once again, it is important to recognize the significance of artistic movements involved in contemporary social battles, such as The Nest Collective.

The film Stories of Our Lives created by The Nest Collective is now projected at the exhibition Stories of Our Lives: in Search of Queer Sanctuaries, at the EMST Museum in Athens until March 3, 2024.

The Nest Collective
Each Night I Dream, part of the film Stories of Our Lives, 2014
Film still, single-channel video, colour, sound, 1 h
© Courtesy of The Nest Collective

13/01/2024