Filming in Kibera, Nairobi: The language of art

Consider the colours and flair!

So we filmed in the Kibera informal settlement on Nairobi’s southern edge. It used to be termed a slum(some quarters still do). But that is a label set aside.

Whether you call it Kibera or Kibra, this settlement of 12 villages is one of the most photographed places on the continent.

This will sound terrible, but for a place struggling with poverty and other socioeconomic issues, many photographers have returned home with stunning photography.

Here’s why: First, it’s the people going about their daily lives. What a community you will find there. Secondly, it’s that blend of corrugated-iron rooftops stretches to the horizon. Some sheets are bright from the hardware shop, others sun-bleached to amber, and a few wear the deep russet of years gone by. Between them, mud-walled homes lean into narrow lanes where clotheslines flutter like prayer flags, food vendors sizzle samosas, and hand-painted shop signs compete with murals for your attention. It’s chaotic, crowded, and when you see it through a lens, it’s utterly captivating. I know. How terrible and what a dilemma!

Kibera covers barely 2.5 square kilometres. But there are no reliable figures to tell you the population. Some reports have quoted one million, others half of that, but the extraordinarily high figures you may have heard have been legitimised by politicians, charity organisations and the media. This 2011 journal article did some research on the population, which I thought was interesting.

It’s a rainy Sunday, and railroad takes us home.

But when you visit Kibera, for sure, you’ll notice how densely populated this buzzing settlement is.

A quick history class: The British government settled the Nubians on a land just outside a forest called Ngong in the early 1900s. For context, the settled Nubians were former Sudanese soldiers who had served in the King’s African Rifles, which was obviously brought in for colonial reasons at the time. Anyway, that’s where the name Kibra comes from. The first settlers called the area Kibra, as in ‘the Forest’. But over the years, the settlement has welcomed more people from different rural areas of Kenya. When you drive from the Southern bypass of Nairobi down the hill, the view of Kibera contrasts with the backdrop of the high-rise buildings and the developed Upperhill area of Nairobi. Nowadays, Kibera is surrounded by the richest areas of Nairobi, and it is also close to some thriving industrial areas. These two areas provide job opportunities for some of the residents.

Not a good day for laundry

It was rainy Sunday , and had to shelter to wait, just as these hanged clothes, would have to wait another day.

As you’d guess, with a rising population, space is tight, resources are tighter; water, sanitation, and healthcare are daily challenges. But look closer and you’ll see a restless ambition. Like anyone else, people here want to thrive. We were just one of the many film crews that have visited the area, embarrassing to say. But yes, they want to thrive, they want to run businesses, have their children go to school, have decent housing. They want to change the stories of their families. Jim, our fixer, grew up here. Now a filmmaker and photographer, he’s raising his own young family and shooting stories that reshape the narrative of his neighbourhood.

The project paired me with Giobbe, a warm Italian author-comedian, for a Warner Bros assignment with Disney+, for a children's series in Italy. I speak no Italian; Giobbe’s Swahili is a gracious “Jambo.” The first interview felt like a mime. Frustrating in the beginning. Yet as we made our retakes, poring over the script, something happened: cadence, gesture, and intention bridged the gap. We volleyed questions and answers in unfamiliar syllables, trying to understand each other by rhythm alone. You start to ‘understand’ a foreign language. So, believe it or not, we kept bouncing off answers, almost on the nose, in languages we had no idea about. We filmed.

Art, it turns out, speaks every language. You just have to really pay attention and plan for it.

Rain arrived during the Sunday filming. Perfect light and day for “Sunday best” portraits. Steve Kagia, brilliant behind the camera, froze puddle reflections and umbrella parades, capturing the church rush, hustle, and defiantly bright spirit that lives beyond the clichéd blanket of poverty.

We present to you, A Sunday Series:

All photos are Copyright Steve Kagia