GoDown Arts Centre Refurbishment Begins -

It has been home to an ever growing and freshening breed of visual and performing artists since it’s 2003 inception and is now set to receive a much needed revamp.

On Thursday 16th December 2022, a small intimate reception was held at the GoDown’s original location for people whose careers had been shaped and catapulted here. It gave them an opportunity to interact with a place they had called home one more time before construction commences in earnest.

While there, artists reminisced the connections, collaborations and conversations they had had at the GoDown over the years.

I had a conversation with MK Mbugua who is leading the team behind the GoDown’s revamp, and this is what he had to say.

“GoDown is changing because the artists have said they need more space. The old GoDown was big in that it had a lot of space, but even that space was outgrown by the sector. The visual artists needed more studios, the dancers needed more space, we needed a bigger theatre facility… So it was a natural evolution of the GoDown as an institution.”

MK Mbugua continued “By the time they were celebrating 10 years in 2013, we already knew we had outgrown this space. We needed to plan for a bigger space. The discussions about the transformation started way back in 2010. Proper design with Architects and Engineers started in 2015.”

“Construction was to start in 2020. Unfortunately because of Covid we had to postpone. The other thing that is dependent on when we can finish is the fundraising. So again because of Covid we postponed fundraising because we had other immediate priorities. But now that things are getting back to a new normal we are able to now start the construction, and as you can see we have started the demolition.”

“According to our schedule, if we can raise the funds we can occupy this building by December 2023. It may not be a finished building but there will be a few spaces that the GoDown office can move back here and we can start programs in full.”

A Milestone for Kenya’s Creative Economy

According to Joy Mboya, the Executive Director of the GoDown Arts Centre, nothing of this kind and at this level has been done in Kenya. “It’s sort of one of the first opportunities and efforts to try and build a new cultural space at this level. Historically, it is a game changer.”

“As a sector, and as a country, or even as a county, we haven’t looked at the infrastructure for the creative economy as things we need to create as well. So you find the creative economy actors have sort of inhabited spaces that they can find. A warehouse in the case of the GoDown. You see other people in bungalows, other people in flats, other people working with containers. I mean all these are kind of cool and interesting, and they work. But in the long run, I think that in order for a country or a county to begin to really show itself, it will show itself through those cultural institutions. That hasn’t been done yet and I think this is also significant because of that.”