Syowia Kyambi

Syowia Kyambi is a Kenyan-German interdisciplinary contemporary artist and visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg since November 2023. Her academic role is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts' Top Professorship Programme (SPP). She holds an MFA from Transart Institute (2020) and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2002).

• Professor for Fine Arts focusing on interlocutory agency
• Co-director of the MFA program at Transart Institute (2023–ongoing)
• Co-founder of Untethered Magic, a residency program promoting sustainability and artistic autonomy

Her research interests center on colonial legacies, gender, race, and memory. She employs performance, sculpture, photography, and video to interrogate historical narratives and societal constructs. Major exhibitions include KASPALE (2023), Matter As Actor (2023), and Exercise in Conversation at the Venice Biennale (2022). Awards include the FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Award (2016) and UNESCO Prize for the Arts (2004).

Teaching roles include mentoring at the University of the Arts Helsinki and leading workshops on art education. Her publications span exhibition catalogues and critical essays, exploring themes like borderless futures and decolonial art practices.