19/01/2026
On 6 December 2025, Kiamaiko in Mathare came alive with music, drama, poetry, dance, rap, and puppetry — not just for entertainment, but to speak truth about climate justice.
The 2nd Edition of the Climate Justice Arts Festival was held right where the climate crisis hits hardest. In our homes and streets, we live with floods after every heavy rain, unbearable heat, poor waste management, food and water shortages, and growing health risks. For women, children, and youth in informal settlements, these challenges are daily realities, not future threats.
That is why this festival mattered.
Before the main event, artists from Mathare came together for a climate justice capacity-building workshop, learning about climate change, rights, accountability, Kenya’s climate commitments, and how art can be used as a tool for advocacy and social change. They went back to their spaces to create powerful messages rooted in lived experience.
On festival day, over 60 artists from 10 creative groups took over a public space near Ndururuno Secondary School. Through spoken word, drama, traditional and modern dance, music, rap, and puppetry, they told stories of flooding homes, blocked drainage, waste-filled rivers, heat stress, and resilience but also stories of hope, resistance, and community solutions.
More than 250 community members, including youth, women, children, artists, and local leaders, gathered to listen, reflect, and dialogue. Together, we called for:
• Investment in locally driven climate adaptation in informal settlements
• Better waste management, drainage, and climate-resilient infrastructure
• Recognition of informal settlement residents as rights holders, not victims
• Inclusive climate finance that reaches grassroots artists and community initiatives
• Recognition of arts and culture as powerful tools for climate education and accountability
This festival reminded us that climate justice is not just about policies — it is about people, voices, and lived realities. When communities speak through art, the message is impossible to ignore.
We appreciate the support of AFRICALIAA – Belgium, whose partnership with us Kenya Institute of Puppet Theatre made this community-led climate justice platform possible.
As we look ahead, continued support will help us reach more communities, strengthen artists’ voices, and build people-powered climate action from the ground up.
Climate justice begins where people live.
Art helps us speak.
Community leads the way.
Peter Peter Pinches Daniel Otieno Phylemon Odhiambo Okoth Swift Oyombe