We invite you to submit your proposals for the next edition of Kilele taking place at The Mall in Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya between 23rd and 27th of February 2027.
The application deadline is 23:45 EAT on 23rd of August
Each year we have a theme that we ask our community to engage with. This year it's Common Grounds - read more about this years theme here. We are asking the community to think around topics of collective ownership and collaboration, drawn from the idea that certain things - including ideas, knowledge, culture, art etc - should be accessible for everyone. Implicit in this is a rejection of established structures, corporate practices, and polarising politics. Please spend some time considering how your project may contribute to or react to this theme.
We invite submissions in the following categories:
While open to everyone, we particularly wish to encourage submissions from artists, professionals and academics who are women, queer, or gender diverse, young/emerging, historically marginalized, or have a disability. We suggest subscribing to our Substack to always stay up to date on latest announcements and join our Discord channel to engage with the Kilele community.
Head over to our application portal and fill out the submission form for the 2027 open call: https://cms.kilelesummit.org/apply/open-call-2027
Proposals will be reviewed by the Kilele Programming Committee consisting of Nyokabi Kariũki, [Monrhea], David Tinning, Tela Wangeci, Maria Bauer and Bernt Isak Wærstad. Selection will be based on:
Relevance to the festival theme
Each year, the committee festival announces several topics that serve as impulses throughout the week. Which theme(s) does your proposal speak to? How are you bringing new, interesting, or challenging perspectives to these themes?
Artistic and/or conceptual quality
Whether you are sharing completed work, works-in-progress, or new ideas, we look for proposals that are thorough in their research and presentation and that reflect professional standards.
Feasibility within the festival context
Kilele is run by a small team of volunteers, and there may be limitations to what we can provide or accommodate. If your project is out of our capacity, we may reach out and ask if you are willing to amend it, or we may have to decline based on what is possible.
Diversity of perspectives and formats
The festival wants to reflect the diverse nature of Nairobi, Kenya and East Africa. We encourage submissions from artists and scholars who are women, queer, or gender diverse, are First Nations people, young/emerging, historically marginalised, or have a disability
Available funding
Budgets at Kilele are extremely tight, and made up from a variety of sources that include institutional project funding, donations, and ticket sales / revenue. Projects that have their own funding for fees, production and travel costs stand a higher chance of success should the other criteria above be fulfilled.
Contributors must ensure they have the rights to present the submitted work.
Selected participants may be asked to adapt their proposal to fit the program schedule or venue constraints.
Travel, accommodation and fees are not covered for international submissions, but we will do our best to support individual funding applications by providing letters of invitation and in-kind support where possible/applicable. This may include studio / rehearsal space or collaborative opportunities. We are open to suggestions and remain flexible for joint projects or funding submissions - please reach out at david@kilelesummit.org
We aim to provide some limited financial support for accepted local submissions, but this is subject to the overall funding situation for the festival and we can not guarantee a fee on time of application.
Documentation of the event (including but not limited to: video, audio, and photography) may be used by the organizers for archival and promotional purposes.
Although we recognise the power and potential of AI in terms of organising thoughts - please don't rely on large language models (like ChatGPT) to write your proposal. We are more interested in the human behind the proposal, and will filter out AI proposals in the first round of reviews.
