Mizizi (meaning “roots” in swahili) is an interdisciplinary artist collective transforming sounds, movement, visuals and technology into visceral, site-driven performances. The collective embodies Kilele’s core values of collaboration and exchange through artistic practice and was founded in tandem with the inaugural edition of Kilele in 2024 and as part of the artistic research project “Études for Live Electronics”

This video is the full performance from 2025 - “Resistance" - a site-specific piece inspired by last year’s demonstrations in Kenya - a leaderless, youth-powered revolt against the government fueled by frustration from rising costs of living, more taxes, and repressive policing. It was commissioned for Kilele Summit 2025 and performed at MUNYU Art Gallery in Nairobi.

Drawing on a wide artistic vocabulary – from contemporary dance and club music to bespoke instrument design, live-coding, classical music, film scoring and traditional Kenyan music – Mizizi has established a practice built on trust, curiosity and freedom to experiment without fear of failure. Their work emerges from collaborative processes where individual voices collide and get amplified through the collective, absorbing both the political and cultural charge and physical properties of the performance space.

“Études for Live Electronics” is an artistic research project led by Alex Hofmann, which ran from 2022 through 2025 and had a foundational role in establishing both Kilele and Mizizi. The project was funded in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/AR743].