Welcome to Tafaria Center for the Arts


We transform through the ARTs

The center is a multidisciplinary center for the Arts in Kenya incorporating accommodation for creatives, visual arts, fashion, photography and beauty studios, art galleries, music & film recording & post production studios, software design studios, metal, wood, pottery and glass workshops, conference rooms with video facilities, an auditorium, a culinary studio with a canteen and a wide range of recreational activities plus a country lodge.

Art Residencies

The Visual Art Residency


We offer art residencies for those in the creative industry including visual, performing artists, creative writers, designers etc. The art residency programme is ideal for creative practitioners in need of a period of concentrated and collaborative work leading to an exhibition/installation, which is accessible to our guests and or the local community.

The residency programme is either fully sponsored by the Tafaria Foundation (see terms below) or self-sponsored. Both options are similar but those on self sponsorship do not receive per diem, materials support (other than the materials available at our workshop and around the community) and accommodation.

Residency application is also open to poets, writers and playwrights, designers etc who need periods of time when they can isolate themselves from their lives to simply write/ideate.

Culinary Arts Residency


Tafaria provides a professional kitchen space to culinary artists and emerging chefs in an environment that is conducive for culinary art creativity, working on new ideas and exploring this region of Kenya’s food-scape off the sprawling small-scale farms within the community.

This program is designed to assist chefs during an integral stage of their career; to establish themselves in the culinary world, to infuse a mid-career turning point with new energy and fresh perspective, or as an accomplished chef in need of sabbatical.  The chefs in residence must showcase their productions at the Castle’s restaurant or to the locals at the open-air roman type amphitheater. 

Those applying for this residency must have a strong interest in creative food use and cooking, strong knowledge of food preparation and preservation techniques and good communication skills. A food handler’s certificate is mandatory at application.

The Performing Arts, Music or Film Producer’s Residency


This programme designed for those who need to get away to this secluded location to ideate, film, post-produce and showcase their work to the local community before further distribution. Those under this programme carry their own equipment and also have access to Tafaria recording studio and edit suite. It is mandatory that works produced must be showcased to the local community at the Amphitheatre at the end of the residency.

Main Facilities


The Centre has a restaurant, a country lodge, an open-air Roman type amphitheater, a gallery, art studios, sound recording studio with an edit suite, woodwork and metalwork workshops and artists quarters of residence. Self-sponsored artists may choose to stay the country lodge.

Tafaria sponsored or self-sponsored Residency


The residency programme is either fully sponsored by the Tafaria Foundation or self-sponsored. Both options are similar but those on self-sponsorship do not receive per diem, materials support and pay for meals and accommodation. Further, self-sponsored residencies do not have to conform to our application criteria. One may apply for a residency of one week to one months (which can be extended to two months).

Exhibitions


Exhibitions by artists in residence at Tafaria run throughout the year at the end of each residency. These are done at either our Centre for the Arts gallery or inside the amphitheater (incase of performing artists) or the Castle compound or within the community or at the restaurant incase of culinary artists.

Collectors Hub


The Collectors Hub provides collectors across with a public outlet for their collections. If you are a collector looking for an outlet for your work, either for sale, temporary or permanently exhibition, connect with us and let your collections inspire the world here.

Upcoming Event


All residencies and Exhibitions are currently on hold due to COVID-19. We hope to kick off again soon.