Creatives Garage will host a conversation on artificial intelligence and its impact on African culture and creativity on June 24 at Nairobi Street Kitchen. The event, Unfold Conversations: AI X Culture, is the first under the organisation's new Legacy Project and will bring together artists, researchers, legal experts and cultural practitioners to address questions of cultural ownership and the future of creative work as AI systems increasingly draw from digital content.
Central to the discussion will be how traditional knowledge, languages, music, stories and other cultural expressions are protected when large AI models ingest and reproduce material without consent. The organisers said the initiative "seeks to leave behind stronger creative networks, new collaborations, cultural documentation and innovative approaches to storytelling, while creating public conversations around issues shaping the future of African creativity."
Cultural safeguarding and attribution
Panelists will examine what happens when cultural material is reused, reproduced or monetised through technology. Questions around attribution, community ownership and whether AI can be developed in ways that respect cultural context will anchor the conversation. As AI-generated content becomes harder to distinguish from human-made work, the need for clear frameworks has grown urgent for creators across the continent.
Panelists bring cross-disciplinary expertise
Oyinkansola Onwuchekwa, known as KKC, is an AI and Data Science researcher focusing on ethical AI and African languages. She is also a musician and songwriter, giving her both the technical and creative lens needed for the discussion. She will be joined by intellectual property lawyer and musician Wandiri Karimi, whose work concentrates on creative rights, cultural heritage and sustainable development for African creators. Poet and curator Emmaus Kimani will contribute his experience archiving and documenting contemporary East African creative practice. Bukonola Ngobi, an urban designer and creative at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute, will explore the intersection of culture, creativity and emerging technologies.
The mix of specialisations reflects a deliberate effort to avoid single-discipline conversations about AI. As the discussion turns to how AI systems reuse cultural material, many artists are looking to understand generative techniques. Generative Art Training offers a starting point for those who create with AI.
Building on previous collaborations
The event follows the success of the 2025 UKKE collaboration and marks the launch of the Creatives Garage Legacy Project, which aims to create platforms where artists, audiences and collaborators engage with new ideas, experiment across disciplines and build sustainable creative ecosystems. By anchoring these conversations in live gatherings, the Legacy Project intends to leave behind tangible networks and documentation, not just debate.
Why this matters for creatives
For African artists, musicians and designers, the event offers a rare chance to directly shape how AI is discussed in cultural policy and practice. Concrete takeaways include understanding where existing law fails cultural creators and what technical safeguards-or community agreements-might fill the gap. For creatives navigating these shifts, resources like AI for Creatives Courses can help build the skills to work with AI while protecting cultural heritage. The discussion in Nairobi could set precedents for how African creators assert ownership over their work in the age of machine learning.
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