The Skin of Memory

The African Art Trust and Kairos Futura announce The Skin of Memory, an exhibition of large-scale woodcut prints by Nairobi-based artist Abdul Rop, opening on Friday, March 13, 2026.

The exhibition presents a series of prints drawn from the history of the Nandi Resistance to British colonial rule (1890–1906). As a descendant of the Nandi people of Western Kenya, Rop turns to this history both as personal inheritance and as a lens through which to examine colonialism's lasting mark on communities, land, and identity.

At the center of the series is the story of Orkoiyot Koitalel Arap Samoei — the spiritual and military leader of the Nandi people — who led more than a decade of resistance against British expansion and the construction of the Uganda Railway through Nandi territory. The railway, which the Nandi called the "Iron Snake," fulfilled an earlier prophecy attributed to Samoei's father, Kimnyole arap Turukat, who had foretold a great black serpent crossing the land. In October 1905, Samoei was killed by British Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen during a peace meeting. His skull was taken to London, where it remains. The resistance ended shortly after.

Rop’s intricate prints serve as a form of archaeology. By excavating these histories, he reveals the imprint left on the "skin" of the nation and its people. The scale of the prints asks viewers to reckon with these events at close range, tracing the connections between colonial administration, dispossession, and the communities that endured both.

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Host or Publisher Kairos Futura