Meet Jim
Biography + CV
Jim Chuchu
Jim Chuchu is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans music, film, photography, and the visual arts. Chuchu's artistic journey is marked by the exploration of identity, culture, and the complexities of the African experience.
Chuchu briefly worked in advertising and as a graphic designer before devoting himself full-time to his diverse creative pursuits, starting with co-founding the alternative music group Just a Band in 2003. His role there encompassed singer-songwriter duties as well as the overall graphic design for the band, music production, and co-directing music videos, including the viral hit Ha-He! featuring the fictional character Makmende.
In 2012, the band went into hiatus, and Chuchu co-founded The Nest Collective, serving as co-director until 2021. This period saw the creation of much of his filmography. One such pivotal moment in Chuchu's artistic evolution came with the creation of the anthology feature film Stories of Our Lives (2014) as part of the collective, a project that forced him to confront both personal and political realities. This award-winning film, which earned the Berlinale Teddy Jury Prize, not only led to Chuchu's public coming out but also deepened his engagement with the intersections of race, sexuality, and history. Despite being banned in Kenya for 'promoting homosexuality', the film was warmly received by critics and has screened in more than 90 countries.
Chuchu briefly worked in advertising and as a graphic designer before devoting himself full-time to his diverse creative pursuits, starting with co-founding the alternative music group Just a Band in 2003. His role there encompassed singer-songwriter duties as well as the overall graphic design for the band, music production, and co-directing music videos, including the viral hit Ha-He! featuring the fictional character Makmende.
In 2012, the band went into hiatus, and Chuchu co-founded The Nest Collective, serving as co-director until 2021. This period saw the creation of much of his filmography. One such pivotal moment in Chuchu's artistic evolution came with the creation of the anthology feature film Stories of Our Lives (2014) as part of the collective, a project that forced him to confront both personal and political realities. This award-winning film, which earned the Berlinale Teddy Jury Prize, not only led to Chuchu's public coming out but also deepened his engagement with the intersections of race, sexuality, and history. Despite being banned in Kenya for 'promoting homosexuality', the film was warmly received by critics and has screened in more than 90 countries.
In 2018, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art acquired and exhibited his video works Invocation: The Severance of Ties and Invocation: Release (both 2015), deeply personal pieces exploring self-definition and transformation through ritualistic imagery.
Concurrently, he co-founded HEVA in 2015, a fund investing in East Africa's creative economy, which has since invested more than $3 million in creative businesses.
Chuchu's involvement with the International Inventories Programme (2018-2021) marked another transformative phase in his career. This project, exploring the presence of Kenyan cultural objects in global institutions, led to a deepening of his understanding of the historical injustices that form part of Kenya’s colonial history, and the ongoing systemic challenges faced by Black individuals globally. The project catalogued an inventory of more than 32,000 objects and engaged various publics on urgent debates about object movement and colonial history. His work on this project culminated in his selection as a TED Fellow in 2021, where he delivered the talk: Why are stolen African artefacts still in Western museums?
In 2021, Chuchu transitioned from his roles at the Nest Collective and HEVA to focus on his personal practice. This period saw him returning to music with Just a Band, reimagining a sampling of the band's earlier work with the release of Save My Soul (Who Will Remain?) in 2022, and If I Could in 2023.
In 2024, he expanded his musical repertoire further by composing for the Netflix documentary Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, a light-hearted exploration of eating, gut health, and the microbiome. The documentary resonated with global audiences, reaching the top 10 in 42 countries upon its release.
Chuchu's current projects reflect his continued exploration of diverse mediums and themes. He currently serves as Creative Director for African in the Anthropocene, a multimedia project examining how communities across Africa experience and respond to climate change. He is also co-producing Fight for Food, a documentary exploring food production in Kenya, while developing new experimental design work and his second feature film project.
Concurrently, he co-founded HEVA in 2015, a fund investing in East Africa's creative economy, which has since invested more than $3 million in creative businesses.
Chuchu's involvement with the International Inventories Programme (2018-2021) marked another transformative phase in his career. This project, exploring the presence of Kenyan cultural objects in global institutions, led to a deepening of his understanding of the historical injustices that form part of Kenya’s colonial history, and the ongoing systemic challenges faced by Black individuals globally. The project catalogued an inventory of more than 32,000 objects and engaged various publics on urgent debates about object movement and colonial history. His work on this project culminated in his selection as a TED Fellow in 2021, where he delivered the talk: Why are stolen African artefacts still in Western museums?
In 2021, Chuchu transitioned from his roles at the Nest Collective and HEVA to focus on his personal practice. This period saw him returning to music with Just a Band, reimagining a sampling of the band's earlier work with the release of Save My Soul (Who Will Remain?) in 2022, and If I Could in 2023.
In 2024, he expanded his musical repertoire further by composing for the Netflix documentary Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, a light-hearted exploration of eating, gut health, and the microbiome. The documentary resonated with global audiences, reaching the top 10 in 42 countries upon its release.
Chuchu's current projects reflect his continued exploration of diverse mediums and themes. He currently serves as Creative Director for African in the Anthropocene, a multimedia project examining how communities across Africa experience and respond to climate change. He is also co-producing Fight for Food, a documentary exploring food production in Kenya, while developing new experimental design work and his second feature film project.
1982, born in Nairobi, Kenya
2006, BSc. Communication and Information Technology, Edith Cowan University
Lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya
Selected Funding and Commissions
Performa 17 Biennial, 2017, We Need Prayers: This One Went to Market
Electric South, 2017, virtual reality film production
Hubert Bals Fund, 2020, film production
Prince Claus Fund (2018-2021), Next Generation Programme, institutional grant for the Nest Collective
Documenta 15, 2022, commission of presentation by The Nest Collective
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2023, Committee Member, African Museology International Exchange
International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2018,
Jury member, Ammodo Tiger Short Film competition
Prince Claus Fund, 2021, Jury member, Seed Awards
Het Nieuwe Institut, 2020, Jury member, Regeneration: Open Call for New Institutions
Goethe Institut (SA)/ Big World Cinema, 2012, commission of film production for African Metropolis / Homecoming
Awards and Honours
Jury Prize, Berlinale Teddy Awards for "Stories of Our Lives, 2015
TED Fellow, 2021
Best Original Music, Berlin Fashion Film Festival, 2015
Best Documentary Pitch, Global Pitch 2023
Winner, Film Africa Audience Award
Winner, Special Programming Award for Freedom, Outfest LA
Apollo 40 Under 40, African Artists, 2019
Winner, Jury Award, Hamburg Queer Film Festival
Selected Discography
2024 - Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, original score composition, Netflix
2023 - "ech0: dawn", EP (Just a Band)
2022 - "Save My Soul (Who Will Remain?)", single (Just a Band)
2018 - "Sweet and Sawa", studio album (The Nest Collective)
2015 - "To Catch a Dream", original soundtrack
2014 - "Stories of Our Lives", original soundtrack
2013 - "The Nest presents: Legacy", compilation album (The Nest Collective)
2012 - "Sorry for the Delay", studio album (Just a Band)
2009 - "82", studio album (Just a Band)
2008 - "Scratch to Reveal", studio album (Just a Band)
2006, BSc. Communication and Information Technology, Edith Cowan University
Lives and works in Nairobi, Kenya
Selected Funding and Commissions
Performa 17 Biennial, 2017, We Need Prayers: This One Went to Market
Electric South, 2017, virtual reality film production
Hubert Bals Fund, 2020, film production
Prince Claus Fund (2018-2021), Next Generation Programme, institutional grant for the Nest Collective
Documenta 15, 2022, commission of presentation by The Nest Collective
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 2023, Committee Member, African Museology International Exchange
International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2018,
Jury member, Ammodo Tiger Short Film competition
Prince Claus Fund, 2021, Jury member, Seed Awards
Het Nieuwe Institut, 2020, Jury member, Regeneration: Open Call for New Institutions
Goethe Institut (SA)/ Big World Cinema, 2012, commission of film production for African Metropolis / Homecoming
Awards and Honours
Jury Prize, Berlinale Teddy Awards for "Stories of Our Lives, 2015
TED Fellow, 2021
Best Original Music, Berlin Fashion Film Festival, 2015
Best Documentary Pitch, Global Pitch 2023
Winner, Film Africa Audience Award
Winner, Special Programming Award for Freedom, Outfest LA
Apollo 40 Under 40, African Artists, 2019
Winner, Jury Award, Hamburg Queer Film Festival
Selected Discography
2024 - Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut, original score composition, Netflix
2023 - "ech0: dawn", EP (Just a Band)
2022 - "Save My Soul (Who Will Remain?)", single (Just a Band)
2018 - "Sweet and Sawa", studio album (The Nest Collective)
2015 - "To Catch a Dream", original soundtrack
2014 - "Stories of Our Lives", original soundtrack
2013 - "The Nest presents: Legacy", compilation album (The Nest Collective)
2012 - "Sorry for the Delay", studio album (Just a Band)
2009 - "82", studio album (Just a Band)
2008 - "Scratch to Reveal", studio album (Just a Band)
Selected Filmography
2020 - “Tapi!”, speculative documentary short
2018 - We Need Prayers, web series
2017 - Let This Be A Warning, VR short film
2016 - Tuko Macho, interactive web series
2015 - To Catch A Dream, short fashion film
2014 - Stories of Our Lives, anthology feature film
2013 - Homecoming, short film as part of the African Metropolis project.
Selected Screenings
Toronto International Film Festival
Rotterdam International Film Festival
The 65th Berlin International Film Festival
Oberhausen International Short Film Festival
World VR Forum Festival
Encounters Film Festival London
Performa 17 Biennale
Tribeca Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival
Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Chale Wote Street Art Festival, Ghana
CPH Pix
BFI Flare
MoMA Documentary Fortnight Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Locarno Film Festival
Durban International Film Festival
World VR Forum Festival Geneva
Selected Publications
Phaidon, 2020, Art and Queer Culture, second edition
Journal Der Kunste, 2021, When the Empire Gets Weary, the Objects May Return
Iwalewa Haus, 2021, Invisible Inventories: Questioning Kenyan Collections in Western Museums
Africa Rising: Fashion, Design and Lifestyle from Africa, 2016
Inspiration im Wechselstrom, Art Investor, Volume 5, 2014. pp 88 - 89
Goethe Institut(SA)/Kerber Culture, 2016, African Futures: Thinking about the Future in Word and Image
The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2019
Kenyan, Christian, Queer: Religion, LGBT Activism and Arts of Resistance in Africa
Goethe Institut, 2016, Just a Book, Just a Band retrospective, Contact Zones
Vitra Design Museum, 2015, Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design
The Nest Collective, 2018/2020, Stories of Our Lives: Queer Narratives from Kenya, 1st and 2nd editions
The Nest Collective, 2017, Not African Enough
Solo Exhibitions and Presentations
Jim Chuchu's Invocations, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
The Bones Remember, FNB Joburg Art Fair, South Africa
Pagans, Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Seattle
Selected Group Exhibitions
Performa 17 Biennial
Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, Vitra Design Museum
Fashion Film in Africa, Guggenheim Bilbao
Fashion Cities Africa, Royal Pavilion and Museums Brighton and Hove
The Bones Remember, FNB Joburg Art Fair
Africa Utopia, Southbank Centre
Design Indaba
Another Antipodes/Urban Axis, Perth, Australia
Black Fantasia, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark
1:54 NY: Contemporary African Art Fair, Pioneer Works Center for Art + Innovation, New York
Precarious Imaging: Visibility and Media surrounding African Queerness, DAK’ART, 2014, RAW Material Company
Selected Talks
TheMuseumsLab, 2024, On Difficult Conversations
TEDMonterey, 2021, TED talk: “Why are stolen African artefacts still in Western museums?”
TheMuseumsLab, 2022, Visual Arts and the African Museum
Zeitze Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA), 2021, Head to Head with Jim Chuchu
Talking Objects Lab, 2021, Unexpected Lessons, Imagining an Archive for Decolonial Knowledge
Apollo Magazine, 2021, How has historic art influenced and shaped the ways contemporary art is made and viewed?
Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD), University of Johannesburg, 2021, So Much Africa, So Few African Photographers, Reading the Moment series
Goethe-Institut (SA), 2020, Speculative Futures, African Mobilities volume 3
International Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, 2020, Queerness, Feminism and Desire