Nairobi’s urban landscape is rapidly transforming, with rising inequalities in access to space, culture, and creative opportunity – particularly among youth and informal communities. In this shifting environment, “The Mall” in Westlands has become an exceptional example of grassroots cultural regeneration.
Once Kenya's first shopping mall, The Mall has organically evolved into a unique cultural microcosm: no longer a commercial hub in the traditional sense, but now a creative home to a constellation of artists, creative technologists, musicians, skaters, and cultural organisations.
The project Frequency Shift builds on this momentum by responding to both opportunity and need. It recognises that creative communities have already claimed this space, fostering a self-organized ecosystem driven by freedom of expression, collaboration, shared resources and experimentation. However, these informal cultural systems often lack structural support, documentation, and (international) recognition. The project addresses these gaps directly by formalizing and amplifying existing cultural and technical infrastructures through radio, immersive technology, mentorship and artistic exchange.
Amplifying local voices for a future-facing creative eco-system
Frequency Shift is a bold, community-driven initiative to activate a multimedia cultural radio studio that amplifies local voices, bridges cultural divides, and prototypes a future-facing creative ecosystem. Once a conventional shopping complex, The Mall in Westlands is now pulsing with Nairobi´s grassroots cultural revolution. Within its corridors thrive a future-oriented music lab, an eclectic creative hub, a boundary-pushing XR studio, and a skating community that turns concrete into poetry. At its heart, the project will develop a public-facing radio platform for storytelling, dialogue, DJ-sets, and innovative creativity which is complemented by immersive media, live performances and artist residencies.
By fostering community-led content creation, media training, and cultural entrepreneurship, the project puts local actors at the centre, enhancing ownership, sustainability, and grassroots engagement. Drawing on the extensive expertise of Santuri East Africa, Creatives Garage, BlackRhino VR, and in collaboration with Calotropis Radio as well as European partners such as the Independent Community Radio Network, the project facilitates transcontinental exchange through co-produced broadcasts, shared workshops, and artist residencies. It promotes mutual learning between African and European creatives by activating a public space as a site for shared storytelling, co-creation, digital innovation and long-term cross-cultural collaboration.
Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 4, Quality Education: Frequency Shift empowers youth and emerging creatives through non-formal education formats such as media production training, podcast, broadcast and immersive storytelling workshops as well as artist residencies. These opportunities promote lifelong learning and skills development in digital literacy, cultural entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies. The project's outputs, including a digital archive and radio broadcasts, will also serve as open-access educational resources beyond the project duration.
- SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities: By revitalising The Mall as a community-led cultural hub, the project transforms underutilised urban infrastructure into a shared, inclusive public space. It fosters civic participation, supports cultural diversity, and promotes creative placemaking in the heart of Nairobi. As a visible, accessible platform, the community radio invites broad public engagement, particularly from youth and underrepresented communities. This aligns with the goal of making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
- SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals: The collaboration between Kenyan and European partners, including local cultural organisations, international institutions, and the ICRN, reflects a strong model for international cooperation. This partnership structure emphasises co-creation, mutual learning, and shared ownership of cultural outcomes. It fosters long-term relationships between creatives, institutions, and communities across continents and establishes infrastructure (e.g. radio studio and digital archive) that support future collaboration well beyond the project's scope.
Additionally, the project contributes indirectly to SDG 13, Climate Action through its environmentally conscious implementation. The reuse of existing infrastructure, energy-efficient technology, and thematic programming around sustainability focused cultural dialogue further contribute to the goal.
