Willie Oeba has been advocating for civil and political rights, women’s rights, and disability rights for over a decade. He does this by using a combination of irony, metaphors, and honest observations of life in Kenya. Willie regularly performs his spoken-word pieces on public buses in order to spread his message as widely as possible.

He has been involved in the creation of a youth community-based organization, as well as in the mentorship and training of younger artists, with the goal of fighting inequality. Through live performances, (online) advocacy work, and involvement with youth, Willie’s goal is to inspire younger generations and work with them to spread a message of hope, to keep using art to advocate for human rights, and bring about social justice.

Oeba organized an event that featured some of the artists that he encountered in the months of his residency with Justice & Peace, as well as space for an open mic for local spoken word artists.

Photos by Justine Ellul.

The line-up consisted of  Willie Oeba, Nedra van de Reep, RVILLA, MC Mo, Keys Collective, PAPUNA, Sarah Atzori de Bruin.

For the residency of Willie Oeba Justice & Peace and The Grey Space joined forces. Justice & Peace works to build and empower local communities of changemakers who collaborate to create just, sustainable, and welcoming societies. Willie took part in the Artists Safe Haven initiative by Justice & Peace, a programme designed for artists whose work centres on human rights.

House Guests is a program in which The Grey Space invites transdisciplinary makers who actively seek collaborations with other knowledge domains and are willing to share their artistic process and test a prototype of a project with an audience. The program facilitates the interaction between a work, the space and the audience, often operating in between a black box and white cube. Each House Guest has a week-long mini-residency, culminating in a public event.

The House Guest residency program is supported by the Municipality of The Hague and Creative Fund NL