Connecting people through art 

Cyrus Kabiru

The end of black mamba

Cyrus Kabiru is a self-taught emerging Kenyan artist, best known for his elaborate and detailed sculptural spectacles or C-Stunners, made from found objects and recycled material sourced on the streets of Nairobi.

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Nick-named Black Mamba, the bicycle has achieved iconic status as an affordable vehicle and a popular method of transport for the Kenyan population. However, as modernisation spreads through the African continent, the Black Mamba is increasingly being replaced by inexpensive Chinese manufactured scooters and motorcycles. Filmed on a flower farm near Mount Kenya, the video shows local cyclists who still use this traditional mode of transportation. This older generation praises the Black Mamba for its reliability and health benefits, claiming that the bicycle’s replacements, scooters and motorcycles, ‘bring sickness and death’. In this film, Kabiru consciously acts as the devil’s advocate, arguing that the Black Mamba will, unfortunately, be replaced and will no longer be seen on Kenyan roads. The End of the Black Mamba I, Cyrus Kabiru not only documents a social and historical occurrence, but also creates a dialogue between his own life story and childhood, and the thriving and changing African city in which he now lives.