pendent Mercy Myra performed and so did (the then upcoming, now A-listers) H_art The Band. down Kirichwa Road where they spotted a ‘Too-Let’ sign. We quickly paid for our new office and set up shop. We had a music stage and the entire Green House building was turned into a giant art space with live art cre- The first thing we did, held an event called ‘Good Riddance Chris’ in honour of the Greenhouse Manager. ation by legends like Feysal Anthony Nair, Brian Omolo and Joey Ng’ethe. (plus the new space had a garden, Greenhouse had no green spaces, this could our bitterness showing, just (We’re still in year one by the way. It’s all moving very fast, isn’t it? That’s what happens with good ideas) green paint smh) Sondeka was in its 2nd year. 2014 2015 The GreenHouse building is close to Kibera, Kenya’s largest informal settlement. Young women and girls living in Kibera often Our new space quickly became a thriving hub of finance reports. However, those were far outweighed drop out of school for a variety of reasons and activity. Music became a big part of Creatives by the benefits of having producers just down the hall. these women would eventually still need to earn a Garage and we opened an in-office recording A collective of DJ/Producers called EA Wave (Ukweli, living. One of Creatives Garage’s first programmes studio. Having a recording studio in the office did Sichangi, Hiribae, Nu Fvnk and Jinku) worked with was Sanaa Initiative. The project nurtured the have its drawbacks, no amount of soundproofing artists like Jojo Abot, Pilani Bubu, Labdi Ommes and creative talent in these women from Kibera to could make any place quiet enough for quarterly Janice Iche in our studio. The studio became a sort of provide them with access to income-generating activities that don’t put their lives in danger. This same year we started Expressions, a weekly open mic open to anyone and everyone could come showcase their skills. This event was epic and even drew talent from Mogadishu (we kid you not Fam). Unfortunately, this is the same year there was an incident at one of our events(we’ll dish the tea of this for a crate of tonic water and three bottles of gin, the good stuff). Greenhouse’s security team beat up one of our staff members and dragged him to the building’s basement. We later had to bail him out from a po- lice station. Following this, the management at Greenhouse gave Creatives Garage a 2-week eviction notice. Their rea- son? Some of our members had dreadlocks and wore ‘dirty jeans’ and thus we posed a ‘security risk’. Frustrated and angry Liz walked out the building and 50nd3k4 18 50nd3k4 19 50nd3k4 18 50nd3k4 19