Profile
Rahiem Shadad is a curator and gallerist based in Kenya. He focuses on fostering cultural dialogue to combat hate speech, racism, and segregation. Through organising exhibitions, talks, and advocacy programmes across six countries, he supports displaced individuals. Rahiem’s work explores polarisation and social cohesion in communities deeply divided by hate speech resulting from conflict.
Rahiem directed the Downtown Gallery, which he co-founded in 2019, and served as assistant curator at the Regional French Institute in Sudan. Since 2015, he has collaborated with over 60 artists, organising exhibitions that highlight generational dynamics and the contrasts of political contexts throughout history. Rahiem has also participated in campaigns engaging internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan. After the 2023 Sudan war, he lost the Downtown Gallery and relocated to Kenya. His latest project is "The Rest Residency" in Nairobi.
