Nerima Makhondo

Education

Columbia University in the City of New York

BA Drama and Performance Studies, CC'19

Recipient of The Austin E. Quigley Prize for outstanding artistic and intellectual achievement

Experience

Associate Producer – Zêzere

2023–2024

  • Spearheaded crowdfunding and branding initiatives for a Kenya-Portugal short film.
  • Managed the Seed&Spark portal, marketing efforts, and scheduling.

Executive Director – Queer African Network

2020–2023

  • Co-founded a networking application designed for queer Africans.
  • Successfully secured $120K in funding.
  • Oversaw the organization of virtual events, digital exhibitions, and team strategy.

Community Artist – Creative Action Institute

2021–2022

  • Facilitated theatre workshops for girls in rural areas of Kenya and Tanzania.
  • Utilized art as a tool for empowerment.

Exhibitions

Ancestral Technologies

Munyu Gallery, Nairobi, 2024

Ancestral Technologies is an installation and public programme which navigates the liminal spaces between past, present, and future, weaving together threads of ancestral wisdom with contemporary digital tools.

Pendulum Exhibit

Barnard College, New York, 2016

P E N D U L U M is a multimedia sensory exhibit that immerses you in the artists' experiences of mental illness. The exhibit included photography, a short film, a dance and performance art piece, a painting, information about bipolar disorder, as well as other materials. See here:pendulumexhibit.weebly.com

Performance & Production

Performer

Don't Talk to Strangers – Lead role, film (2024)

Alluring Faces – Lead role, film (2023)

Exactly Where You Are Supposed to Be – Lead role, film (2022)

Blue Black Waters – Lead role, film (2020)

Four Women – Solo performer, Barnard, NYC (2019)

Access I Ability – V-Day – Co-director, writer & performer, Barnard, NYC (2017)

Pendulum – V-Day Exhibit – Creative director & performer, Barnard, NYC (2016)

And Silence Broke the House – Actress, Columbia Univ., NYC (2015)

Associate Producer

Hope – The Wild Project Theatre, NYC (2018)

Stage Manager

Me Before You – Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi (2017)

Compromising Positions – Alliance Française, Nairobi (2016)

Some Hero – Barnard College, NYC (2016)

Design

Figure Studies – Asst. Costume Designer, Bozar, Brussels (2018)

Mary Stuart – Wardrobe Crew, Barnard, NYC (2017)

Awards, Grants & Fellowships

Nnawiri Fellowship Recipient – Nawi Collective, 2024

Art Exchange: Moving Image Workshop Recipient – British Council, 2024

Numun Fund Grant – 2023

Austin E. Quigley Prize – 2019

Columbia University Kluge Scholar – 2014–2018

KenSAP Scholar – 2014

Publications & Conferences

Youth to the Front Fund Profile – We Are Family Foundation, 2022wearefamilyfoundation.org

"Ruguru Nerima" – Ratrock Magazine, 2017ratrockmagazine.com

Panelist, Afrofuturism – African Indaba Conference, Wesleyan University, 2017