NAIROBI GALLERY

The Nairobi Gallery is located at Kenyatta Avenue and Uhuru Highway roundabout next to Nyayo house. The building is situated at Kenya’s point zero from where distances to all corners of the country and subsequently to the continent and the world were measured from. Further, the building is part of an original master plan of government buildings around what is now Kenyatta Avenue.
The building is in many ways connected to the history and development of Nairobi and its people. Built in 1913 to house the Native Ministry, this building was fondly referred to by the settler community as ‘Hatches, Matches and Dispatches’ because of the births, marriages and deaths that were recorded here. Before independence, the building was a colonial courthouse where natives accused of entering Nairobi without a pass were tried and sentenced.
After independence, the house was used by the provincial commissioner as the Nairobi province office until 1983 when they relocated to Nyayo house. Later KANU (Kenya African National Union) the ruling party by then used the building as its KANU Nairobi branch office until 1999.

Because of its historical significance the Old P.C.’s building was gazetted by the Kenya government on 22/10/93 Gazette Notice 5257 and confirmed on 19/04/95 Gazette Notice 2016. The building was then handed over to the National Museums of Kenya for preservation purposes in 1977. It opened its doors to the public in November 2005 when it hosted its first temporary exhibition “Dreaming in Pictures” by JakKatarikawe.Today the Gallery has become the home of Joseph and Sheila Murumbi’s collections. Joseph Murumbi was Kenya’s second vice president. Nairobi Gallery is also dedicated to promoting local artists through displaying of their artwork. The key attractions include:

Architectural Design:
The Nairobi Gallery is an example of Victorian architecture, the exterior of the building is decorated with columns, niches, friezes and pediments of natural stone. The original entrance leads from the roundabout into an octagonal dome hall (point zero) covered with a beautiful dome. The surrounding rooms extend from the central space and are divided into two wings, the walls have a smooth line plaster finish, windows and doors of teak wood, some ceilings have patterns.

Point Zero:
Original entrance of the building leads to point zero location from where all the distances to all corners of the country were measured from. (The black spot at the Centre is the point zero.)

Colonial Safes:
The Nairobi Gallery has two old safes that were used by the colonial government and have never been opened since they left.