Frenny Jowi

Welcome to the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service.

I am Franny Joey.

Last summer, I met the Kenyan artist Mika Obanda at his studio in the slums of Nairobi, where I saw the mosaics and drawings he was finishing off for an exhibition.

He's been through a lot since then.

I want to tell you about the challenges he's faced and how that has affected his work.

But first, here's a reminder of the artwork he was making, with a surprising twist.

His mosaics are not created using traditional tiles, but from something most of us throw away.

Eggshells.

For the past six years, he's been using these delicate shells, painstakingly placing the tiny pieces to create his vibrant, personal and activist artworks.

Mika lives and works in Mukuru, a slum area in the south of Nairobi.

Now, about 60% of the capital's population live in slums.

And Mika's artworks often depict the experiences faced by the 700,000 people who call Mukuru home.

It's crowded.

It can be a difficult place to thrive in.

So I'm just taking a walk to Mika's studio in Mukuru.

There are so many shops and children coming back from school, open-air markets.

Hello, Mika.

I'm good.

All right, let's go then.

So all of your neighbors here, these are like their family houses and your studio is the only house in this area that's like an office or a workplace?