Joel Lukhovi is a Nairobi - based photo artist and curator whose practice centres on lens-based media, exploring themes of memory, identity and erasure. Drawing on a background in Literature Studies from the University of Nairobi, he investigates photography as an archive and a medium for questioning personal and collective histories in the making. 

Committed to artistic research and collaborative practice, Lukhovi has participated in numerous cultural development programmes and worked with artists and various institutions across Kenya. He was among the artists behind Kikulacho (2016), a collaborative exhibition with the National Museums of Kenya and British Institute in Eastern Africa - BIEA - that examined the politics of food. Later, together with ten artists, he exhibited Frontiers of the Present - a photo exhibition - curated by James Muriuki at Circle Art gallery, Nairobi.  

In his solo exhibition Own Form 2018 organized by Afrikultur at the Multicultural Center in Stockholm his work reflected on matter and unexpected ways of unlearning. Earlier in 2015, on a month - long artist residency, Joel showcased an installation of 50 photographs at the foyer of Theatre Konstanz, Germany. They remain a collection of the theatre. Joel employs emphasis on process. Image & Exploration 2023 showcased family archival work at Goethe Institut that informed of the life and history of photo albums. It questioned the role of family albums. 

Joel undertook a curatorial residency in the summer of 2024 at FOAM museum of photography Amsterdam focusing on global perspectives of image making. The program expanded scope on emerging curatorial techniques. He was a guest lecturer at Katho Nordrhein Westfalen University in Paderborn, Germany. Together with Paderborn City Archives, he conducted a seminar on family photo albums. Besides, he got to exhibit Othering & Otherness (2024) at Raum fur Kunst and contributed to a magacheezze publication. 

His photography and curatorial practice prioritises accessibility and the visibility of African visual narratives. He co-curated Sisi Ni Hao (2024) with African in Women Photography, presenting the work of twelve East African women exploring womanhood, identity and tradition. A graduate of the Sasa Nairobi Art Fellowship by Goethe Institut, Lukhovi also co-curated now you see (2025), an exhibition and publication on memory and family photo albums.

He is part of the Liverpool Biennial x British Council Curators Connect program that is ongoing with a follow-on curatorial photo project The Missing Archive 2026-2027. Together with Paper Café in 2026, he co-curated Still In Transit a photography exhibition at The Good Grain. It explored movement and space, mapping change across cities of the continent with a focus on disrupting space for critical reflection on the scale of the works. He has contributed in several publications like Down River Road, UP Nairobi, Liverpool Biennial and Sanaa Mtaani. 

Besides being published and shown widely, Joel continues to collaborate with artists, educators and cultural institutions. He is a global recipient of the prestigious Intercultural Encounters Award, by the government of Austria. He currently works with Nairobi Beyond Foto, as its founder and curator, focusing on developing exhibitions and programmes that expand how photography is experienced, discussed and exhibited in Kenya through diverse formats.