According to the Macmillan Dictionary, a kitchen is a room where you prepare and cook food, and wash dishes. The role and meaning of kitchens around the world is more varied and complex than this definition would have one believe, however. Ordering space through design is a key way in which diverse meanings are ascribed to nominally similar space. Design defines what a space is and isn’t, and who is…
Pots, large empty jars, a city of Nairobi concrete bench nestled in a burst of green aloes and ferns, a reclaimed oil drum standing next to a charcoal fridge are just some of the eclectic things you find when you step into the compound of Bric a Brac, a new community space with permaculture principles located off Lang’ata road in Karen. The name fits. For Hahu, an artist and the…
Msafiri, nyayo zako Ndizo barabara, sio vinginevyo; Msafiri, barabara haipo, Hutengenezwa kwa kutembea. Kwa kutembea watengeneza njia, Na ukiangaza macho nyuma Utayaona mandhari ambayo katu Hutarudi kuyapitia. Msafiri, hakuna barabara, Bali mawimbi baharini. ya Antonio Machado imetafsiriwa na Wangũi Kamonji Linapatikana hapa katika Kiingereza na Kihispania Huku nikifanya juhudi ya kulitafsiri shairi hili katika Gĩgĩkũyũ kama unayo motisha ya kutafsiri katika lugha unayoizungumza wewe, nitumie utafsiri wako nitauchapisha hapa.
“A thief does not become one by mistake. A thief is made.” This is one of the conversations I have just had with a youth empowerment and alternatives to crime activist on my first day at a non-violent communication training. Within the past few hours I have met 2 people, including the activist, who are from Ongata Rongai, the town on the outskirts of Nairobi where I was born and…
I recently finished reading ‘The Sculptors of Mapungubwe’ by Zakes Mda and I loved it so much when I first started reading it, I had to stop because I didn’t want it to end…… That notwithstanding when I did pick it up again I finished it in a couple of hours (I blame the font, it was large…). It is set in the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the 13th century…
What happens when worlds meet? When ways of viewing the world meet? When ways of organising the world collide? Is one way always right? Does one way ‘win’ and the other get subsumed under it. Does it matter where it happens? A few stories: Number 1: Once in college, my roommate (and friend of 3 years) and I were walking to the dining hall to get food. I intended to…