Seated by a bonfire at the Karichota Retreat Centre, during an art residency in Nanyuki, Thuita Mwangi interacted with Muthoni Garland, a leading writer and publisher, who planted in him an idea. Could he collaborate with actors, dancers and musicians to tell the story of Nairobi?
It was the kind of idea that would combine two elements in his professional life since he has a degree in Tourism Management but his passion is in art, an outlet through which he finds expression. STORY ZA THUITA, an event that will go down this Sunday from 10am, would thus be born having brought in Maabara Initiative and Ogutu Muraya to support on the technical elements of this novel concept.
Story za Thuita looks at the city and its streets from 1899 with each street telling its story whether written or through the people. Other than the ‘Then & Now’, it seeks to straighten out some facts, tell the story of its buildings and the sometimes-discriminatory history behind all these. In it, Thuita looks at himself as a custodian and curator, exploring for example the story behind the two lions at MacMillan or the War Heroes ‘standing’ on Kenyatta Avenue.
More uniquely, Story za Thuita will be told on the streets of Nairobi, starting from the Kenya National Theatre and go on a sight-seeing tour of the CBD’s streets on a Sunday.
“We are going to be showing, rather than just telling the story,”Thuita Observes
Starting from its past, the show seeks to explore various elements such as the city’s evolving architectural designs, its monuments, the political heroes it reflects and even the contemporary everyday being in the lives of its residents. Spanning across three centuries, with a pre-colonial, colonial, independence and post-independence narrative behind this swampy area that became the capital of Kenya, the potential of stories that could be told are perhaps limitless.
Nyakua Tikiti Yako SASA HIVI to experience STORY ZA THUITA via M-Pesa paybill number 8614230
Tupatane STORY ZA THUITA
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