Around two years ago I started working for a magazine called Tangaza Magazine, where I am now a key team member and contributor in storytelling, interviews, conceptualisation and curation. (Roles that I thoroughly enjoy and hold very dear to my heart). If you've read the about section of this website then you are aware of my love for all things culture - especially Nairobi (counter) cultures - so being able to curate stories and archive art for my city in a way that hasn't been done for us before is incredibly fulfilling to me.
With Tangaza I’ve gotten to explore my thoughts/ideas for a culture that I am so deeply involved (and in love with) in a generative way that I have always thirsted for. This is only our second annual issue but I am SO PROUD of the work we have gotten to do together and the growth the platform has provided various craftsmen with. Despite COVID-19 interrupting Monica (our editor-in-chief) and I’s plans for the magazine this year, we were able to adapt and refocus our structures in order to come up with something as beautiful as this visual issue. This year I got to coordinate and curate the cover story featuring incredible talent from Urban Pitchaz, (alongside other exciting pieces). Through numerous back and forth emails, virtual meetings and an array of mood boards, the four creatives and I were able to bring forth life to our visualisations that were otherwise restricted by a life threatening pandemic that literally came out of nowhere and told us to stay home! I want to thank them for adding their unhinged creativity to this project and for granting us both our very first published (print & digital) magazine covers, and also to our graphic designer Aidan out there in the UK for laying out the pieces exactly how I wanted them with his added touch. This process has provided great confirmation on where I want my career as an artist and curator to go and how I want that to look like in the future.
Those who’ve known me for a while know that writing as a form of expression is deeply meaningful to me as a soul and actually consider it the most lucid and personal form of communication. It’s what I've always known since I was a little girl and honestly not something I thought I could 'professionally' do growing up in Kenya. And although I love all the arts in a DEEP resonant way, writing is timeless in the way it inspires the rest ~ because how can you come up with ideas and concepts without writing them down?
As a lover of visual arts and someone who hopes to direct/curate even bigger stories from what I have already done so far, this 2020 issue holds a very special place in my heart and always will. It represents determination, represents growth and the overall potential greatness of East African creatives - to say that I am ecstatic is to say the least!
I am incredibly grateful to Monica for letting me express my ideas and trusting me to equally execute with optimum professionalism required to set course a path for East African arts, music and culture through and through. Also, our team is pretty dope (mostly women, all East African) - SO GO SUPPORT because WE DID THAT!
Grab or download a copy from our project website to check out this an other cool stories/people/topics I covered in this issue. There's plenty beautiful stories being told FOR US BY US. Shout out to everyone on the team for being such incredible people to work with, it's always a pleasure to get creative with you all. Here’s to may more monumental work in the future 🥂✨