Page 65 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 34

Tourism
potential passengers. In the distance, you
could see a group of young men offloading
goods from a lorry to a boat, while others
carry large fish from the sea. Women are
seen carrying baskets filled with barafu (cool
fruit waters), cold water, mkorosho (cashew
nuts), kashata, mabuyu (baobab fruit), and
mango juice. It is very hot at approximately
35°C, and a breeze is blowing from the sea.
Everyone is sweating, while some women
with baskets moving around cooling their
bodies. A tall young man approached me
and we headed to a standby mashua (a
traditional large triangular sailboat) on the
sea of Mokowe. We finally sailed on the sea
to Lamu Island accompanied by six women
in buibuis, four in hijabs, and two Swahili
men wearing bright white kanzus. The
mashua boat moved swiftly past old Swahili
buildings, hotels, and a vast expanse of
mangrove forest.
I still remember the wholeheartedly appraisal
from the Lamu Fort Museum officials;
chief librarian, Khadija Issa and curator
Mohammed Mwenje, “We u miongoni
wa watafiti kutoka Afrika wachunguzao
utamaduni Uswahilini Kisiwa cha Lamu.”
(You are among a few researchers from
the African regions exploring the peculiar
culture of Swahili and our environment here
on Lamu Island). It still warms my heart
now.
My research stretched me to delve into
Islamic traditions, Swahili culture, and the
natural resources of Lamu Island. I vividly
recalled a feverish battle at the university
defense room. Professors were evaluating
T our ism
the cutting-edge study and its potential
impact on a new generation of artists in
Africa and beyond. I stood confidently and
underscored that it is high time for artists
in Africa to draw inspiration from the
environment. I challenged the idea of artists
and scholars relying on foreign materials
and Western ideologies to forge their own
identities. After the defense, the chairman
of the Kenyatta University postgraduate
board; Prof George Vikiru declared my
research was worth pursuing. It marked a
journey to explore unique African culture as
a subject, and utilize the native environment
as a source painting medium. One needs to
dream impossible things and take risks; it
may fail or succeed, but ambition gives birth
to good fruit according to French President
Emmanuel Macron.
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