When you look at Nairobi’s skyline, you see quite a few tall buildings. However, the Kenyatta International Convention Centre known as KICC which is located in the heart of Nairobi CBD is the most iconic. It has been standing tall since 1973 when the construction was finally completed after 6 years. It has hosted several major international conferences such as the 10th WTO conference that took place in December 2016 for the first time in Africa. Though it is now said to be the 3rd tallest building, it has remained the image that represents our city just like London has Big Ben and New York has the Statue of Liberty. I remember going to Uhuru Park and taking a picture with it in the background.
However despite Kenya and other African cities having progressed and built beautiful buildings that grace the skyline, a lot of the developing world does not know that we have such. The pictures make them think we live in the wild with the wildlife that they keep seeing or we all live in slums or are embroiled in conflict. The few who have made it here for holiday or work are pleased to find we have a bustling city that has been in operation for decades.
Along his journey to capture the beauty of our cities, Mutua Matheka has teamed up with other like-minded individuals who also have a passion to portray African cities in a different light than what is associated with them outside our continent. He and 3 other creatives namely Joe Were, Lulu Kitolo and Josh Kisamwa have come up with a plan to go around Africa to capture the essence of those cities and change what people perceive of our beautiful continent.
To this end, they would love it if you could be part of this quest as Mutua says that together we are stronger and better. The adventure however needs funds in order to take off! The project which is aptly named Unscrambling Africa, aims to raise 35,000 USD by the 24th of December 2016. You can contribute to this project on Mookh which you can pay by Mpesa or on Kickstarter. If you can contribute at least Kshs. 1000 to this cause, it will help the team to go out and take pictures that will be important for us and generations to come.
It is a road trip project which purposes to explore what defines urbanity across our continent. They will initially travel from Nairobi to Durban and the cities in between, to document what these cities look like from architecture to the cultures. They will be sharing their journey on social media using the hashtag #UnscramblingAfrica.
The most important thing they are trying to do is share this information so that more of us can have an idea of how it looks like in our neighbouring cities and the perceptions of the West can be changed.
For further information, you can contact Mutua Matheka at mutua@mutuatheka.co.ke or call him on +254 719 250073.
All images courtesy of Unscrambling Africa.
Unscrambling Africa: The Beauty Of Africa Through A Photo Lens And Tweets By @truthslinger
