Inception of The Culture Catch Up: A Journey to Community

With much warmth and joy, we gathered digitally on the evening of the 26th of October to delve into the heart of the Culture Catch Up, into community. In a much-needed conversation between Wairimú Nduba, our Community Manager, and Mutanu Kyany’a, our Head of Programs and Outreach, we charted how the Culture Catch Up came into being and what our collective hopes and dreams for it are, with our discussion foundationally based in the multifacetedness of community. 

The conversation hinged on our understanding and definition of it being a space for people to collectively innovate, collaborate, grow, and expand, as well as a gathering of like-minded individuals seeking greater collective good. 

“We hope that this space will be used for sharing experiences and tips on show to navigate the sector, so that the journey for newcomers doesn't have to be as hard as it was for us when we were starting.” ~ Mutanu 

The birth of the CCU can be traced to its first iteration, five years ago under the title “HiiStoryYa.” The understanding that history is the responsibility of the collective not just of a singular entity or individual, and that a deeper and fuller engagement with history comes from collaborative exploration, formed the intention behind HiiStoryYa. It was created to be an interactive cultural heritage workshop for audiences, producers, and enthusiasts of history, consisting of conversations surrounding the practicalities of research groundwork, the collecting, documenting, archiving, and disseminating of data, and finding innovative and creative ways to tell the stories found within these processes. The series took place in various parts of Nairobi’s cityscape and extended to Kisumu as well. 

As the birthplace of the Culture Catch Up, HiiStoryYa was our first real probe into building and sustaining communities of practice within the heritage space. This basis remains vibrant and present today and will continue to weave into our purpose as we expand our shared experience of being, growing, and working in community. 

Currently, the digital community is a growing concern not just for ADH but for all organisations hoping to remain integrated both generally with the public and operationally with stakeholders and peers.

“If you look at Africa’s population right now, about 60% of its population is youth. So if we really want to preserve this culture and identities, if we really want to preserve our heritage, then we will need to come up with new ideas, new innovative ways of presenting this heritage and memory work to this biggest population.” ~ Mutanu

As the conversation progressed, Wairimú discussed how opening up a collective playlist, through the music archival platform Wer Jokenya, opened up new, fun possibilities for online connection. She emphasised that we always have tools in hand (literally) that are a source of inspiration, joy, and affirmation. 

Because of our genesis and the aspects that arose from it, we more firmly appreciate the process and journey from HiiStoryYa which was specifically focused on being, “a guide on how to navigate the researching, presenting and documenting of cultural heritage material within the Kenyan landscape,” to the Culture Catch Up, a space that explores African pasts, presents, and futures and speaks to the realities of what is happening of the continent through mediums grounded in technology and advancement. 

But through all this, we remain conscious of the requirement for ‘care’; a core principle of working in and within community. In this regard, you can listen to Mutanu’s definition of care, followed by her expansion of what it practically looks like. As well as her salute to the various institutions and individuals who have modelled and embodied the ethics of care. Ultimately, as a mouthpiece for ADH, she expressed a deep hope to keep it as the mainstay of cultural heritage work. 

“Even as we digitise histories, we acknowledge the fact that we do not own these histories; that these histories are community owned. Therefore, it is only right that the preservation of these histories are rooted in care, and reflect the needs of the community.” ~ Mutanu

With this in mind, we invite you to join us as we continue to explore, learn, and create a community of practice and of care through this ongoing series of public history talks. Happening bimonthly, the conversations we are working to have promise to be expansive and affirming as we sit together with different experts, working in various fields within history and the cultural heritage space.

Catch the whole conversation on YouTube here: