Friday 20 October 2017

Talking Cities ‘Urban Narratives from Dar es Salaam & Berlin’


Inside the pages of Talking Cities
The pages of this book run between two cities in an intimate fashion, alerting you to the manner in which urban built environments. Wrestle to represent our “desires, needs and resources….Most of this dense layering is not immediately legible; it has not been decoded. Rather it is part of a more intuitive, lived sense of “urbanity” that generates the contemporary individual and the collective sense of identity and belonging.”-Rachel Lee & Philipp Misselwitz.

Talking Cities ‘TC’ published this year is a child of an exchange program between students of TU Berlin http://www.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/& Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam http://www.aru.ac.tz. Procured over two summer schools in 2016, by  32 student authors with editors Diane Barbe, Richard Besha, Anne-Katrin Fenk, Rachel lee & Philipp Misselwitz. It explores heritage in urban spaces through real life anecdotes from residents of different parts of Berlin & Dar es Salaam.

“The piece of paper I am holding might soon be a huge, colourful drawing on a train, hurtling through Berlin’s districts or it could be the flash of colours in a monochrome area. It might not have the chance to exist for long…and if someone looks up precisely when the train drives by, their memory of Berlin’s skyline will contain that piece of human intervention. And it will be living and dynamic proof of the impossibility of transforming the city into an obeying system.”-Adding up to a Skyline-TC (Berlin)

This wrestle of having the city obey the system is the central theme of the book. Where the two protagonists are the resident who receives imprints of her memories, his sense of belonging from the city. Vis a vis the collective dominating forces of economy & state which moulds the cities landscape dictating usage.

“I remember the open field in which we used to play, picnic and just relax with our families…Just now, I realise how important this space was for me growing up, for my whole family…I can’t help but wonder where the kids in my neighbourhood will go play, where the mamas will chat and cook, now that the field of my childhood is gone.”—Lost Access-TC

This resident is from Sinza, Dar es Salaam who was reminiscing of the open space that embalms critical memories of his childhood. A space which due to economic forces is now housing a storey high building.

“African communities present their flags in their shops and restaurants to proudly show where their roots lie. But the purpose is also pragmatic: fellow citizens from the same former home country can join and merge the expanded communities in the city.”-Visual Guidance,-TC(Berlin)

TC in its anecdotes from Berlin, gives voice to a diverse heritage we learn of the African community & its fake beach. The Moabit area its metamorphosis, since the tearing down of the Berlin Wall its history as a refugees area. To today where it’s been ‘upgraded’ forcing rent to go up. Still the individual voice is prominent as even on sidewalks, you can spot electric boxes with local paintings.

I was warmed to know of characters in a small glade of old trees between a rail track, construction site and an apartment block. This was their home still you saw “an arm chair carefully placed below one of the trees…an altar like arrangement of colourful snail shells, stones and dry grass at the bottom of the trunk.”-Intruding into private space-TC (Berlin) That reminded me being homeless doesn’t mean, you lose your reverence for beauty, for taking care of your environment.

Inside the pages of 'Talking Cities'
TC also introduced me to Coletha, she arrived in Dar es Salaam back in 1982 among the first residents of Sinza A, which is now a populous area. Her efforts in keeping her neighbourhood clean despite others efforts to mess it “We recently formed Umoja Wafaraji, a local self organised committee responsible for garbage and parking issues in Sinza A. All our members are women.” Coletha’s Umoja Wafaraji-TC (Dar es Salaam)

These anecdotes each cover a page with an accompanying photograph, diving through lives of street vendors, apartment block owners, painters, restaurant owners. With urban stamps like the Doner, a popular street food in Berlin that speaks of cultural interchange particularly between the Turks & the Germans. For Dar its the case of the Kanga, “There was once a young chicken, a girl called Mosi…She was circling around my husband like a crazy bee…Immediately when I noticed, I put my special kanga on it said ‘hujui kitu’ [you know nothing]” 

Talking Cities next to it's sequel 'Unpacking Heritage'
 that was launched last month at DARCH, more copies
will be printed & available at this offices by end of year
 
TC is not a literary gem with regard to language aesthetics. In fact you may spot a few grammatical errors. However what makes it rich, is it’s clever style of short prose covering diverse rich storylines making it easy & interesting to read.

I was also enamoured with the focus the book takes on the threat of heritage in our Urban settlements. Like the demolishing of public spaces that affect people’s business & their families. Not withstanding the demise of communal values that imprint a whole cultures conviviality.

Talking Cities is sold at 4 Euros or 6,000Tshs, published by Universitatsverlag der TU Belrin, it’s available at DARCH-‘Dar es Salaam Heritage Centre’ http://www.darchtz.org at Boma House in city centre Dar. Also inside Ardhi University in Tanzania & TU university in Germany. The book has inspired a sequel, an in depth look at urban heritage with experts essays called  ‘Unpacking heritage’. Already it's dummy was launched this September at DARCH, copies for the public will available by the end of the year.

This article was first published in 'The East African newspaper with this link' http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/Students-tell-tales-of-two-urban-cities-/434746-4139866-p15b5hz/index.html


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