“We’ve had journalists come and go. We’ve had film crews, we’ve had photographers come and go, and we’ve seen how other people tell our story, and now it’s time for us to tell our own story”.
- Samwel Nangiria, Maasai leader and participatory video hub leader.
InsightShare, Oakland Institute and Pitt Rivers Museum invite you to an evening of discussion, film screenings and presentations with Maasai Elders and Community leaders from Tanzania and Kenya. The event will explore the relationship between museum representations of Maasai culture and present-day struggles over land rights and protection of language and culture.
Living Cultures, is a unique collaboration between Pitt Rivers Museum and InsightShare, working for the first time with Maasai communities from Tanzania and Kenya to reclaim the narratives behind the Museum’s collections from the region. Collaborating with museum curators to realign stories, attributions and descriptions of artefacts, the Maasai team will also showcase their powerful videos and discuss how the use participatory video to bring sharply into focus their current land rights campaign.
Land-grabs, forced evictions, human rights violations are the harsh realities faced by Maasai communities today. Foreign ‘investment’ in Maasai territory has led to the burning of villages, intimidation and violence by the authorities. Erosion of language and culture is the inevitable consequence, perhaps the ultimate conclusion, of colonialism. Confronting our imperial past and bringing Maasai stories up to date, Living Cultures aims to raise awareness of the ongoing struggles they face to protect their land, culture and communities.
Join us to support the new Maasai land rights campaign, harnessing the power of participatory video to challenge land grabbing and effect positive social change.
Speakers:
- Samwel Nangiria, Maasai activist and Director of NGO-Net, Loliondo, Tanzania.
- Yannick Ikayo Ndoinyo, Kuweya Timan Mollel and Francis Shomet Ole Naingisa, Elders and Community Leaders, Loliondo, Tanzania.
- Scholastica Ene Kukutia, Women’s rights activist, Kenya.
- Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, The Oakland Institute, US.
- Laura van Broekhoven, Director, Pitt Rivers Museum, UK.
- Paulina Feodoroff, Sámi Campaigner, Film and Theatre Artist, Finland.
- Nick Lunch, Director, InsightShare, UK.
All proceeds from this event will contribute to future projects undertaken by InsightShare Network partners.
Supported by the Pitt Rivers Museum, Staples Trust, Bertha Foundation, Network for Social Change, The Built Environment Trust and The Gentlemen Baristas.
