The project, Urban Growth, Cultural Loss, sought to bridge that gap by curating and hosting an exhibition at the Village Museum that aimed to reposition Zaramo indigenous knowledge as a key asset in urban development discourse—one that is deeply rooted in place, identity, and communities’ lived experiences.
The Zaramo people—Dar es Salaam’s original inhabitants—hold traditional ecological knowledge vital for managing the city’s unique challenges, including environmental degradation, food insecurity, and public health concerns. However, this knowledge is increasingly marginalised as informal settlements sprawl into ecologically sensitive wetlands and coastal zones, disrupting ecosystems that once protected the city.
Through community-led exhibitions, intergenerational storytelling, and participatory workshops, Zaramo’s indigenous knowledge was activated and shared with a broader urban audience.
The project serves as a model for culturally responsive urban planning, bridging indigenous knowledge systems with contemporary urban development challenges by fostering collaborations between Zaramo cultural bearers, youth groups, educators, artists, and local government authorities, ensuring that the processes and outcomes are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.
In the final exhibition which can be found at the Village Museum, Dar es Salaam visitors to the exhibition will find murals, photographic panels and bilingual textual displays that highlight key aspects of Zaramo indigenous knowledge—such as fishing techniques using traditional nets, ecological relationships with mangrove forests, and the cultivation of vegetables, herbs, the use of granaries, and the historical geographical markers (rivers, valleys and flood plains) as a living part of the urban landscape.
Please visit the project website to find out more about this project.