Things don’t really exist… order the book now!
Things don't really exist until you give them a name: the edited volume by Lee, Barbé, Fenk & Misselwitz (2018) is now ready for ...
Urban Heritage Activism conference: reviewed on Transbanana!
Architect and urbanist Margarethe Müller reviews the Urban Heritage Activism conference in ISG journal.
Talking Cities reviewed!
The storybook Talking Cities: Urban Narratives from Dar es Salaam and Berlin, was reviewed on Carol Anande's blog.
BOOK LAUNCH: THINGS DON’T REALLY EXIST UNTIL YOU GIVE THEM A NAME
Artists, scholars and urban activists debate the question of heritage in cities across the world, from Dar es Salaam to Berlin in this ...
Simulizi Mjini, exhibition opening at the Old Boma, Dar es Salaam
The Simulizi Mijini exhibition is on display at the Old Boma until 30 September 2017!
Opening of DARCH, The Dar es Salaam Centre for Architectural Heritage!
The Old Boma opens its doors on June 30th, 2017, a project initiated by DARCH in collaboration with AAT, the Dar es Salaam city ...
Talking Cities: Urban Narratives from Berlin and Dar es Salaam, out now!
Where is the link between an immigrant from Lebanon opening a falafel shop in Berlin, and a man who has lived in Dar es Salaam for ...
Juxtaposing Narratives Exhibition reviewed on Berlin Art Link
Juxtaposing Narratives is the exhibition of the Simulizi Mijini project, introducing the reflections of artists and researchers on ...
BaunetzWoche #485 out now: Dar es Salaam Not Yet Fixed
The latest issue of BaunetzWoche, which focuses on the urban complexities of planning and development in Dar es Salaam, is now out and ...
ANZA Magazine #8 – Unintended Consequences – Out Now!
Following the lovely and successful launch event of the 8th magazine, we are now pleased to announced that ANZA is available in kiosks ...
Exhibition Opening and Cultural Programmation: 16-26 March 2017
Complimenting an international conference which will take place at the TU Berlin, on March 16-17 2017 (speakers and program available ...
Speakers Announced – Berlin Conference on Urban Heritage Activism, 16-17 March 2017
Speakers and cultural events announced for the Simulizi Mijini international conference 'Urban Heritage Activism', organised in ...
Call for abstracts – Conference in Berlin: Urban Heritage Activism
We’re very happy to share the call for contributions for the forthcoming conference, ‘Urban Heritage Activism’ which ...
ANZA 8, in collaboration with Simulizi Mijini and BauNetzWoche
The eighth edition of ANZA magazine will be produced in collaboration with BauNetzWoche, a weekly publication based in Berlin, and with
The archive – a collection of narratives now online!
We have put together a collection of urban narratives in a dedicated platform hosted by MOD institute. You can explore how residents ...
Communicating shared heritage: Summer School assignments
Find here the 4 assignments given to Tanzanian and German students to orient them in searching for shared heritage in Berlin's urban ...
Thinking about archives: quotes and references
A series of quotes and references that guided our reflexion in the Berlin Summer School –collaboration between TU Berlin and Ardhi, Dar
Berlin Summer School: Week 3
Shared archives: how and where can different versions of histories (colonialism) be found in Berlin? what are official archive ...
Berlin Summer School: Week 2
Finding Africa in Berlin: looking at the art world and political activism, and using ethnographic research methods, students explored ...
Berlin Summer School: Week 1
A brief review of the excursions of students and teachers pursuing together the question of urban heritage, from Berlin to Tanzania and back.
Writing about the city
Some examples of great narratives that build a vivid, sensitive, sometimes shocking or unconventional picture of the Urban:
DOMAA
DOMAA (2016) – Patrycja Stal, Adrian Taylor visit the DOMAA platform here: www.domaa.org RESEARCH STATEMENT “Urban space is
Simulizi Mijini at the IFA Ausstellung: in pictures
During the IFA Ausstellung, we presented the works created through Simulizi Mijini project (art, research, architecture studios) since ...
Mass Tracker
Mass Tracker is a platform designed proposed by three students from the Simulizi Mijini research studio to research, communicate and ...
MOAB EAT
Moab Eat is a platform designed proposed by three students from the Simulizi Mijini research studio to research, communicate and ...
Urban Beauty
Urban Beauty is a platform designed proposed by three students from the Simulizi Mijini research studio to research, communicate and ...
Hadithi za Moa
Hadithi Za Moa is a platform designed proposed by three students from the Simulizi Mijini research studio to research, communicate and ...
Radical Shifts
Radical Shifts is a platform designed proposed by three students from the Simulizi Mijini research studio to research, communicate and ...
Chimurenga Chronic: New Pan-African Cartographies
The Chimurenga Chronic is a pan-African publication borne out of the need to question Western-based conceptual mappings and ...
Simulizi Mijini at Speisekino Moabit #12 (ZK/U)
Two films will be shown about contemporary Dar es Salaam at the weekly Speisekino of ZK/U, in Moabit, July 29 2016, in partnership with
Simulizi Mijini at the IFA Jahresende Ausstellung
Simulizi Mijini will be presented at the Institut fur Architekture's end of the year exhibition at the TU Berlin, on Friday July 22nd, ...
Dar es Salaam Summer School: Wa Na Ni?
From March 10th to April 1st, architecture and urban design students from Ardhi University and TU Berlin collaborated in a summer ...
Simulizi Mijini at the Decolonizing Conference in Edinburg
Rachel Lee and Diane Barbé presented the Simulizi Mijini project at the Decolonizing The Academy conference, held at the University of ...
Reconfiguring Urban Heritage from Below: Symposium Program
This is the full programme for the symposium which took place on April 1st, 2016 at the British Council in Dar es Salaam. International
Transformer Street
Now and then, today and tonight: Yusuph explains how the Aggrey Street has evolved since he first came here, and how much it changes ...
Sitting in the Shade
Rashidi tells us the story of the houses he has lived in around Dar es Salaam. Coming from the Tanga region, his father built a farm in
My Home in Uswazi
Dorothea tells us the story of the women who live in Magomeni, where the air is full of songs and whispers and the Khangas carry hidden
Soko Dogo La Kariakoo
Mzee Mwaimbungu, an old man who has been at Kariakoo Market since 1949, tells us the story of this place.
Researching heritage: online archives
In her two-part article published on e-Flux, Innovative Forms of Archive, Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez describes the ways that Eastern ...
Artist Hangout at Nafasi with Tellerva and Oliver Kalleinen
This Tuesday, June 14th, the German-Finnish couple of artists will host a hangout at Nafasi Art Space in Dar to present some of their ...
Cloud Chatanda: artists hangout at Nafasi Art Space
Cloud Chatanda hosted an artist hangout at Nafasi at the end of May, just after his 6-week residency at the Zentrum für Kunst und ...
Afrikanische Viertel in Berlin: a PostKolonial Take On The City
How is Germany's little known colonial history still archived in the city? Reflexions from Berlin Postkolonial.
Poetic Places
Poetic Places is a free app for iOS and Android devices and the main outcome of a collaboration between Sarah Cole of TIME/IMAGE and ...
Radio Aporee :: world soundscapes
Radio Aporee is a global soundmap dedicated to field recording, phonography and the art of listening. The atlas comes from ...
Timescape Kolkata: Envisioning the Indian City
‘Timescape: Kolkata’ is an Augmented Reality app implementation that allows mobile-phone users to explore rare archival images and data
Anti-Eviction Mapping Project
Documenting the dispossession of San Francisco Bay Area residents. The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is a data-visualization, data ...
Refugee Republic
Refugee Republic is an interactive transmedia documentary about everyday life in Domiz Camp, a Syrian refugee camp in northern Iraq. ...
A Literary Map of Manhattan
A project by Randy Cohen and Nigel Holmes, supported by the New York Times’ Book Review. >> A Literary Map of Manhattan
Sensory Maps: Urban Smellscapes
Smells form part of our knowing, but are elusive, often disappearing before they can be pinned down. Smell perception is an ...
Simulizi Mijini on Bagamoyo News
The news blog Bagamoyo News published an article about the Simulizi Mijini Symposium, which took place on April 1st 2016, in Dar es ...
Cloud Chatanda at the ZK/U
Cloud Chatanda discusses his work in RBB24's evening program where the history and works Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (ZK/U) are ...
Simulizi Mijini: A seminar exploring the political, social and spatial dimensions of urban heritage from below
Seminar taught at the TU Berlin looking at the way history is seen, remembered and carved in cities with a focus was on non-Western, ...
International Symposium, April 1 2016 – all speakers announced!
Simulizi Mijini will host an international symposium on the 1st of April on the theme: Reconfiguring Urban Heritage From Below.
Nadin Reschke: End of Residency show
Find out more about Nadin Reschke and her work here! She will host an event to close her residency at Nafasi Art Space on March 2nd.
Researching Dar es Salaam – A Bibliography (2)
A selection of readings questioning Northern epistemologies in urban studies and aiming to "decolonize" academic discourses about ...
Researching Dar es Salaam – A Bibliography (1)
A selection of readings focusing on the urban history of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in the 20th century.
Nadin Reschke: artist talk at Nafasi Art Space
In her artists talk on Wednesday, the 10th of February at Nafasi Art Space Reschke presented some of her latest community based art ...
Taksim Topographical Practices
Between 2012 and 2013, students from the University of Tehran conducted various mapping projects aimed at documenting the (un)famous ...
Flanerie and the passive observer: how to record the city?
What to make of the derive in the age of tracking systems? Can we envision this data collection method as a qualitative way to observe ...
KUNSTrePUBLIK at the Nafasi Artists Hangout
During their visit to Dar es Salaam, the artists from ZKU hosted a "hangout" at Nafasi Art Space to connect with the local community ...
Impressions from Dar, by ZKU
After a two-week visit to Dar es Salaam, the curators from ZK/U share their first impressions of the city.
Mapping attacks and trauma in the city: the Paris case
A look at the production of history around the Paris attacks –how do the virtual and the built environment become Lieux de mémoire?
Heritage in the context of global urban studies
Simulizi Mijini has a comparative, empirical approach to global urban studies, to go beyond Eurocentrism and make room for voices from ...
CLUSTER Cairo Mapping initiative
CLUSTER –Cairo Lab for Urban Studies, Training and Environmental Research is an initiative that establishes a space for critical urban ...
Umesh Maddanahalli: End of Residency Show
Indian artist Umesh Maddanahalli will host a cookout to finish his residency and exchange with the audience at Nafasi Art Space.
Artists’ Hangout with Umesh Maddanahalli
Find out more about Umesh Maddanahalli and his work here! He will host a cookout to explore Hindu heritage in Dar es Salaam on ...
Dar Heritage Days 2015: Impose/Expose Exhibition
In September 2015, a series of public events were held as part of the Dar Heritage Days on urban development and preservation to raise ...
Dar Heritage Days 2015: Public Forum
In September 2015, a series of public events were held as part of the Dar Heritage Days on urban development and preservation to raise ...
Simulizi Mijini / Urban Narratives is an academic, artistic and publishing exchange between Berlin, Germany and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The focus is on urban heritage, whether tangible (architecture) or intangible (cultural practices at large).
The angle is “from below” –at street level, as it is known, informed and generated by communities.
The outcome is a public, open-source, interactive archive in print and online.
residencies
Goal: explore unspoken cultural practices, urban heritage, and their transmission with new transnational formats of inquiry.
Between 2015 and 2016, artists from Germany and Africa will be hosted in two residency spaces in Berlin and Dar es Salaam. Their diverse backgrounds and techniques will allow for a truly innovative inquiry on urban heritage.
maps
Goal: collaborate with locals and involved actors to produce an open-source urban heritage map based on oral histories.
During summer schools organised in March and August 2016, students from TU Berlin and Ardhi University will cooperate with local communities and professionals to create digital tools mapping tangible and intangible urban heritage.
publications
Goal: share the results and provide opportunities for the public to participate in and further the debate on urban narratives
Editorial teams from ANZA magazine (Dar es Salaam) and uncube (Berlin) collaborate to produce a joint issue on urban heritage in the two cities, covering topics such as forgotten architecture, preservation, and cultural practices.
aims
- develop horizontal South-North dialogues and foster transdisciplinary exchanges
- build awareness of urban heritage and urban identities, between diverse actors (institutions, artists, architects, planners, local communities, residents…)
- question established concepts and dichotomies such as colonial/postcolonial, high/low, formal/informal, rural/urban, migrant/native
- experiment with new formats of artistic inquiry and academic research to reach more transnational understandings of heritage and identity
- question current definitions and methods of archiving urban heritage
- develop inclusive strategies and approaches towards documenting, visualising and commemorating urban heritage “from below”
- collaborate with locals and involved actors to produce an open-source urban heritage map and collect concealed oral histories to help create a post-colonial archive of urban narratives
- communicate the results to a wider audience and provide opportunities for the interested public to participate in and further the debate on urban narratives
approach
BOOK LAUNCH: THINGS DON’T REALLY EXIST UNTIL YOU GIVE THEM A NAME
Artists, scholars and urban activists debate the question of heritage in cities across the world, from Dar es Salaam to Berlin in this Things don't really exist until you give them a name.
Afrikanische Viertel in Berlin: a PostKolonial Take On The City
How is Germany's little known colonial history still archived in the city? Reflexions from Berlin Postkolonial.
Researching Dar es Salaam – A Bibliography (2)
A selection of readings questioning Northern epistemologies in urban studies and aiming to "decolonize" academic discourses about African urbanism.
Habitat Unit
The Habitat Unit research department from TU Berlin seeks to integrate spatial, material and cultural sensitivities with new models of participation, co-production and urban governance. Their role is to develop new expertise and application-oriented tools relevant for understanding and mapping urban heritage.
Habitat Unit represents the Technische Universität Berlin in the Habitat Partner Universities Initiative established worldwide by UN-Habitat.
DARCH!
The Dar Center for Architectural Heritage aims at saving and promoting historical architecture in Dar es Salaam and the wider East African context through research, documentation, education, training, community outreach and public cultural events.
DARCH! is a joint initiative by the Architects Association of Tanzania, Ardhi University and TU Berlin. The project is contracted by the Tanzanian Ministry of Finance and funded by the European Union.
ZK/U
The ZK/U, an innovative venue for artistic events and residencies near Westhafen port in Berlin-Moabit, is a laboratory for inter- and trans-disciplinary activities centered on the phenomenon of “the city”. Working with local and international artists, the ZK/U residencies in 2015-2016 will bring together critical minds at the cutting-edge of artistic production and urban research.
ZK/U was created in 2012 by the Berlin-based KUNSTrePUBLIK artist collective.
Nafasi
Nafasi is a sustainable art centre in Dar es Salaam which provides studios for contemporary visual artists and offers an active public programme. It is becoming a key platform of training, exhibition and exchange in contemporary arts, and seeks to support production and entrepreneurship locally, regionally and beyond.
Nafasi Art Space opened in 2007 as a Non-Governmental Organisation with support from the Danish Centre for Cultural and Development (DCCD).
TU Berlin + Ardhi University
ARDHI University and Technische Universität Berlin will collaborate on the organization of a summer school in each city, open for students in Architecture, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture programs. In March and August 2016, respectively in Dar and Berlin, 15 students will participate in workshops to research the urban history, architectural preservation, community engagement in each city, with the final goal of producing sustainable online heritage maps. In the spirit of performative urbanism, the format of this output will be defined as the research deepens in each city –updates on our findings will be added to the research page.
uncube + ANZA magazines
uncube is a Berlin-based digital magazine for architecture and beyond, with each issue bringing to attention a particular topic or personality through well-curated contents and beautifully-designed pages. ANZA, the first architecture magazine for East Africa and Tanzania, seeks to discuss and understand the transformation of African cities and their identities by looking at the past, present and future in all their seriousness and humor. Each magazine will contribute an issue after spending some time researching in the exchange city –further details will be posted on the publication page.