logo
episode-header-image
Sep 3
15m 10s

Living stories: art, space and memory

BRITISH COUNCIL
About this episode

What does it mean to tell stories through the spaces we live in? And how can architecture be a source of memory and repair?

In this bonus episode of Our World, Connected, host Christine Wilson revisits a powerful conversation with Kabage Karanja, architect, researcher, and co-founder of Nairobi-based design studio Cave_bureau.

A leading voice in rethinking architecture through the lens of ecology, memory, and justice, Kabage shares his reflections on vernacular architecture, the legacy of British colonialism, and the importance of caves as spaces of cultural knowledge. His work, including the groundbreaking UK-Kenya collaboration Geology of Britannic Repair, exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, asks urgent questions about how we live, what we build, and what we choose to remember.

Christine also draws on insights from other voices featured in Season 2 — including artist Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo and filmmaker Noé Mendelle — to explore how storytelling takes many forms, from exhibitions and documentaries to the natural world around us. Together, these creative practitioners show how the stories we choose to tell can become tools for connection, repair, and collective healing.

Listen to Our World, Connected, brought to you by the British Council. Subscribe and follow for more thought-provoking conversations on culture, communication, and the power of storytelling.


Additional Resources & Links:

Digital Cultural Heritage: Imagination, innovation and opportunity

https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/digital-cultural-heritage

UK Arts, Culture and Young People: Innovative practice and trends

https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/UK-arts-young-people

OFF/TRACK Collective: Imagining New forms of Cultural Production

https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/new-cultural-production

Focus on Ukraine – Supporting Decolonisation in Museums

https://arts.britishcouncil.org/resources/focus-ukraine-supporting-decolonisation-museums


Follow British Council Research and Insight:

Newsletter - https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/subscribe 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/InsightBritish 
Website - https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight

Up next
Sep 24
Culture as climate action: creativity, community and change
What does cultural heritage have to do with climate change, and how can creativity help communities respond to a crisis that threatens both land and legacy?In the opening episode of Season 3, host Christine Wilson explores cultural heritage and creativity in the context of climat ... Show More
34m 19s
Sep 17
Season 3 - Trailer
We’re back! Join us over the coming 12 episodes, where we’ll be continuing our global conversations about culture, education and language, asking how creativity, learning, and international exchange can help us meet the challenges of today’s complex and interconnected world.This ... Show More
2m 13s
Sep 10
Teaching hope: conflict, courage and community
What role can education play in times of war, displacement, and uncertainty? And how can schools and universities provide not just learning, but hope, courage, and resilience for communities in crisis?In this bonus episode of Our World, Connected, host Christine Wilson reflects o ... Show More
13m 47s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2024
Personal Narratives in Collective History, Consumer Culture & Mass Production | Raed Yassin
What is the difference between being an artist and an entertainer? What are the nuances of conveying humour and comedy through art? In this conversation, multi-creative Raed Yassin gives us his take. From growing up in Beirut during the civil war and how this has impacted his wor ... Show More
1 h
Sep 2021
Susanna Phillips Newbury, "The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles" (U Minnesota Press, 2021)
Underlying every great city is a rich and vibrant culture that shapes the texture of life within. In The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles (U Minnesota Press, 2021), Susanna Phillips Newbury teases out how art and Los Angeles shaped one anot ... Show More
40m 6s
Jan 2024
Susanna Phillips Newbury, "The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles" (U Minnesota Press, 2021)
Underlying every great city is a rich and vibrant culture that shapes the texture of life within. In The Speculative City: Art, Real Estate, and the Making of Global Los Angeles (U Minnesota Press, 2021), Susanna Phillips Newbury teases out how art and Los Angeles shaped one anot ... Show More
38m 6s
May 2025
Decolonizing Architecture I Sandi Hilal & Alessandro Petti
In this episode of Tarwida, we speak with architects Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, co-founders of DAAR—Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency. From refugee camps to schools and public spaces, Hilal and Petti reimagine space not as a neutral container, but as a political and ... Show More
54m 9s
Mar 2025
Using Urban Fabrics Literally To Explore Layers That Shape Our World | Zé Tepedino at Quoz Arts Fest
Brazilian artist Zé Tepedino tells his fascinating story of journeying from Rio to Dubai, his innovative public art residency, and the creative process behind his large-scale fabric installation. He shares his unique perspective on materials, their histories, and their transforma ... Show More
27m 29s
Aug 25
Smita Prabhakar on Ishara Art Foundation & Nurturing South Asian Art in the UAE
We challenge the conventional perceptions of home and identity in a diasporic context and delve into South Asian art. An art collector, entrepreneur, and the founder and chairperson of the Ishara Art Foundation, Smita Prabhakar shares personal anecdotes, including her move to Dub ... Show More
57m 20s
Feb 2024
SKY HOPINKA on What We Pass On /364
This week, Ayana is joined by Sky Hopinka in a conversation that dives deep into the meaning of art and film and the stories and emotions we share between generations. Sky grounds the conversation in his incredible expertise and thoughtful approach to media. Touching on the very ... Show More
59m 1s
Sep 15
TLDR Ibrahim El-Salahi | The Inevitable
My TLDR episodes are meant to be short and to the point with a few key facts to know about the artist and a look at one of their major works. This episode explores the life and work of Ibrahim El-Salahi, a pivotal figure in Sudanese and African modernism. Born in 1930 in Omdurman ... Show More
12m 20s
Feb 2025
Exploring the Future of Art | Haytham Nawar on Diriyah Art Futures
In this episode of The afikra Podcast, host Mikey Muhanna talks to the director of Diriyah Art Futures, the MENA region’s first hub dedicated to New Media Arts, established by the Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia. Haytham Nawar discusses DAF’s focus on the intersection between ... Show More
43m 18s