Colourful umbrellas, flowery dresses and Swahili vibes: the Ng’ambo we want!

AAmatters
Jun 15, 2015
2 min read

Ng’ambo: Tuitakayo! - The Ng’ambo we want! - was shaped as ambitious and innovative project back in 2012 by the Department of Urban and Rural Planning in collaboration with UNESCO, the City of Amsterdam and AAmatters, with the aim to find support through an European Development Fund call. The proposal was turned down in 2013, but even before the proposed project period is over, the results were met anyway; the development of an innovative draft Local Area Plan based on the intrinsic values of Ng’ambo following the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape approach.

On Saturday 4 June this was presented to the residents of Ng’ambo, combined with performances of some of the gems that one can find in Ng’ambo: Wanandege, the dance group that originally was scoffing the colonials with their umbrellas, and Tausi Taarab, a taarab group in the tradition of the famed Siti Binti Saad and Bi Kidude.

Contemporary cultural Ng’ambo was represented by Swahili Vibes, while tour guides in training from Kawa Training Centre were uncovering the rich history of the area for many of its own residents. The Zanzibar International Film Festival that kicks off a little bit more than a month from now, closed of the festivities with a film show that will be repeated in Ng’ambo during their festival.

In the coming month the final draft of the Local Area Plan will be completed and presented to the Government of Zanzibar. We are proud on what has been achieved with our colleagues from the Department of Urban and Rural Planning of Zanzibar, our fantastic, energetic and dedicated team that was built up over the past few years and the great support from the City of Amsterdam and Stadsherstel Amsterdam. We are grateful to the support we received along the way, from the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, from the Zanzibar Social Security Fund, the UNESCO Netherlands Fund in Trust and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Next steps are in the making!

We are pleased so share some of the images of the event, for those who had to miss it.