In EPISODE FORTY we are on field assignment exploring the multi-species geographies of, perhaps, the most iconic safari game drive in the world. We report on site from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, learning some basic Swahili (Safari means “trip”) and seeing a range of animals we had never seen before outside of a zoo or a documentary. We have plenty of fun copying and/or poking fun at nature documentary style reportage.
In EPISODE THIRTY-NINE we set out and explore “Dar City Geographies” with urban geographer Dr. Sarah Smiley from Kent State University. This “urban safari” provokes discussions of the legacy of historical segregation policies on the urban landscape; the improvements made to the transport infrastructure in this rapidly growing, soon-to-be mega-city; and what residents in different zones have to do to access water across Dar es Salaam.
In “Piece by Piece,” we sit down with Rukia Hatibu, aka The Annoyin’ Artist, to discuss the importance of making public our ideas, stories and “pieces.” It is not enough to ask questions about who we are. What is vital is having an actual place to do it. Her evening forum helps showcase different voices and provides a space for personal poetic development. As if that was not enough, Rukia also discusses her new initiative, AIDIM, that seeks to bring out this same development in school children.
“Zanzibar, or the Last Reason,” translated from the German, “Sansibar oder der letzte Grund,” is a novel by Alfred Andersch where one of the protagonists (a boy) daydreams the far away Zanzibar from his small hometown in Germany. Maybe a bad case of fernweh, this island in his mind is actually located in the Indian Ocean, but it is less a concrete goal than the utopian place of a better future. Water temperature: 30 degrees Celcius.
In “La Arquitecta” we explore the resonance of spaces and the social aspects of urban design with German-born architect Chris Heidrich. The show returns to Havana, Cuba (see EPISODE 32) to raise questions about who designs and shapes the city. Heidrich is planning to bring an exhibition about women architects from Cuba to Europe in celebration of the 500 year anniversary of this capital city.
We finish our summer reading of C.C. Long’s “Home Geography” in EPISODE THIRTY FIVE. Lessons 33 through 45 round out this primer for developing our own geographical imaginations. Long reminds us, “All around are illustrations of lake and river, upland and lowland, slope and valley. These forms must be actually observed by the pupil, mental pictures obtained, in order that he may be enabled to build up in his mind other mental pictures of similar unseen forms.”
