Voicing the Voiceless: A Videography Approach to Studying Theatre, Architecture, and Decolonisation in Kamirithu, Kenya.

Abstract

Led by Kenny Cupers in collaboration with the author, Kamirithu Afterlives is a Swiss-funded research project exploring theatre, architecture, and the legacies of decolonisation in Kamirithu, Limuru, Kenya. The multi-modal project traces the historical transformation of Kamirithu from a British colonial concentration camp established during the 1952 Mau Mau uprising into a vibrant site of post-independence cultural resistance. In 1976, residents, including carpenters and artisans, collaborated with Sultan Somjee, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and Ngugi wa Mirii to construct an open-air theatre on the site of a former Social Hall. The community and the authors collaboratively wrote the play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), staged on the site. The play critiqued the corruption of Kenya’s postcolonial governance and labour exploitation in the neighboring Bata shoe Company and the multinational tea plantations. The play’s popularity and revolutionary ethos led to the theatre’s demolition by the state and the imprisonment of Ngugi wa Thiong’o and harassment of participants. This research re-engages with the site and its history, emphasizing the community's enduring narratives and legacies of decolonial resistance. Through audio-visual ethnography, the project centres the voices of those historically marginalised, such as James Githiga Mwaura, a former actor in the play, who questioned the extractive tendencies of academic research. In response, the team recorded in-depth video interviews, later made publicly accessible via https://kamiriithuafterlives.net/ensuring community involvement in the dissemination and interpretation of findings. The study employs image theory (Konecki, 2011) and ethnographic methods to highlight how video can act both as documentation and as a medium of empowerment, allowing participants to reclaim agency over their historical narratives. These audiovisual narratives contribute to a broader understanding of postcolonial memory, built environments, and performative resistance, offering an alternative historiography grounded in lived experience.