Kaspale’s Playground grapples with public memory, parts of which are not (yet) so public. Revisiting Kenya’s recent history, Syowia Kyambi brings to the fore the many layers of violence that underpinned former President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi’s 24-year rule in Kenya. The work came about as a need to engage with Kenya’s post-independence era and a desire to dismantle a symbol of fear and oppression. To investigate the oppressive nature of a regime in which Kyambi grew up in and which informed her sense of self during her most formative years. She selected Nyayo House as a focus as it is a strong symbol not only in her memories but also in today’s time. Kaspale’s Playground seeks to publicly claim both the remembering and the telling of this history in ways that are not mediated by a supposed shared national memory. With Moi’s recent passing this history has been whitewashed and made to appear like a peaceful and unproblematic President. This project is a truth-telling.
