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Ever since I started this blog, in 2010, I wanted to create real-life spaces to share its discussions, questions, discoveries, experiments and ideas. I saw Afri-love Fest as an opportunity to bring these things together through a creative market and a programme of workshops, talks and other experiences. We invited some of our favourite creative vendors, spanning beauty, crafts, fashion, food, furniture, literature, stationery, toys and wellness (check out the full list below). This time expect 2 days of creative workshops, talks and experiences, alongside our market of creative vendors spanning fashion, furniture, stationery and more.

The first African Safari Summit brought together different stakeholders from the sector,to reimagine the African Safari. So that’s one of the questions I want to pose here today: how can we get people to connect with Brand Kenya – and the Kenyan safari – on an emotional level? The following are a few ideas: Think about the diverse interest groups out there What does the Kenyan safari have to offer the foodie? What does the Kenyan safari have to offer the astronomy enthusiast [one of my fellow panel members was Susan Murabana of The Travelling Telescope, a social outreach enterprise dedicated to promoting social change using astronomy in Africa.

And if it’s a yes to something that doesn’t move me towards my goals, I’m forced to think about how this impacts that things that could? A few years ago, I realised there’s a particular uncomfortable feeling I get, in my stomach, when I’m about to make a decision that doesn’t serve me. Sometimes it’s loud and clear but, sometimes it’s very subtle. It’s helped me to clearly see how much capacity I have for things that are outside my priority activities.

I’ve created a new series of illustrated portraits for the occasion, inspired by vintage photographs of women around the world. A woman from the Native American Lakota Tribe, photographed in the 1800s A Bedouin woman, photographed between the 1860s and the 1920s You can see the reference photos for these African ladies, as well as other vintage beauties, on my African Style board on Pinterest. These ladies are available: As art prints in our online shop As colouring sheets which you can access for free when you join our mailing list