Hiistoriya is a digital platform dedicated to conserving, promoting, and sharing the rich culture and history of the East African coast, with a special focus on Swahili heritage. We believe that history is not just written — it is heard, seen, and felt. Through stories, images, and sound, we connect past, present, and future, making heritage accessible and meaningful for coastal communities and global audiences alike.
Vision
To build a community-led living archive that reclaims and reimagines Swahili heritage through community voices, art, and storytelling.
Objectives
- To preserve cultural knowledge and historical practices through research, digital archiving, storytelling, and public engagement.
- To highlight lesser-known narratives and traditions of coastal communities, offering insights into the arts, lifestyle, heritage, language, and people of the East African coast.
- To reclaim the right of communities to narrate, care for, and control their own histories — challenging colonial and institutional frameworks.
- To center women as storytellers and memory keepers, ensuring their voices shape how history is remembered and reimagined.
- To decolonize heritage research by restoring authority to the true custodians of knowledge — elders, artisans, poets, and local historians.
- To promote participatory, community-led research and storytelling, created with communities rather than about them.