Our Work
Preserving Heritage. Creating Knowledge. Building Connections.
Our Work brings together the research, documentation, knowledge-sharing, partnerships and cultural initiatives through which Agìkūyū Women and Men advances its mission.
While our Programmes focus on specific groups and learning or cultural activities, Our Work reflects the wider work we undertake to document, preserve, develop and share knowledge about Agìkūyū heritage and African cultural thought.
Research, Knowledge & Publications
Our Research, Knowledge & Publications work provides a space for generating, documenting and sharing knowledge emerging from our engagement with Agìkūyū culture, history, language, traditions, indigenous knowledge and African cultural thought.
We are interested in research that takes African knowledge systems seriously and creates opportunities for cultural knowledge to be documented, examined, preserved and made accessible to Agìkūyū communities and wider audiences.
Research Consultancy & Academic Support
We provide research consultancy and academic support to Master's, Doctorate (PhD) and Postdoctoral students, as well as other researchers undertaking research related to Agìkūyū culture and history.
Our areas of support may include Agìkūyū history and heritage, Gìkūyū language and oral literature, indigenous knowledge systems, religion and spirituality, rituals and cultural practices, gender and community life, traditional knowledge and memory, African cultural thought, heritage preservation, and contemporary transformations of African traditions.
Support may include research topic development, contextual and background research, cultural and historical perspectives, research guidance, documentation approaches, interpretation of cultural materials, and, where appropriate, connections with relevant knowledge holders and cultural resources.
Through this work, we seek to encourage research that is culturally informed, respectful of community knowledge and attentive to the richness and diversity of Agìkūyū experiences and histories.
Publications & Knowledge Sharing
Our publications library features articles, research papers, essays, educational materials and other original publications emerging from our research and engagement with Agìkūyū heritage and African cultural knowledge.
Selected publications may be available as paid articles, allowing readers to purchase individual pieces through the website using M-Pesa or Visa and access the full publication after payment.
This model helps make research and cultural knowledge more accessible while creating a sustainable way of supporting continued research, documentation and publication.
Heritage, Documentation & Partnerships
We document and engage with aspects of Agìkūyū heritage that are at risk of being forgotten or becoming inaccessible to future generations.
Our documentation work includes language, oral traditions, stories, songs, indigenous knowledge, historical memory, cultural practices and community knowledge.
We recognize that heritage is not only found in written records. It is also carried through people, families, communities, memories, language, practices and intergenerational knowledge. Our work therefore seeks to support the careful documentation and transmission of knowledge in ways that respect its cultural context.
Partnerships & Collaboration
We collaborate with individuals, researchers, cultural organizations, educational and research institutions, community members and other partners whose work contributes to the preservation, documentation and transmission of African cultural heritage and knowledge.
Through these partnerships, we create opportunities for knowledge exchange, collaborative research, cultural documentation, educational initiatives and other forms of engagement with Agìkūyū and African heritage.
Cultural Projects & Knowledge Exchange
We develop and support cultural projects that create meaningful opportunities for people to engage with heritage, knowledge, language and identity.
Our projects may bring together women, men, young people, children, elders, families and communities around particular aspects of Agìkūyū heritage and cultural knowledge.
These initiatives may include oral history projects, cultural documentation, language and heritage initiatives, educational resources, community-based projects, exhibitions, conversations, storytelling, creative projects and other forms of cultural engagement.
Across Generations
We are particularly interested in creating spaces where knowledge can move across generations and between communities — from elders to younger people, through families, and between different holders and expressions of cultural knowledge.
Through our cultural projects, we seek not only to preserve the past but also to create opportunities for communities to reconnect with, reflect on and carry their heritage forward.
