Light at the end of the tunnel for African Heritage House

Just hours before Strathmore University was to open its Save African Heritage House Day in the school’s spacious auditorium last weekend, dramatic events were unfolding which may well signal a significant change in the circumstance for ‘‘the most photographed house in Africa”.

Friday, August 1, was the day African Heritage House (AHH) director Alan Donovan had been waiting for. Having been in limbo ever since he received the news in early January that the government was planning to re-route the standard gauge railway line, Donovan finally saw a glimmer of hope.

In theory, a straight railway track between Nairobi and Mombasa is a fine idea given the original railway constructed in 1898 meandered circuitously across the Athi plains.

A number of factors contributed to the rail construction back then, including the fact that the builders never envisaged a future in which a high-speed railway would only be able to sustain its momentum if the curves were ironed out.

Unfortunately, Donovan hadn’t heard of the government’s plan to run the railway line straight through his home until uniformed men carrying AK-47s, accompanied by a team of Chinese men, showed up at his front door. The police told him bluntly to get out of his house, as if the programme was already a done deal.

Fortunately, the co-founder of the African Heritage Pan African Gallery, with Kenya’s second vice president, the late Joseph Murumbi, wasn’t going to take the news lying down, although he was briefly hospitalised with a stress-related condition immediately after meeting the Chinese.

Raise awareness

But since then, Donovan has been struggling to raise awareness not just about the government’s intention but also about the cultural value of the house since it contains a priceless collection of thousands of African art, artefacts, musical instruments, jewellery, furniture, textiles and books from around the continent.

Not only is the content of the house important, the building is an architectural feat. Constructed out of cement, wattle and mud and designed by Donovan himself, the former student of African art at UCLA incorporated features found in the magnificent mud castles of Mali and Northern Nigeria into his home.

It’s a home he had always intended to leave as a legacy of the Murumbis and AHH to whoever would keep it intact and appreciate the value of African culture and art. That meant he had seriously contemplated partnering with an American university to turn AHH into an African cultural research centre.

He’s also been approached by several other academic institutions, but none of those proposals will mean a thing if the house is demolished as some observers believed was inevitable.

Nonetheless, Donovan has steadily built a fan base to support the campaign to Save AHH from demolition. His supporters have even launched an online petition which offers friends of AHH a chance to chime in their insistence that the house be preserved.

One such fan is Luis Franceschi, who in addition to being the dean of Strathmore’s Law School is also a blogger who had written powerful essays analysing why the government would be unwise to demolish AHH.

The other distinguishing feature of Franceschi, apart from his deep appreciation of Donovan, African art and the AHH, is his far-reaching network of friends, some of who occupy influential positions in the government. One such person is Dr Thomas Konyimbi, the chairman of the Compulsory Land Acquisition Commission.

Franceschi managed to take Dr Konyimbi to AHH on August 1 to tour all the three floors of the house. “By the time we got to the third floor, (with its spectacular view of Nairobi National Park and the old railway line), Dr Konyimbi said he was convinced there was no way the house could be brought down,” said Donovan who admits that day was the first time he could see light at the end of the tunnel.

Somewhat of a mystery

Previously it had been somewhat of a mystery as to who would make the final decision with regard as to whether the house would be brought down or not. But now Donovan feels he finally may have found the man who can lead him out of limbo into the light of day.

In the meantime, Strathmore continues to support the campaign to save AHH. Even has also commissioned Donovan to curate the interiors of five out of the university’s seven buildings at its Nairobi West campus. It was Luis Borrallo, Strathmore’s Director of Advancement, who after reading articles about Donovan and AHH in the press invited him to consider doing the interior décor of the three new buildings that the school had just put up

Today Donovan has curated the science management building as well as the auditorium, student centre and law school. In addition, he has also taught African art courses at Strathmore, using the Murumbi collection.

The fate of AHH has yet to be finalised, but the success of Strathmore’s Save AHH Day combined with his positive meeting with a key decision maker in the Lands Commission gives Donovan hope that he may be reaching a turning point in his struggle to keep the legacy of Pan African culture live.

Now only time will tell.