HADITHI YA KATIKATI
HADITHI YA KATIKATI

The Story of In-Between

Raised between Congo and Belgium, Michel Kambi developed Hadithi ya Katikati through conversations with young people from the African diaspora. The project explores what it means to grow up between cultures, where the stories experienced at home often contrast with the ways Congo and Africa are represented in the public sphere. While family and community preserve narratives of love, heritage, resilience, and cultural pride, public discourse still frequently reduces them to colonialism, conflict, and poverty.

Developed through participatory research, the collection translates these collective narratives into an archive book, a carpet, headdresses, and a stool. Together, the objects explore cultural transmission, visibility, belonging, and the continuous negotiation of living between different worlds, balancing tradition and integration, memory and future, Congo and Belgium.

Rather than offering fixed answers, Hadithi ya Katikati proposes design as a language for storytelling and cultural representation. The collection is designed to foster understanding between communities, creating spaces where dialogue, recognition, and shared experiences can strengthen connections between people.

Archive book

Archive book p1

Archive book p22: research headdress

Archive book p36: research furniture

Archive book p25: research headdress

Archive book p12: research textile

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