Kikuyu mythology tells the story of nine daughters, the ancestral mothers of a nation born at the foot of Mount Kenya. Each daughter established a clan, providing the foundation for a whole people. Among them was Wangui.
Today, it remains tradition for a child to be named after her grandmother to honour the matriarchs of the past.

My name is Melissa Wangui Prieske, a Kenyan-German artist currently living in Detmold, Germany. To me, the name Wangui is an anchor to my Kenyan roots.

I remember visiting my mother’s hometown in Central Kenya as a child. As is common in the countryside, my aunties would refer to me by my second name. It felt strange at first, but soon I would feel a shift in energy, as if I were stepping into a new persona:

Wangui ran through the tea hills until her feet ached. She spent hours catching tadpoles and crabs in the river down the valley, watching the sun glisten on an endless ocean of tea leaves. She would return at dusk, covered in scratches and dirt, knowing the day was well spent.

Today, I realize I have never felt as free or as connected to myself as I did then and there. As an artist, I draw inspiration from that wild child. She is the intuition that guides my creative process.