About the Author

Somjee with a Pokot elder holding peace staffs

For three decades Sultan Somjee has worked on material culture. He has authored several articles and written two text books on the Material Culture: Material Culture of Kenya ( ) and Stories from Things ( ). He has also published three ethnographic fictions that centre of material culture: Bead Bai (2012 ), Home Between Crossings (2015 ) and One who dreams is called a prophet (2020). 

Dr. Somjee’s Ph.D. (McGill University) examined the conflict between the art curriculum in Kenya, based on colonial pedagogy and supported by nationalist and modernization ideals, and the Indigenous art and aesthetic traditions of eastern Africa.

In 1985, Dr. Somjee introduced learning about Indigenous knowledge through material culture in the school curriculum in Kenya. While he was the Head of Ethnography at the National Museums of Kenya, Dr. Somjee started village peace museums with funding from the Mennonite Central Committee. The museums function as civil societies, highlighting indigenous languages, material culture and the arts used over generations for social cohesion. Today, the peace museums have spread from Kenya to Uganda and South Sudan as a people-to-people movement.  

In 2001, the United Nations named Dr. Somjee one among the twelve ‘Unsung Heroes of Dialogue Among Civilizations’ worldwide in recognition of his work on Museums of Peace. In 2002, Dr. Somjee was appointed on the Global Advisory Board of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies.

Book Launch Video

This is a recording from University of British Columbia via LINA's (Liu Institute Network for Africa). This is a virtual launch of the book "One Who Dreams is Called a Prophet" featuring author-ethnographer Somjee and  special guest author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. The book is inspired by the author-ethnographer’s journey into the world of material culture, story telling, indigenous African knowledge and nature that describe Utu, Swahili for ‘being mtu’ or simply ‘being human’. Alama's Walk, the graphic novel is an adaptation of "One Who Dreams is Called a Prophet".