Through fragmentation and layering, an artist, Benon Lutaaya, used leftover materials to create an artwork. Those fragments, each telling their respective story, narrating a collective tale of an image of a child. Using a similar approach for design, drawing a conceptual 2D piece from several layers served as an initial design language that later manifested into 3D forms that altered and twisted in response to the design and site needs. Several pieces, all working in harmony, producing outdoor and indoor spaces with the required spatial experience. All acting as a single holistic entity.

“Lost Cultures of The Nile” is a revival center hosted by a touristic port. This story-telling walkthrough allows users to discover who and what was lost from Africa’s collective identity. As we go deeper, we transcend into knowing the intimate and detailed aspects of individuals that tried to protect their identity but were also forgotten. It is dedicated as a major memorial at the center of the continent north of Lake Victoria in Jinja, Uganda, acting as an entrance for the Nile project. The revival center mission is to revive, sustain, and empower the culture and communities involved within the project through different stages that the visitor gets to experience and interact with.

Through the full tour, the visitors will arrive at the terminal’s port and enter through the weaving walls into the “collective hall”, where they will meet ambassadors of each culture and get to know the tour paths and rules. Visitors will then head to the “origin hall”, where they will be exposed to the different cultures through languages, masks, arts, crafts, etc. until they ascend through a ramp onto the “museum”, overlooking all the complex, exposing the activities they have finished and the activities they will soon be doing. This space is dedicated to the cultures that are already lost, acting as a black box for these artifacts but also as a statement for the rest of the cultures that are soon to be forgotten and lost if not for the help of the visitors.

Visitors will then descend through another ramp to the first floor of the “interactive exhibition”, where they will observe natives crafting and teaching their techniques to other visitors. The ramp rotates the skinless statue memorial dedicated to the racial wars between the tribes, which stands at double height, pointing at the outer pocket area. At the ground level, visitors will create art works themselves and learn about cultures that they choose.

The “oculus hall” is an outdoor social focal point where they can sit and relax, discussing different topics with different tribe members in a work-free environment. Once they are ready, they will set out to the “commercial exhibition” to buy pieces that they have made, made by previous visitors, or by the tribes themselves, all in an attempt to promote and spread awareness of these tribes and their cultures so that they may never be endangered again. Next, they will head to the tribal themed restaurants, through the vegetated gardens, where they will observe different species of plants originating from the hometowns of these different tribes, contributing into making a more suitable setting as a holistic context using not only man-made art but through nature as a medium as well.