Chao Tayiana Maina

Chao Tayiana Maina
Born	1993
Alma mater	Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Glasgow School of Art
Occupation	Historian
Awards	Dan David Prize (2023)
Website	https://headstronghistorian.com/

Chao Tayiana Maina (born 1993 ^[1] ) is a Kenyan historian and digital heritage specialist. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Early life and education

Tayiana spent her childhood in Ngong, which is a town located in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. ^[2] She attended the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in math and computer science. She continued her education at Glasgow School of Art in Scotland where she acquired a master's degree in international heritage visualization. ^[5]

Career

During her schooling days at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, she started documenting the history of old railway stations in Kenya. Her initiative, "Save the Railway", ^[6] has now become an interactive website featuring 50 stations, allowing a wider audience to access and learn about the history of Kenya's railway stations. ^[2]

In 2018 she co-founded the Museum of British Colonialism, an online volunteer collective elevating underrepresented histories of the British colonial empire. In response to destruction of archives and a lack of visual imagery on the Mau Mau rebellion Tayiana led efforts to create 3D reconstructions of detention camps and forced villages where British colonial administration held about 1.5 million Kenyans. ^[7]

Recognizing the need to invest in and support digital initiatives within African museums, Tayiana founded African Digital Heritage, a non-profit organisation based in Nairobi in 2019. ^[8] The organization which has worked with museums in several African countries focuses on digitization, innovation, research, and capacity building, with a commitment to preserving and promoting African histories. ^[9] She sees digital platforms as transformative tools for making historical archives more accessible, driven by a growing demand among younger generations for readily available historical information. This vision has shaped her work in developing platforms that bring archives and stories closer to the public. ^[8]

In 2020 Tayiana started a passion project Open Restitution Africa ^[10] along with her co-founder Molemo Moiloa . ^[11] The project gathers data on current restitution processes and serves as a portal of case studies and best practice examples. It encourages a data-informed, in-depth and challenging debate on the complexities, responsibilities and ethical imperatives of restitution.

Awards and recognition

• Dan David Prize (2013) ^[12]

References

1. Houreld, Katharine (2020-07-10). "Kenyan museum, Mau Mau fighter shed light on British colonial abuses". Reuters . Retrieved 2025-01-30.
2. "How a 'headstrong historian' is rewriting Kenya's colonial history". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN   0882-7729. Archived from the original on 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
3. "Chao Tayiana Maina". Dan David Prize. 2023-02-28. Archived from the original on 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
4. "Tayiana Maina, Chao | Institute of Advanced Studies | Loughborough University". www.lboro.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
5. "ABOUT – HEADSTRONG HISTORIAN". 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
6. "Save the Railway- Documenting Kenya's Railway Stations". African Digital Heritage. 2021-06-07. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
7. Kimeu, Caroline (2023-07-03). "Meet the 'headstrong historian' bringing Africa's past to life – for Africans". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2025-02-07.
8. "Situating Digital Heritage in Africa: An Interview with the DH Specialist and 2023 Dan David Prize Winner, Chao Tayiana Maina (Part 2)". The Digital Orientalist. 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
9. Adwetewa-Badu, Ama Bemma (2024-04-29). "Review: African Digital Heritage". Reviews in Digital Humanities. V (4). ISSN   2766-9297.
10. Somda, Dominique (2024-04-29). "Review: Open Restitution Africa". Reviews in Digital Humanities. V (4). doi:10.21428/3e88f64f.c79d3856. ISSN   2766-9297.
11. "Open Restitution Africa Project". Open Restitution Africa. 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
12. "Dan David Prize, World's largest history prize announces 2023 winner". The Jerusalem Post . 2023-02-28. Archived from the original on 2025-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-30.