At Creative Studios Limited, we conduct business in English when it comes to all our papertrail. It is afterall the official business language. However when we are in the studio, on the phone and in our client’s spaces, half of our business is conducted in our mother tongue – Kiswahili. And today, on Mother Language Day, we want to acknowledge and celebrate that part of our identity.
Every year on February 21st, people around the world celebrate International Mother Language Day. This observance, proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999, highlights the importance of linguistic diversity and the preservation of mother tongues. While the significance of this day resonates across various fields and communities, its relevance to interior designers and Swahili businesses offers a unique perspective worth exploring.
At Creative Studios Limited, we believe in preserving our cultural identity through design, since interior design is about creating spaces that reflect cultural identities and individual narratives. Our principal was once asked by her board IID, if as an African designer she embraces her cultural identity in her designs and this challenged her to always have nuances of our roots in our designs.
International Mother Language Day underscores the role of language in shaping cultural identity. For interior designers like us, understanding the cultural nuances embedded within different languages can inform design choices and help us create spaces that resonate deeply with our clients’ cultural backgrounds.
When it comes to KiSwahili, a language spoken by millions across East Africa it carries with it a rich cultural heritage. By integrating elements of Swahili culture into interior design, like we did for a residential house we will be fitting out in Iringa, we help our clients connect with their roots and create spaces that feel authentic and meaningful, whether through bespoke furniture, traditional patterns, textiles, or architectural motifs.
Through the help of our local crafts people and our partners at Dolson Interiors and Ferre iras we are able to achieve that element of Africanism that is often forgotten with the rise of modern designs through Westernisation, with the world now having become a village.
As we commemorate International Mother Language Day, interior designers and Swahili businesses alike are reminded of the profound impact language and culture have on their respective fields.
Through design and business practices that reflect the beauty and diversity of languages, we not only enrich the spaces we inhabit but also affirm the fundamental importance of language as a cornerstone of human identity and expression.
