The Urbnet team working on Zanzibar has been working together with the Department of Antiquities on the archipelago to develop heritage resources around some of the early urban sites on the archipelago. Although tourism on the islands is a major source of revenue for the local economy and cultural heritage tourism is well-developed, the focus has always been on the 19th-century Omani period on Zanzibar and on Zanzibar town which grew during that period.
The team has produced a series of posters and displays for the visitor centre at Unguja Ukuu, drawing on Urbnet research and the broader history of work at the site. These will be displayed as the main part of the exhibition at Unguja Ukuu.
In addition, we have produced a podcast - Zanzibar’s Hidden History – which explores the site of Unguja Ukuu as a way of illustrating this remarkable period on the coast.
The podcast can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/university-of-york/zanzibar-hidden-history
Grants: This work was funded through the University of York.
PI: Stephanie Wynne-Jones (Urbnet and University of York)
