Siteiya Warui popularly known online as Sunshyn Siteiya is a polymath. She is an award-winning film production designer, art director, creative designer and props master. In other words, she is a creative fundi with a wild imagination. She sees colours vividly, knows how to play with them, how to build concepts for different sets. Perhaps the most endearing thing about her is that she is unafraid to get her hands dirty be it climbing ladders haggling at a hardware or plastering a wall.
In this episode, we begin with a poetry reading - The Twist by Edward Kamau Brathwaite from A poetry Course for KCSE book.
Siteiya tells Njeri of the pure coincidence that led her on a path to becoming a production designer. The convo then moves to her becoming a creative polymath (Award-Winning Film Production) Designer, Freelance Art Director Creative Designer and Props Master), her work on 40 Sticks on Netflix and the experience of winning the Best Production designer Kalasha Awards in 2020. Working with Osborne Macharia for the set of Lwanda Rockman.
Siteiya opens up about her struggles working in a male-dominated industry, challenging conventional wisdom about women in set designs ( that Kazi ya mjengo si ya wanawake) & dealing with stereotypes on & off the job.
Finally, Njeri and Siteiya speak on how her love for transforming small spaces keeps her going despite being labelled too expensive after winning awards. She also shares different projects she has been doing and her efforts in mentoring young women.
Follow Siteiya's work: https://siteiya.co.ke/
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Find/buy my poetry collection Mines & Mindfields; My spoken words.
Have thoughts, feedback or questions about the episode, email njeriwangari@kenyanpoet.com
The making of this Episode was proudly supported by EUNIC Kenya