The Art Piece

The life and movement of Sintamei, a female lion in the Maasai Mara, rendered as data architecture. This sculpture, created by Daria Smakhtina, traces five months of the life of this lion, one of three female members of the KWS Pride, with the sculpture’s vertical dimension reflecting the animal’s patterns of movement over time.

The Lion

Sintamei’s pride was chosen to be collared as the lions’ movements were known to overlap with community areas. This lion only spent 3.4% of her time outside protected areas, which is a significantly small amount of time spent in unprotected areas, yet can still be extremely risky if there is low predator tolerance. Some of the territory she covered overlaps with Maasai homesteads as well as cattle corridors.

The Collection

Tracing The Wild is built from data reflecting the biosocial interactions and
coexistence of lions and human communities in the Mara, and is intended as a way to express the life of these rare predators who are tracked and protected by the innovative conservation organisation Kenya Wildlife Trust.

Nairobi Design Week 2023 Exhibition

This exhibition shines a light on Kenya Wildlife Trust's crucial work stewarding the predator ecosystem of the Mara, and 50% proceeds from sales of all Tracing The Wild artworks benefits Kenya Wildlife Trust’s work directly, with 30% going to the artists and 10% to Nairobi Design and 10% to Sovereign Nature Initiative.