---
title: At Home With a Continent’s Cultural Heritage
date: 2024-10-28T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/at-home-with-a-continents-cultural-heritage"
section: Articles
---
# At Home With a Continent’s Cultural Heritage

*October 28, 2024* — by [Sala Levin ’10](/author/sala-levin-10)


> Alum’s Book Weaves Together African Design Principles and Contemporary Decor

*Kakembo Nasozi 10242024 JC 5541 1920x1080 — Nasozi Kakembo ‘05 poses at home alongside wallpaper inspired by textiles from the Bakuba Kingdom royal court in present-day Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a feathered juju hat. Her new book, "The African Decor Edit," teaches readers how to incorporate traditional African designs into their homes.*

The multicultural aesthetic of Nasozi Kakembo’s ‘05 home when she was growing up felt as natural as the groundnut stew her mother would cook for dinner. Impala hides that decorated the walls were important symbols of her Ugandan-born father’s Baganda tribe, the Senufo statues were mementos from her mother’s travels in West Africa, and the minimalism that governed it all was a holdover from her parents’ time in Germany, where her father attended medical school and her mother was a fashion model and nurse.

But as Kakembo got older, she realized that the tastes of most of her American friends and neighbors in Silver Spring, Md. ran more to the pastel pink sofa set her parents eventually bought from BJ’s Wholesale Club. As an art history student at the University of Maryland, she became interested in understanding more about how the baskets, textiles, furniture and art from her parents’ African heritage could be incorporated into homes around the world.


*"The African Decor Edit: Collecting and Decorating With Heritage Objects" book cover — Cover courtesy of Abrams Books*


*living room decorated with African decor — Kakembo's eclectic living room includes pillows and African decor items she sells through her business.*




**Topics:** [Arts & Culture](https://today.umd.edu/tags/arts-culture), [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Books](https://today.umd.edu/topic/books), [Visual Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/visual-arts), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts)


**Units:** [College of Arts and Humanities](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-arts-and-humanities)