History of the Garden of Wonders

bustani ya maajabu

Two very different people discover in the time in which they are fathering their son, on a distant journey, a wonderful magical place: ARTZOO.
A place so playful and at the same time inspiring - a creative dynamic feeling.
Outside of time and space, we moved in the artwork until we became Paul and Paula for the first time. Even though our names were still formulated at that time, it was here that the first thought for a beautiful, our, idea was born.
A common thought full of happiness and confidence.
The legend of happiness without end...

Die Legende vom Glück ohne Ende...

A son was born, the connection was strengthened and the common thought was cultivated. Like beloved flowers in a garden. So small ideas sometimes grew conceptually, sometimes vividly, often simply fantastically. The bench under zebra palms is one of the first, the buttonstone pavement one of the most current.
Gradually, these enclose the first thought and consolidate it like the shell of a seed. Dry and safe, the thought lingers in the safe and awaits the right place at the right time.
Mother, father, child and the idea of life are 6 years on the search to find the right place at the right time. We got to know beautiful places and great people. Latin American coasts, Asian islands, European wet meadows experienced.

The place at the right time - time for the right place.
Common things draw attention to themselves and away from the thought that provides the center and framework for life. The wonder of an adolescent child and the fulfillment of norms let the thought rest in darkness.
On our way into the world, the elderly invited us to Zanzibar. An African Pacific coral atoll off the east coast of Africa. Nothing spectacular or exceptionally beautiful, no excitement. A lot of space and a lot of time for that in us. Almost too much. Trying to make the right place fit at the wrong time makes us hope and doubt. Is it or not? The doubting means NO only then becomes clear if one does not doubt any more.
First of all we had to become Paul&Paula.
 The name stands in relation to the movie of the same name but still it was down-to-earth. Somewhere in StoneTown. Six years after the discovery of the ARTZOO it was finally time. Inhospitable bush land, water scarcity, no shadow, hardly any sandy beach, barren vegetation. In no imagination as abstract as it was this place fits. And yet ...
At the right time the right place:
Earth → Africa → Tanzania → Zanzibar → Unguja → Kizimkazi-Mtendeni→
Why Kizimkazi?
Many reasons, many maybe.
Why not Kizimkazi?
No light and no reason against it.
It feels good, it feels right!

The hull of the seed is torn, there is no turning back. The end of the thought would be the result. When the first tender root strand searches for water and halt, faith begins. To comprehend is only possible in retrospect and this is still far in the future. The land is cultivated and the conditions are created. Now it needs much water and care for the garden of the miracles of Paul&Paula.
Bustani ya maajabu
garden of wonders
In the style of the 'house of wonder' in stown town, which was built in 1883 with a view to the future, the garden of wonder stands for modernity.
The infrastructural deficit requires isolated technical solutions for solar & wind power, water management, biogas and waste management. Designing these not only functionally, but also representatively and comprehensibly creates knowledge through haptic perception. This makes the garden of wonder a competence centre for applied environmental technology, where workshops and consulting take place.
In addition to energy and water, there is also recycling. In the creative work, products and their manufacture are developed, which creates new livelihoods for the creators.
Spiritual poverty prevents the escape from existential poverty. Spiritual wealth relativizes poverty through ideas from art and culture, which are essential building blocks of development. Art projects as well as a cinema are part of the first idea when it was created at ARTZOO and are the framework of the garden of wonder.
A garden is vegetation, shadow, life. The biodiversity and colourfulness of the garden of wonder stands in contrast to the bushland.