NKULI MLANGENI, 36, FOUNDER AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NINEVITES

Nkuli’s love for travelling was ignited by her mom sending her away to visit relatives during school holidays. As she grew older, so did her fascination with life in other countries. She first lived between Mozambique and Swaziland in 2004. Then in 2006, with no plan other than wanting to feed her curiosity, she explored Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique over six months. Between 2009 and 2012, she got invited on artist residencies all over Europe, then received a scholarship to study art in Switzerland. While doing research on the global textile design industry for her dissertation, Nkuli spent four months in South America with her daughter, during which she lived beween Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. Yet another one of her artist exhibitions and residencies led her to Sweden, where she found love and will be emigrating to after her wedding in March next year.

“Just before I set out on my African travels in 2007, I practised Buddhism. The one concept that resonated with me, which I still use to this day, is that of detachment. I’ve always made it a point to detach myself from material possessions. I designed my career in a way that will allow me to work remotely and travel extensively. I love that with travelling, I sometimes find myself in humbling circumstances where I don’t understand the local language, and am forced to depend on the kindness of others. Being in these, and other such challenging situations, makes me realise that I am this small human being in a big universe with lots to still learn.”

Travelling, to me, is… Freedom. Plus, it also allows me to dream big!