IFRA Seminar - Frames of Difference: Race, Space, and Colonial Order at Mathari Mental Hospital (1925–1930) by Naïma Maggetti

On 13th January 2026, Naima Maggetti presented her paper titled 'Frames of Difference: Race, Space and Colonial Order at Mathari Mental Hospital (1925-1930)'. She explored how racial hierarchy was embedded in the architecture, routine, therapy and representation at Mathari Mental Hospital, and how the hospital functioned as a microcosm of colonial society : a space where racial, gendered, and social distinctions were not only enforced administratively, but also lived, naturalised, and visual...