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I Am Seattle Center-Ebony Arunga

EBONY ARUNGA has been working at Seattle Center for eight months, bringing her baby Acello with her every day. She produced Festál’s 20th Anniversary Fete.

“We moved here from Kenya when I was seven. In Kenya my mom designed clothes– she had a sewing studio in her garage with four or five tailors who would come every day and just sew clothes. And every couple of months she would put on a fashion show in the city.  So when we moved here, one of my first memories is actually coming to the Sundiata Festival because she was putting on a fashion show:  she brought that business here. It was called Seaweed International. It was an African clothing store way ahead of its time.

Festál is important and special because it’s the only program in this city where you find so many different cultures and the concentration of those cultures. It’s important because anybody who comes to all 24 festivals is going to learn true and authentic things about each of those cultures. I think of it as a way to have my sons travel the world without leaving Seattle.”

#IAmSeattleCenter #Festal20 #Kenya #fashion #culture #Sundiata