This is a call for the local arts community to make visible in artistic form what a ‘resilient’ Dar es Salaam can look like and how communities can help to achieve this.

The Resilient Dar Mural Challenge is a challenge for graffiti artists, drawing artists, and painters in Tanzania with creative ideas to design murals that focus on the theme of increasing urban resilience to climate and disaster risk. The aim is to creatively bring to life ways that we can all work together to help shape Dar es Salaam as a resilient city - beginning at the community level. This project is supported by the Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme (TURP), a multi-stakeholder initiative using coordinated and strategic action to improve Tanzania’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and adapt to the effects of a changing climate.



Why it should Matter to Apply

Tanzania, like all other countries, is not immune to natural hazards, which have the potential to disrupt communities, cause casualties, and damage or destroy economic assets. Examples of such hazards include flooding, drought, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, tsunami, beach erosion, infestations, and epidemics.


Further increasing the country’s vulnerability to climate risk, Tanzania is also experiencing rapid urbanization, with a population of approximately 52,554,628 million, 1/10th of which calls the city of Dar es Salaam ‘home’. Urban resilience is thus crucial in monitoring, facilitating, maintaining, and recovering a virtual cycle between ecosystem services and human wellbeing.

In April 2018, the city of Dar es Salaam experienced extensive flooding that resulted in 14 casualties and the destruction of basic infrastructure, including roads, water, and sewage systems.

In order for such situations to be avoided in the future, multi-sectoral efforts are being implemented - but action begins at the community level. As agents of cultural shift, art and artists raise the alarm and have the power to further inform and engage the community on this subject. The Resilient Dar Mural Challenge is a great chance for Tanzania’s creative minds to come up with ideas that will guide the community towards making their city more resilient.

General Eligibility Criteria to Apply for the Dar Mural Challenge

• Applicant must be a good drawing artist
• Applicant must be a citizen of Tanzania.
• Applicant must be innovative, creative and self-motivated.
• Applicant must be ready to implement her/his designs or scale-up current projects to materialization.
• Applicant must be willing to attend the workshops and fully participate in each stage until the final.
• Applicant’s ideas must focus on urban resilience for Dar es Salaam

Criteria for Selecting Winners

• Artist work must align with the topic provided (urban resilience for Dar es Salaam)
• Artist work should carry a strong message with a call to action.
• Artist work must be creative, with innovative design clarity.
• Artist work must be original.