Mariam, a multitalented artist and stylist, lives with intention and a slower pace. She often wanders through the forests around Stockholm, drawn to pieces that remind her of her West African heritage. In the smooth curves of wood, she sees the same material used to carve the kora, a traditional Malian instrument. Though she’s never played the kora, she loves listening to it. “Not everyone can play kora; there are rules in Africa. It’s traditionally played by griots, who pass the craft down within families,” she says. “The griots are the guardians of the oral tradition, the storytellers.”

Mariam recalls how her parents would play Toumani Diabaté’s music on long car journeys. “Even if I don’t understand everything, the melody rocks me and brings me a little closer to the beauty of my culture and my ancestors.”

For her, it’s powerful to see how different cultures can use the same materials in unique ways, yet all with a feeling of connection. She reflects on the likeness between Stockholm’s woodlands and Mali’s landscapes on her walks. Even with such distance between them, there’s a unity in nature, a feeling that everything is connected. This thought brings her peace, a reminder of how we’re all linked to one another.