Welcome to Ninna(uk)!

London's calling... see what I did there with my name - I'm really proud of that!

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Hey there and welcome to my blog! My name is Ninnaku, I'm a 25 y/o master student who will be continuing my master's degree in Theology and Christian Art at King's College London - eeek! Needless to say, I'm extremely excited for this next year and wanted to document and share my experiences with a blog. My hope is to share a few things of the process I go through, from the application process to finding my feet to classes and navigating around London.

Who am I?

If you don't know me, or even if you do, let me share a little intro to the basics. I'm based in Pretoria, South Africa, where I grew up and live with my mom, dad, and sister - a young architecture student who focuses on sustainability and green architecture (super cool! - check out her insta @archi_kita). I completed by undergrad in Theology at the University of Pretoria along with my 3rd year Ancient Languages, an honours in Ancient History, and a masters in Theology.

As a young scholar my work focuses on exploring Mary of Nazareth from a protestant feminist perspective using Christian Art as a point of departure and exploration. My aim is to bring the presence of Mary to protestant reformed tradition to not only introduce a female voice where there is none, but to help people connect with a hidden figure in Christianity who might be more accessible to those who have felt excluded in the past, or those who resonate with a female presence. Through using art as an access point the complex and nuanced history of Christianity can be brought to life and become a new way through which people can explore ad connect not only with Mary, but with their spirituality.

Apart from these fun academic facts about me (can't help but talk shop, I always say as theologians our work is a key part to who we are as people), a few things to know about me; I'm a pisces, I love gardening and growing flowers (and I actually keep them alive lol), I love musicals and really any type of movie, I was one of those kids obsessed with ancient history and archaeology growing up, and I'm fiercely loyal and protective when it comes to friends and family. But enough about me...

I'll be using this blog as a type of diary, and although I've never been good with keeping up a diary, I really want this blog to be an amalgamation of my thoughts, tips on studying oversea and applying for scholarships, travels around London and Europe, and some of my work from my course and museum visits - and anything I can come up with along the way or wanted to share. To a big extent I think I'm starting this and writing this message as a way of preparing myself for what lies ahead, and how wonderful will it be to look back at a page filled with expectations, memories, and also fears. Anyway, thank you for reading so far and I hope you find something interesting along the way.

Chat soon xxx

As a 'see you soon' conclusion, I hope this blog can help and inspire you - whether it's also studying overseas, keeping up with what I do, or just looking at some nice pictures from museums. I have a few different links to different things which might interest you, so go take a look at the tabs up top or get in touch with me if you have some questions (or good spots to visit).

- Ninna