Hello! My name is Matilya, I'm a professional horticulturalist and plant lover based in Leeds. I specialise in therapeutic and community gardening, medicinal plants and spend most of my time facilitating connections between plants and people.
My creative practice is centred around connecting with my ancestors and Kenyan heritage. The land knows me intimately and I spend all of my time learning all the lessons it has for me.
You can find out more about my practice as I journey with you on this page and on my website (link in bio!)
Photo credit: Tom Ip
Step into the mystic 🔮
Yorkshire Contemporary invites you to an unforgettable evening of contemporary performance art and live music ✨
Cabaret Mystic takes over the historic Rowland Road Working Mens’ Club, bringing together Leeds based artists exploring alternative traditions, from folklore to the occult.
Inspired by the spirit of social club variety shows, join us for an exciting line up of newly commissioned performances by Vee Dagger @veedagger , Matilya Njau @mimea__ , David Steans @complainingvisitor and Lucy Wright @lucy_j_wright .
With live music from Ultimate Thunder @ultimatethunderleeds and event photography by Emma Bentley Fox @emmabfox , this is set to be an unmissable evening celebrating Leeds’ artist community.
Save the date!
📆 Thu 18 June 2026
⏰ 7–11pm
🆓 Free, booking required via Eventbrite
For further information please see the link in our bio ✨
Image credit. Image courtesy of Yorkshire Contemporary. Photography by Jules Lister.
#leeds #westyorkshire #contemporaryperformance #livemusic #savethedate #leeds400
How do the plants choose us? How do they slowly make their way into our family lineages? Or were they always there?
Over the last year on the Practise Leeds programme, I've been delving further into my creative practice and thinking about the way plants start to feel like kin, like our ancestors. I've always experienced them as this, as conscious beings who teach and guide me.
Last October I spent some time doing research in the archives at Kew Gardens, reading through letters from 'plant hunters', meeting my own plant ancestors and processing how it feels to meet those beings you love so tenderly in a place like Kew which is shrouded in difficult and violent history. I've been responding to this through watercolour and zine making, a practise I have returned to and it's been a healing way of expressing the grief I've been feeling and reimagining what repair and reconnection might look like.
This week I'm travelling to Kenya for the next stage of this R&D process, meeting my Plantcestors in their home, documenting my elder's relationships with plants and going through my family archive. A big trip, a true homecoming (after 9 years!!) and I can't wait to see what the next stage of this project will bring 🌸
And thank you to @yorkshirecontemporary and my mentor Marleen Boschen for all the guidance, mentorship and support on this journey!!
A belated ~ happy Plant New Year!! ~ ☀️
Thanks so much to everyone who came down the Spring Equinox Herb Study Club social a couple of weeks ago. We had lots of fun in a new space cooking up some nettle soup, making wild garlic salt and setting some Spring intentions. We also played with some elderberry ink and sipped on a non alcoholic nettle gimlet (gin, lime juice, nettle syrup) and the oh so nourishing cleavers water.
Since Winter Solstice we've had two regular herb clubs exploring Apple and Plantain, tasting them in tea and tincture forms. The drawings that come out of herb club always really move me - seeing how the plants works through us collectively and creatively!
We are hoping to collate all the drawings and our musings into a zine by the end of the year. I'll be setting up a working group to develop this so let me know if you'd like to join!
The next herb study clubs for this season will be:
Sunday 10th May
Sunday 7th June
Sunday 5th July
As always, if you'd like to find out more, email me at [email protected] to be added to the mailing list or send a DM with your email!
Last week I had the pleasure of facilitating a post film coffee ritual and Q&A at @hydeparkph for the screening of Amakki, a tender matriarchal film set in Ethiopia. We slowly drank a choice of dandelion coffee (made by me) and some blends by North Star coffee roasters, reflecting on the film and our relationship with the coffee plant, joined by the film's amazing director @celiabouss
Grateful to be able to include ritual as part of my creative practice and super thankful to Hyde Park Picture House and @mosa_mpetha for having me!
If you didn't catch the event, you can read my reflections on Hyde park picture house's online journal at /journal/reflections-on-amakki-by-artist-horticulturist-matilya-njau
(Look at the froth on the dandelion coffee in the third pic - it's been giving me a super charge as we head into Spring!)
Herb study club social 🌼
Spring is imminent (phew) and I'll be hosting a Spring Equinox social to celebrate the plant new year!
Expect a similar set up to the Winter Solstice event with some herbal mocktails, snacks, crafts and a chance to find out what we get up to at Herb Study Club. We might also make some food together..
This event will be at the gorgeous Meanwood Institute, a community space next to Meanwood park.
If you want to come along, DM or email me at matilya [email protected] :)
Winter Solstice Herb Study Club ❄️
Just before Christmas, I hosted the final herb study club of the year in honour of Winter Solstice!
We celebrated with all the plant friends we've made over the year and I also made some herbal treats to snack on. On the menu:
🏵️ A sage gimlet (non alcoholic) - sage infused syrup, 0% gin, lime juice
🏵️ Boozy chocolate jelly ear fungus - the jelly ear mushrooms were dehydrated and then infused in brandy before dipping them in chocolate. The jelly ears were foraged around Leeds and they love to live on Elder trees.
🏵️ Candied Elecampene roots - the roots were coated in honey and then dehydrated. A truly sensory experience!! + would make a great cough sweet..
There was also a guess the tea blend game, match the plant to the image quiz and a big herb quiz. Well done to the winners hehe and thank you so much to everyone who has come to herb study club in its first year.
I'll be restarting sessions on Sunday 1st February at Thackray Museum of Medicine. If you'd like to join, DM me or email me at [email protected] to join the mailing list
Can't wait to journey with you again this year!
The last two sessions of Herb Study club have involved some deep rootwork exploring our Elecampene and Burdock elders. We've also been experimenting with drawing in the sessions and seeing how the plants move through us creatively. We spend 5-10 minutes drawing whatever comes up after sipping the tea. It's been so interesting seeing the connections between our drawings even though no one (apart from me hehe) knows what the plant is!
Do these drawings reveal the plants' agency in the space? Things I'm reflecting on currently...
Regular sessions of Herb club have now finished for the year but there's still the Winter Solstice celebration to look forward to!!
🌀 Sunday 21st Dec - 1-3.30pm, Thackray Museum
Picture some odd looking herbal snacks, mocktails and a quiz! There might even be some prizes to win 👀
If you want to come along, DM or email me at [email protected] to join the mailing list :)
Thanks so much to everyone who came to the first practical Herb Study Club session today!
We made an echinacea, elderberry and hyssop syrup (+ a dash of thyme tincture) to stave off winter colds along with some separate tastings of echinacea root tea and hyssop tea!
The next normal Herb Study Club session will be on Sunday 2nd November. Expect some spooky stillness 🕸️
As always, email me on [email protected] to join the mailing list 🌱
Herb study club update!
It's been a gorgeous 7 months (!!) of herb club!
Plants we've been spending time with have been:
Cleavers, Dandelion leaf, Hawthorn flowers, Californian Poppy, Mugwort, Lemon Balm and Rosehips 🌱
For those curious about joining, we focus on one herb per month and spend time interacting with it mostly through an infusion (but not always!) that I have prepared in advance. We will observe, smell and taste it together sipping it nice and slowly and thinking about where it might be going in our bodies, how it makes us feel and what memories it may bring up.
The point is surrendering - to our bodies, to the plant and forming deeper relationships with the non human beings around us.
This Autumn I'll also be adding some practical sessions!
The next one is on Sunday 19th October and we'll be learning how to make our own cough syrup!
If you'd like to join, send me a DM with your email address and I'll add you to the mailing list so you can sign up!
Expect lots of roots, berries and autumnal feelings as we head into the cooler season 🍄
Back in June, I had the joy of contributing to Sustenance — a shared community meal hosted by the talented @edible.archives and the @britishlibrary for @bradford_2025 at their touring venue The Beacon.
The event brought people together through food, storytelling and place — celebrating ingredients gathered from around Bradford.
For the occasion, I created a special tea blend: elderflower, rose, and lemon balm — foraged or grown by me:
✨ Elderflower from Bowling Park (where the event took place)
🌹 Rose petals from around Sunnybank Mills
🌿 Lemon balm from my Leeds allotment
I led a guided tea tasting, inviting guests to reflect on how plants connect us — to the land, to each other, and to ourselves. There’s so much power in growing and eating locally and so much connection and joy can be found in a just single sip 🍵
Grateful to be part of such a nourishing space. 💛
Photo credit: David Lindsay
Introducing Practice: Leeds!
We’re excited to launch the second strand of our artist development programme — Practice: Leeds.
Yorkshire Contemporary will support the development of emerging talented artists Thahmina Begum @artbyfudgee , Rhian Cooke @rhiancooke and Matilya Njau @_mimea___
Each artist brings a unique voice, a strong sense of direction, and a shared commitment to participation and education in their work.
Through tailored mentoring and dedicated support, they’ll have the opportunity to further develop their artistic practices and gain greater recognition.
✨ Get to know the artists and their work — head to the link in our bio to learn more
#yorkshirecontemporary #artistdevelopment #leedsart
