African artist honours his roots
A MALAWIAN-born artist, marking his first solo exhibition in Cape Town, says he is honoured to go back to his roots.
Samson Kambalu, who is currently based in London, will launch his exhibition Ghost Dance, which will be displayed in Goodman Gallery in Woodstock, from Saturday to August 12.
The exhibition is composed of several multimedia installations, centred around videos which the artist made in the US in the last three years.
“It is good to show my art on the continent. I feel like I am bringing it home,” he said.
The films are labelled Nyau cinema, from the Malawian Chewa Gule Wamkulu ritual, in which Kambalu grounds his artistic experience.
Each movie follows an array of rules, established by Kambalu and mostly defined by interaction and spontaneity. As per his personal rule, “a film must not last longer than one minute”.
Ghost Dance provides an alternative non-Western perspective on the concept of time.
“The African vision of time, defined as a set of ruptures, is at play in my work as opposed to linear time and duration, on which the so-called civilized world is founded,” he said.
Kambalu advocates an approach to life that relies on sharing moments.
“My creations are based on a continued exploration of how we might find meaning in what appears to be meaningless.
“That is the spirit running through my films”, he said.
“Art creates this playful atmosphere where the people are free to be generous, without the obligation of capitalism,” he added.
Kambalu is adamant to maintain his African identity. “Filming helped me to make sense of where I am going. The whole word is like a film set for me,” he said,
Kambalu’s work is autobiographical and he places great emphasis on performing himself in his videos.
“To shoot the videos, I walk along the streets with a digital camera and randomly ask strangers to film me.”