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until 29.10. | #3603ARTatBerlin | Galerie Nordenhake Berlin presents from 10. September 2022 (Vernissage: 09.09) the exhibition “Mdondo” by the artist Samson Kambalu. It is his first solo exhibition in Deutschland.
With “Mdondo,” Samson Kambalu presents his first solo exhibition in Germany. The show provides an overview of his most recent work, combining several series in an expansive presentation: Nyau cinema videos, synopsis text works, flags, a new large sculpture, and the maquette for Antelope, the sculpture that was awarded the Fourth Plinth Commission and will be on view at London’s Trafalgar Square from September 14 for two years.
In his playful, multi-media practice, Kambalu fuses aspects of Nyau culture, a secret society of the Chewa in Malawi known for their ritual mask performances, with the anarchic and anti-material practices of the Situationists and the aesthetic legacy of early and expressionist film. His work is often autobiographical and shaped by his research on emancipatory movements and the multiple and merging belief systems that he encountered during his youth in Malawi.
Samson Kambalu, Red Country Crosser, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 cm
Samson Kambalu was born in Malawi in 1975. He lives and works in Oxford, where he is an associate professor for fine art and a lifelong fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. He has held research fellowships at Yale University and the Smithsonian Institute. Kambalu’s proposal for the Fourth Plinth Commission, Antelope, will be presented at London’s Trafalgar Square for two years from 14 September 2022. Recent solo exhibitions and presentations include Culturgest, Lisbon, Modern Art Oxford, Southbank Centre, London (all 2021), Mu.ZEE, Oostende with Vincent Meessen (2020); PEER, London (2020), The MAC, Dallas (2019), The James Gallery, CUNY, New York (2018), Zeitz Mocca, Capetown (2017), NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale; Whitechapel Gallery, London, Kunsthalle Mainz (all 2016). His work has been featured at ARS22, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (2022), Athens Biennial (2021), Afriques Capitales curated by Simon Najami at La Villette, Paris (2017), Liverpool Biennial (2016, 2004), 56th Venice Biennial curated by Okwui Enwezor (2015), Dakar Biennale (2016, 2014) and the Tokyo International Art Festival (2009). In 2021 he received the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists. His work is included in the collections of Tate Modern, London; NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale; Bury Museum of Art; Magasin III – Museum of Contemporary Art, Stockholm; Kunsthalle Hamburg, Contemporary Art Society, London; The UK Government Art Collection; British Council Art Collection. His first novel, a memoir entitled The Jive Talker or How to Get a British Passport (2008), has recently been re-published.
Vernissage: Friday, 9. September 2022 6 – 8 p.m.
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 10. September – Saturday, 29. October 2022
to the gallery
Image Caption: Samson Kambalu, Pioneer, 2016
Exhibition Samson Kambalu – Galerie Nordenhake Berlin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
