“Upon the waters I’m spread out” is in remembrance of the spirits that are roaming and hovering about Shark Island. I kept imagining the unknown souls that are resting beneath the waters around Shark Island, their bodies dismembered and in pieces thrown in their oceanic grave”.
Tuli Mekondjo (Angola, b. 1982) is a self-taught Namibian artist who works with embroidery, collage, paint and resin to create powerful works filled with layers of meaning. Drawing on colonial photographic archives and histories of the loss and erasure of Namibian cultural practices, Mekondjo’s work explores history and identity politics. Dissatisfied with the dominant narratives about Namibia’s past, she examines the country’s troubled history in a quest for understanding, healing, and belonging.