Tuli Mekondjo (b.1982, Angola) is a self-taught Namibian artist who works with mixed media including embroidery, photo transfer, paint, resin and mahangu (millet) grain – a Namibian food staple. Drawing on colonial and war-time photographic archives, Mekondjo’s practice explores Namibian history and identity politics.

Drawing on histories of change, loss and submission – particularly when it comes to women – she stitches between past and present. She pays homage to her forebears, fertility and continuity, whilst commenting on gendered struggle, intergenerational trauma, and displacement.  In many recent works, the artist positions herself in dialogue with her ancestors, directly acknowledging their pain, whilst referencing multiple African folklore traditions. Spirituality is an increasingly important element in her work, and Mekondjo extends her textured media into performance.

Explore Tuli’s catalogue for Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2022.

View Tuli’s catalogue for the 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair London 2021.

Mekondjo has now exhibited in multiple exhibitions and fairs, including museum shows, in Namibia, South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany and the UK. Her works are held in multiple international collections. Tuli Mekondjo is the recipient of the prestigious DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program in 2022.

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Exhibitions

  • 2022  The Armory Show, Hales Gallery, New York
  • 2022  Oudjuu wo makipa etu/ The burdens of our Bones, Hales Gallery, New York
  • 2022  “Unsettled”, Group Show, Duende Art Projects, Belgium
  • 2022  “Gegenbilder | Counter Images”, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, Cologne, Germany
  • 2022  Investec Cape Town Art Fair, group Show, Guns & Rain, Cape Town
  • 2021  “Threads”, Group Show, Duende Art Projects, Belgium
  • 2021  1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, with Guns & Rain
  • 2021  “Un.e Air.e de Famille”, Musée Paul Éluard de Saint Denis, Paris
  • 2021  African Galleries Now, Artsy, Guns & Rain
  • 2021  “Face-to-face”, Traversées Africaines, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris
  • 2021  Frac Nouvelle Aquitaine, MÉCA, France
  • 2020  1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, London, with Guns & Rain
  • 2020  ARCO Lisboa, Portugal, Online
  • 2020  “The Borders of Memory” with Helena Uambembe, Guns & Rain, Johannesburg
  • 2020  Investec Cape Town Art Fair, with Guns & Rain
  • 2019  Solo Exhibition, The Project Room, Namibia
  • 2019  1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Guns & Rain, London
  • 2019  “Suffrage”, Women’s Group Show, Guns & Rain, Johannesburg
  • 2019  Investec Cape Town Art Fair, NJE Collective
  • 2018  FNB Joburg Art Fair, NJE Collective
  • 2018  Future Africa Visions in Time, Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies and the Goethe-Institut Namibia
  • 2016  Collective at the Art Market, Group Show, Budapest
  • 2016  “The Bellowing Mind”, Solo Exhibition, Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre, Namibia

Grants, Residencies and awards

  • Norval Sovereign African Art Prize Finalist, Norval Foundation, Cape Town
  • Foundation Blachere, France
  • Ilham Gallery, Malaysia
  • University of South Africa (UNISA)
  • ARAK Collection, Qatar
  • Africa First Collection

Tuli Mekondjo on Artsy

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