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 "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, with 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 “The Borders of Memory” with Helena Uambembe, The Project Room, Namibia
  • 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, London, with Guns & Rain
  • 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
Collections
  • 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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