artist: Thandiwe Muriu
Muriu will hold two exhibitions: one for CAMO, her signature series of vibrant portraits, and another presenting a new chapter created during her residency in Kyoto
Thandiwe Muriu’s journey into Camo began with a desire to redefine womanhood and express her feelings of invisibility. Shaped by her own journey of breaking out of the space of so-called “women’s work” to become an advertising photogra-pher, Muriu grappled with the societal expectations surrounding the place of women. Engaging in a dialogue between tradition and modernity, she employs textiles and common household items, making her subjects a canvas for reflec-tion on identity, representation, and community.
In Camo, wax textile is used as social vocabulary. Generationally, wax has been worn, shared, reinterpreted, and emotionally invested in as a tool of expression across the African continent. A widely accepted symbol of ‘Africanness’, it is deeply embedded in social and cultural practices.
Muriu’s subjects blend into these patterned fabric backgrounds yet remain in undeniable focus. Both a reflection of the pressure for women to occupy space quietly, and a rejection of the historical objectification of women’s bodies, Muriu’s works create a tension between visibility and erasure.
Asking questions about womanhood, Muriu turns to history in a process she calls ‘modernising history’ – reflecting on the past to expand the future. By doing so, she reflects on the expansive panorama of womanhood while presenting an offering of hope and joy.
The title of the series references ‘camouflage’ evoking thoughts of disappear-ance and blending in. But in Camo, what might otherwise remain overlooked or dismissed is given space to endure, to be seen, and to thrive.
Learn more - https://www.kyotographie.jp/en/programs/2026/thandiwe-muriu/
An Abundance of Plenty, 2024 © Thandiwe Muriu, Courtesy 193 Gallery
The Space Between Love and Comfort, 2025 © Thandiwe Muriu, Courtesy 193 Gallery
InstituteTM (collectively Institute Pictures, Institute Studios, & Institute Artist) is redefining how stories are produced and told in the 21st Century. Founded by Producer Frank Evers and Director/Visual Artist Lauren Greenfield, we are a multiplatform production company representing auteur-driven storytellers across commercials, photography, fine art, film, and technology — and producing original work across every screen that those stories live on. Our multiplatform expertise and established global relationships in entertainment, commercial, fine art, and journalism create unmatched reach and cross-pollination of creative work. A film commission informs a photography campaign; a fine art practice shapes a commercial; an editorial relationship opens a documentary. Few companies operate fluently across all of these worlds. Institute was built this way from the ground up.
Clients include: Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft/Xbox, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Nike, Adidas, Lululemon, Under Armour, Dove, Maybelline, Clinique, Ulta Beauty, Aesop, Vaseline, LEGO, Balenciaga, Dior, Tom Ford, Kenzo, Supreme, Van Cleef & Arpels, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Toyota, McLaren, Pennzoil, American Express, Chase, U.S. Bank, Burger King, Chobani, Corona, Pepsi, Nespresso, Lavazza, Velveeta, Airbnb, Four Seasons, Marriott, Instacart, eBay, JCPenney, Levi's, Swatch, Bang & Olufsen, Bayer, Pfizer, Genentech, EA, Planned Parenthood, Ad Council, and the United Nations. Editorial and publishing partners include: The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, GQ, Esquire, TIME, Bloomberg, National Geographic, The Economist, Monocle, Le Monde, Stern, Sunday Times Magazine, Phaidon, Steidl, Abrams, Prestel, Chronicle, and Random House.
“Institute” is a registered trademark in the US, Europe, and United Kingdom. All rights reserved.
