Woven Voices
© Thandiwe MuriuA postage stamp is more than a catalyst of communication- it is a symbol of a country; a reflection of who we are today and who we want to remember and celebrate from the past. Both valuable and valueless, a stamp exists in a dual juxtaposition; a state which the Artist reinterprets in her interrogation on the blindness of self-bias. Muriu contrasts stamps against humanity’s questions on representation and unpacks the power of an object in redefining identity and becoming a status symbol of culture.
Underpinning the long standing self bias across Africa is a historically informed perception on the inestimable value of foreigners. “The eye never forgets what the heart has seen”, and cultural amnesia became a defining narrative at the collective level, where many forgot the exemplary legacy of their traditions and cultural diversity. Instead, the nations superimposed lesser value on themselves; underrating their identity and surrendering the symbols of their culture to external redefinition. This narrative rerouted the self perception of a whole generation- an identity turning point that the community unconsciously absorbed and continues to carry.
Muriu presents a series of photographic interrogations that accentuate histories of appropriation, emulating the silent maestoso of the Kenyan cloth of communication: the kanga. From its characteristic three-element design combining a decorative border, a contrasting central panel of recurring motifs, and a worded inscription, the kanga represents a channel of independent and collective identity.
Widely available in East Africa and possessed of significant cultural context over its 150 year history, the kanga became a symbol which gave women a voice in a society that insisted on concealment as a sign of social decorum. When designing the cloth women selected its inscription- often a proverb, aphorism, taunt, or blessing- to share their specific social commentary. The kanga broadcasted messages on personal rivalries, politics and the current issues facing a community. Sadly over time its power diminished under the collective cultural amnesia of modern day usage and has been relegated to mere messages on love and political campaigning.
In developing this visual discourse, Muriu begins with a single choice from colonial African philately, selecting one African country’s cultural totem as the inspiration for both her reimagined stamp and its custom kanga print. Valorising both the stamp and the kanga to create new hybrid symbols of her own, Muriu replaces historical monarchy figures with ordinary Africans; giving tangibility to questions of self bias and authenticating the substantial power of objects in shaping communal identity. Symbols embalm the passions, pain and pride of a community yet also become the vanguard of self-bias; an anchor of communal blindness which Muriu boldly challenges by asking; “Does reclaiming these foreign imprints reclaim self worth? Will it change how we view ourselves?”
Muriu will develop 54 photographs- one for each African country- in the form of re-conceptualised colonial stamps rooted in the Kenyan cloth of communication, the kanga.
click to view the complete set of images in the archive