Windhoek
Visual artist, Tuli Mekondjo’s first solo exhibition The Bellowing Mind is a caged soul collection offering a personal vision of the mind and trauma.
Opening on Monday at Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC), The Bellowing Mind means the screaming mind, and in her collection her mind is literally screaming with thoughts of unresolved personal pains, loss, abandonment and anguish that are still somehow trapped in the subconscious. “I am questioning my Oshivambo society that I grew up in. Growing up as an orphan and living with different relatives, I felt lost, floating about and unanchored. There was always this cloud of suppression of expression of painful emotions drifting about. Every emotion, situation or event that is overwhelmingly traumatic and painful would not be talked about but simply brushed off or swept under the carpet. There was a lack of emotional support and the absence of meaningful dialogues, to really talk and resolve the issues at hand,” explains Tuli.
She adds that The Bellowing Mind is infused with a sense of confusion and anguish with moments of beauty, clarity and optimism. In its layers, memories, visions and associations are intertwined, pushing themselves to the forefront, before fading out and twisting into other forms of thought. She further says the caged soul collection is a motivation for people to revisit their past. “For the first time, I’m dealing with my very own personal demons and I’m urging fellow souls to have courage, to revisit those dark corners in our minds, that we hate visiting, in order to heal,” adds Tuli. The exhibition will run The exhibition will run until 8 September.