10/06/2026
IMBAWULA
The imbawula is not merely an object of utility but a site of transformation. Commonly fashioned from discarded paint tins and associated with warmth, gathering, and survival, it carries histories of labour, resourcefulness, and adaptation. In this work, I revisit the imbawula not as a symbol of lack, but as a point of departure for imagining alternative conditions of value and selfhood.
My thinking is informed by Koyo Kouoh’s proposition in *When We See Us* that “we should speak of ourselves in a way that will uplift our spirits.” This statement resonates deeply with my practice, which seeks to move beyond inherited narratives that position Black existence primarily through struggle, deprivation, or survival. Instead, I am constructing spaces of psychological abundance, aspiration, and self-determination.
The cleaned and preserved paint tin, accompanied by white rats with gold eyes and gilded chicken feet, occupies a space between reality and imagination. Rather than concealing the histories embedded within these materials, I transform them into carriers of dignity, value, and possibility. Through this act of reconstruction, ordinary objects become vessels through which alternative futures can be envisioned.
My practice is concerned with how value is assigned, withheld, and reclaimed. Through material transformation, *Imbawula* proposes an alternative gaze one that considers how Black subjectivity can be articulated through desire, agency, imagination, and becoming. The work asks what becomes possible when we choose to speak of ourselves in ways that expand our sense of worth, presence, and future.
