A duo exhibition, Tides of Presence, by Eugene Miera and Mutune Waweru combines two distinct yet complementary practices to examine memory, labour, ancestry, and belonging.
Running from May 9 to June 21 at Nobody Owns Me Gallery at Kibera Arts District, the exhibition is curated by Santana Sino. It explores the memories, experiences, traditions, and spiritual beliefs that remain after something or someone is no longer physically there.
Miera’s 12 works are drawn from the lakeside and the ocean to represent the spiritual and everyday lives of fishermen and those who depend on the water. Growing up near Lake Victoria and later settling along the coast in Watamu, he is fascinated by the similarities between the lake and the ocean.
Through the black-and-white pen-dotting technique, Miera creates works that show the relationship between the physical and spiritual worlds. The monochromatic element evokes vintage style, and the dotted details draw viewers in close.
In Boats of Spirits, an abandoned fishing boat rests at the shoreline after it is worn out. He imagines it as a new home for spiritual beings because the fisherman can no longer use it. Once its utility ends, another form of existence starts.
Another piece, Rowing into the Mystery, depicts fishermen in the middle of the ocean, with another group of silhouetted figures rowing a boat who can take either spirit or human form. A structure of a building is set up in the ocean.
“The piece represents the old tales of sacred rituals people did to give to the ocean so that they get fish. That since I am taking something from the ocean, I am giving this back,” he says.
Silent Watcher portrays a woman observing fishermen at dusk to suggest an unseen spiritual presence witnessing the activities on the water. In another piece, Miera Fish Market, boats are at the shore with their catch while women wash clothes and carry water to highlight the daily lakeside life.
“My fascination with the mythical stories around water stems from time spent with my grandmother and other old people. I want to document oral culture and history through art,” he says.
As Miera’s work focuses on community histories, Mutune Waweru’s explores memory, emotion, ancestry, and personal experience through 17 semi-realist and abstract works. He dives into how histories and memories stay long after the moments have passed.
In Flashbacks, a solitary figure recalls childhood experiences of wearing his grandfather's oversized gumboots. It explores how ordinary objects can elicit profound recollections of family histories.
Another piece, Profound I, is inspired by childhood memories of being pushed on a swing by grandparents, while Profound II shows a boy being carried on the shoulders as he goes to school.
Another work, Recollection, was inspired by a young fisherman in Malindi whom the artist observed trying to catch fish for over an hour.
“My works acknowledge uncomfortable emotions such as loneliness, sadness, uncertainty, and disappointment as aspects of the human experience. It is during such moments that we have a breakthrough,” Waweru says.