Sandra Mujinga

Whether these are the spectral personifications of forgotten histories, the remnants of colonial legacies, or harbingers of the climate crisis and planetary destruction, Sandra Mujinga is fascinated with the idea of ghosts. She is concerned with the idea of traces and fragments; that nothing ever disappears completely. Perhaps just like with ghosts, one tries to forget that they are there, to consign their presence to the corner of the room, but they remain lurking, like an underlying anxiety. Mujinga says that when you are born into a racialised body, the histories and violence of colonialism can never be forgotten; overlooking the past is a privilege. The artist’s work takes several forms, from moving image to installation. Her most recognisable piece to date saw four figures, Libwá, Mókó, Nkáma and Zómi, faceless, towering above the visitor and rendered with textiles, guarding the space. Bathed in chroma key green – the colour used for green screen, onto which anything can be transposed and therefore fictionalised – the sculptures seem able to transform, mutate, or reappear.