Uliza Wahenga Dada! an exhibition to gush about

 

By Caroline Anande Uliwa

Moja ya picha za wahenga wa kike tokea Pwani
ya Tanzania zilivyonaswa kwenye magazeti na kutumiwa
kwenye onyesho hili. Picha zikiwazimechapishwa
kwenye vitambaa.

What was once a book store now looks like a movie scene in the gallery hallways of Brooklyn inside a Spike Lee Joint but I am in Bongo! Yes I had just stepped in the ‘uliza wahenga dada’ exhibition last Friday. It was showing from the 12th of Feb till the 26th 2021 at Soma Book Cafe.

I recall the organizers issuing a public call since last year, asking predominantly female writers from Tanzania to apply. This under the tutelage of the projects’ head curator Miss Rehema Chachage  

Liberatha Alibalio libe_arts mmoja wa
wasanii pa onyesho hili

Uliza wahenga dada’ which translates ‘Sister ask the ancestors’ is an exhibition that truly took a dive exploring the authentic female psyche of Tanzanians. I was warmed to learn the photos in the exhibit, that were printed on cloth patchworks of hanging sheets. Are actually of real Tanzanian coastal women taken during colonial times and archived in newspapers. 

The process which produced this exhibition, that included artworks of installation videos, photography, illustration, poetry and interactive 3D art. Involved a boot camp baking the chosen artists into a five day workshop (they as well slept at the premises of Azura Beach Kawe). 

The artists featured which had a majority of writers including Ngollo Mlengeya a member of WAKA Poets Tanzania & among the finalists of the Sawti Poetry Prize 2020. Her artworks in this exhibit included some riveting poetry and an installation tree that gripped my soul. 

This tree was interactive as it asked us visitors to answer ‘umama ni?’ translating ‘motherhood is?’. So this tree looks much like a tree growing in a pot covered nicely with fabric. Its leaves get artsy as they consist of red post it notes, allowing the audience to fill in with a pen what motherhood is for them. The pen is placed on one of the branches pockets of the tree where a little ‘ungo’ sits. 

Left Mme Demere Kitunga one of the curators of this
exhibition illuminating Stephano's artworks to an audience

Other artists who gripped my eye were Asteria Malinzi and Stephano Raphael sol_illustrates. Asteria's artwork begins with a story rendered on a journal mostly handwritten. Sadly this was the downfall as the handwriting was times illegible to the common eye. The presentation though was haunting and what made me love her work were her other presentations. 

Which included a live MKEKA standing tall; of course as #MkekaMag I had to caps that word. See the way this mat was placed so elegantly folded, standing regal without falling is not an easy feat as we all know. You don’t just leave a mat standing once folded, you’ve got to let it lean on something. Yet here Abigail's mkeka was proudly standing on its own. 

Stephano Rafael was a unicorn as he is among the few males that participated in this exhibition. I loved his rendition of this theme of asking female ancestors from Tanzania their story, their voice? He captured his answer so amorously in his illustrations, which were elegantly presented in 2D black & white etchings draped with unobscuring frames.

Kwa kweli kama mnavyoona pa mkanda nyongefu nliouchukua hapa 'uliza wahenga dada' video, hili onyesho lilikuwa la tofauti. Kwani mara nyingi mtazamo wa mwanamke wa kale (na sio kale sana ata wa 1890) hapa Tanzania, alivyofikiri alivyofanya shughuli zake za kila siku, hupuuziwa kama kitu kisicho na thamani kwa jamii ya leo. 

Ndo maana nawapongeza sana wakufunzi walioratibu onyesho hili ikiwa pamoja na Bi Rehema Chachage, yeye ni msanii wa kazi za mikono, mratibu wa kazi za sanaa (curator), mtafiti wa utamaduni na muandishi Rehema Chachage. Waratibu wengine ni mama yake Rehema: Ma Demere Kitunga yeye ni Mkurugenzi wa shirika la E&D Readership and Development Agency SOMA. Akiwa mhariri, mchapishaji, mtafsiri mzoefu, aliyebobea kwenye tasnia ya kusambaza hadithi kwa mantiki ya kuelimisha jamii; juu ya haki za kijinsia na za binadamu kwa ujumla.

Mmoja wa wasanii walioshiriki kwenye onyesho hili
Asteria Malinzi

Nilifurahi pia kuona kuwa dada Sarita Lydia Mamseri Sarita FB ni mmoja wa waratibu wa onyesho hili, yeye ni mwalimu na mratibu wa sanaa za maonyesho (visual arts) na historia ya jamii. Akifanya kazi nyingi ndani ya nchi ya Tanzania na Wingereza (UK). Dada Sarita ana damu ya ki Sierra Leone na ya ki Tanzania pia kwenye onyesho hili. 

Mratibu mwingine wa uliza wahenga dada ni kaka Jesse Gerard Jesse-Nafasi Artspace yeye ni mwalimu, mratibu wa kazi za sanaa akitokea Tanzania. Kwa sasa ndo meneja wa sanaa za maonyesho pale Nafasi Artspace na kazi zake za uandishi, zimechapishwa pa majalada kama  Brittle Paper, Art Monthly na The People Stories Project.

An audience member about to pen her thoughts on
'motherhood is?'

N.B. All photos are courtsey of Soma Book Cafe

 unaweza kufika pale Mkahawani Soma Book Cafe ama kuwatonya kupitia kurasa yao, kama ungependa kununua moja ya kazi hizi ama kujua zaidi juu ya onyesho hili na wasanii wake. Onyesho la ‘uliza wahenga dada’ lililetwa kwenu kwa hisani ya Culture at work Africa ikishirikiana na Umoja wa Ulaya likiendeshwa na SOMA pamoja na BSS Projects