Mar 28 – Sep 13, 2020
Adama Delphine Fawundu
Risen from the Waters, 2020
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Risen from the waters, 2020
Archival pigment, human hair, artificial hair, sage, cowrie shells, acrylic on Brazilian banana paper
61 × 51 cm
3 unique works
(just one unique work available)
€ 860
OrderWater, the element that connects, flows through the work of Adama Delphine Fawundu (b. 1971). Fawundu is interested in the relationship between societal movements and collective currents, and how these are reflected in the metaphor of water. The sea is a site of memory, telling stories over time. Derek Walcott’s poem The Sea is History was the main source of inspiration for Fawundu, both in Risen from the Waters, her contribution for the Jahresgabe, and in her work for the exhibition honouring A. W. Amo.
Like Walcott, Fawundu questions the story and histories bound up with waters such as the Atlantic Ocean; the transatlantic slave trade is also a central theme here. She believes that the time has come to face up to and oppose narratives of hierarchy and oppression. In her work, Fawundu weaves together recurring symbols and materials such as the sea and seashells, and natural and artificial hair: ‘Just as my hair defies gravity, reaching up to the clouds and stars, we see in this series clouds of black hair rising up or evaporating from the water. After all, we are one with the earth and with the universe – and always have been.’ (Adama Delphine Fawundu)