Esoteric Africana
βEsoteric Africanaβ is an art installation and exhibition inspired by wizard tropes, high fantasy, and my own mixed race lineage. It would take the form of several art pieces with the main focus on the installation aspect. Each piece serves as an ode to my own art journey and my experience experimenting in different mediums.Β
In Esoteric Africana we walk into the lair of Oburogi, a wizard and diviner from another world in another time. One similar to ours but brimming with magic, monsters, and mysteries.Β
Oburogi has pinned to the wall scrolls of three great creatures, each unique but familiar. Popo Bawa, a giant bat creature that sucks the souls of man in the night. Lukwata, a grand serpent-like dragon that stalks the great lake. And the mythical Nyeupe Kudu, the tall white antelope with glowing eyes and three horns. Each holds a key ingredient to the key to eternal life.
The garments of Oburogi sit in the room, a robe and staff adorned with stars and sacred symbols.
Oburogiβs Study is the central piece of the installation. A table cluttered with an assortment of items, trinkets, herbs, potions and scrawling notes in an unknown language litter the surface. Among the items a few gourds filled with herbs and glass bottles filled with experiments. This section of the exhibition serves as an interactive space where you are invited to look and touch various items. I plan for this space to look lived in, a space where you can imagine someone working, that feels like you'd expect the chair to still be warm if you sat down and worked in this space.
















