ART DESIGN
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Dundee-based multi-disciplinary artist Sekai Machache chats about her upcoming shows at Glasgow International to artist and curator Katherine Ka Yi Liu
Katherine Ka Yi Liu: Can you tell me a bit more about both of your shows at Glasgow International 2020? Sekai Machache: So, I am taking part in a two-person solo at the Heritage Centre at House for an Art Lover with Thulani Rachia. My solo, The Divine Sky, is going to be curated . . . by yourself, haha.
KL: Yes, yes, I am, haha . . . can you maybe use a few words to describe the show? SM: The Divine Sky will utilise allegory and performance tell a complicated history through poesis, immersive storytelling and photography. to
KL: I am so looking forward to seeing the work! SM: Thanks! And for the solo at Street Level, it is called Body of Land. The exhibition is the culmination of a year-long cross-cultural residency project. I am collaborating with a Kenyan artist, Awuor Onyango, to produce a two-person solo refl ecting on black femme identity, ancestry and spirituality.
KL: Fantastic, can’t wait. So what inspires you for both of these Gi2020 projects? SM: Both of the shows are related to specifi c colours. Colour is a very important element in my practice. In Body of Land, the theme colours of the exhibition are black, red and white with each colour representing an aspect of the self/ soul. This is derived from a concept that you fi nd in many cultures including the Luo tribe from western Kenya who believe that the human soul is split into three. This concept is comparable in my understanding to Freud’s concept of the mind which is split into the id, ego and superego. Another example could be the three gunas in Hinduism. I try to fi nd connections and/or similarities across cultures and describe them through my images.
KL: I am so touched by the spirituality elements in the show. SM: Thank you! Yes, both shows are linked to certain healing modalities. I am currently researching the role of pre-colonial African spiritual practices the emancipation of enslaved and colonised people across the African diaspora. My deepest concern is in describing in
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108 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2020