Aaron during the opening night of “Simple Commodities: Ba Zambia Twa Fika Pesa?” Photographer: Atanga Mungandi
As Zambia celebrates 60 years of liberation this year, Simple Commodities is an exhibition of questions, inviting us to reflect on how far we have come, where we are today and where we are going as a nation. Aaron Samuel Mulenga begins his solo exhibition with a confrontational mixed media installation entitled Ba, Zambia, twafika pesa? Ba Zambia, where have we reached? From the energy crisis to the high cost of simple commodities such as bread, mealie meal and fuel, what is Zambia’s political and economic state today? These questions provide the platform through which to engage with this timely exhibition question the current state of affairs in Zambia during a time when many people are wondering what 60 years of independence has brought the Zambian people.
Simple Commodities considers how dynamics of power, identity and spirituality have shaped our nation thus far and proposes how we might move forward with an “Africanfuturist” agenda, which centres African thought and vision by drawing from our rich past to imagine a brighter future.
– Sana Ginwalla, Curator and Aaron Samuel Mulenga