Unaccounted Histories

“Masamvu is constantly battling the automated, socially conditioned response and he achieves this through continually moving, not only physically, but psychologically too. In searching for a different way of being in the world and though actively seeking out a state of alienation, Masamvu is able to denounce the oppressive systems which categorise people and enforce particular ways of behaving and being in the world.”

Misheck Masamvu produced these works in Kenya, South Africa and Germany. They form part of a nomadic project in which the artist deliberately places himself in new and unfamiliar environments. In searching for a different way of being in the world and through actively seeking out a state of alienation, the artist is able to escape the oppressive systems which categorise people and enforce particular ways of behaving in the world. His paintings comment on political and social happenings with a restlessness, mobility, multiplicity and a refusal to stay still. His poetry informs these paintings as well as his drawings, which are on exhibition at Campbelltown Arts Centre.