WEAVERBIRDS: ROOTED IN RESILIENCE
Osart Gallery, in collaboration with Galleria Giampaolo Abbondio, is pleased to present Weaverbirds: Rooted in Resilience, an exhibition that brings together for the first time the work of multidisciplinary artists María Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba, 1959) and Sethembile Msezane (South Africa, 1991). Based on the concept of post-colonialism, understood as a defining moment marking the end of the colonial period and the need to rediscover an identity that was lost, the two artists explore themes of tradition, spirituality, identity, and the role of women in contemporary society. Although their backgrounds differ geographically and generationally, Campos-Pons and Msezane share a desire to redefine the boundaries of their selves, ravaged by centuries of violence, cultural and linguistic hegemony, and a need to restore dignity to their communities and reconnect with their ancestral land.
The image of the weaverbird, endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, is the totem that guides the viewer through the practice of both artists: Campos-Pons uses different bird species in her iconic photographic series Nesting (2000s), while Msezane continues her research on weaving techniques through her Paintings on mull, embroidered with thread, hair, and natural elements (one work from this series was a finalist for the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2024).
Like the weaverbird, the two artists offer a personal perspective on the search for their identity as African or African descent women in contemporary society: María Magdalena Campos-Pons, whose roots trace back to a troubled family history beginning in Nigeria—where her ancestors were deported to Cuba in the 19th century and enslaved on sugar plantations—focuses on the importance of representing ethnic minorities in art and shedding light on the tragedy of deportation and slavery; Sethembile Msezane centers her research on spirituality and the ecology of being, through the analysis of dreams and the transmission of historical memory, questioning the absence of the Black female body both in narratives and in the physical spaces dedicated to celebrating the national history of various African countries.
In the poem The Weaver Bird by Ghanaian Kofi Awoonor, the weaverbird metaphorically embodies the figure of the colonizer, who builds the nest and lays eggs “on the only tree,” eventually becoming its lord and master, expecting the local population to obey its rules and preaching salvation to those who had been the sole inhabitants of the land until recently. This bird is considered a colonial species, hence the comparison to the image of the colonizer. Nevertheless, the weaverbird is also the one who creates the most intricate and spectacular nests in the animal kingdom, gathering straw and other materials to create marvelous and complex architectures.
A significant work for Sethembile Msezane was the one that catapulted her into the spotlight, titled Chapungu – The Day Rhodes Fell—immortalized in an iconic photograph embodiedon April 9, 2015, when the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, the controversial founder of the state of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), was removed from the entrance of the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The artist embodied the figure of Chapungu, a sacred native Zimbabwean bird of prey, who spread its wings in the act of returning to its homeland from which it had been exiled and persecuted due to colonial violence. Similarly, the works of María Magdalena Campos-Pons are strongly connected to the imagery of birds and nests, where the birds symbolize the constant search for one’s roots through flight, while the nest, often associated with Afro hair and intricate African-style hairstyles, represents the only place of peace and serenity, the motherland restored to its children.
The natural element thus becomes central in both Msezane’s and Campos-Pons’ practices. The two artists celebrate the different components of nature from an intimate perspective, while also tied to the spiritual practices of their respective cultures—Yoruba for Campos-Pons and Zulu for Msezane: human figures immersed in dreamlike settings, collages of plants and tree bark, waterfalls of hair adorned with seashells and soaked in seawater, gouache, gold leaf. Everything is imbued with spirituality and ancestral practices that keep traditions and collective memory alive, aiming to exorcise the centuries-old trauma of the colonial experience.
BIO
María Magdalena Campos-Pons (Matanzas, Cuba, 1959) is a Cuban artist expatriated in United States, long-time based between Cuba, Boston, MA, and Nashville, TN. After attending an educational path at the Higher Institute of Art in Havana, Cuba, and at the Massachusetts College of Art, Painting & Media Arts in Boston, Campos-Pons has undertaken an intense career of solo and group exhibitions as a performer and multimedia artist, taking part into several art Biennials and manifestations and acknowledging prestigious recognitions and awards worldwide. Among the several teaching experiences in Cuban and U.S. esteemed Universities, in 2017 Campos-Pons obtained the Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowd Chair of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, where she currently teaches. Among the international art events she attended from United States to Europe to Africa and Middle East, her participation at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 with the multimedia project “53+1=54+1=55. Letter of The Year” curated together with Neil Leonard was fundamental. Several International Biennials would follow in the next years. The work of María Magdalena Campos-Pons is today included in several public collections, including the MOMA in New York, which has recently reconfirmed its support through a new acquisition in October 2022, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Art Institute in Chicago, the National Gallery of Canada, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Miami Art Museum, the Fogg Art Museum in Boston and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, which boasts the acquisition of the installation “Bar Matanzas Sound Map” presented by the artist at dOCUMENTA 14 in Athens and Kassel in 2017.
Sethembile Msezane (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, 1991). She lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. She was awarded a Masters in Fine Arts in 2017 from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, where she also completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012. Using interdisciplinary practice encompassing photography, painting, live works/embodiments, film, sculpture and installation. Msezane creates commanding works heavy with spiritual and political symbolism. The artist explores issues around spirituality, commemoration and African knowledge systems. She processes her dreams as a medium through a lens of the plurality of existence across space and time, asking questions about the remembrance of ancestry. Part of her work has examined the processes of mythmaking which are used to construct history, calling attention to the absence of the black female body in both the narratives and physical spaces of historical commemoration. Msezane is a participating artist for the 17th edition of Cuenca Biennial 2025, she received an Hounorable Mention at the Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2024, she participated in the 14th edition of PhotoIreland, as well as the13th Bamako Encounters African Biennale of Photography (2022). Msezane completed a residency at Central Saint Martins, London (2022), she participated in the 14th Dak’art Biennale (2022). In 2017, Msezane was a TEDGlobal Speaker in Arusha, Tanzania; in the same year, she also performed at dOCUMENTA 14 in 2017 in both Athens, Greece, and Kassel, Germany, as part of iQhiya Collective. Her work has been widely exhibited across South Africa and internationally and was included in various exhibitions and museums that include the 14th Dak’art Biennale, Zeitz MOCAA (Cape Town), as well as that of the Iziko South African National Gallery (Cape Town), The Royal Ontario Museum (Canada), Oscar Niemeyer Museum (Brazil) and more.
Weaverbirds: Rooted in Resilience – María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Sethembile Msezane will be on view at Osart Gallery, Corso Plebisciti 12, Milano, from March 27 until May 30, 2025
Opening hours: Mon – Fri, 10:00 – 13:00 / 14:30 – 19:00, Saturday by appointment only (free entry)
Info: T 02 5513826 E-Mail info@osartgallery.com Website: www.osartgallery.com
