Echo of our ancestors

Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi (Zimbabwe), Alida Ymele (Cameroon), Maarten Dekker (Netherlands), Joel Mpah Dooh (Cameroon)

Ancestral traditions are an enduring wellspring of inspiration, taking shape across eras in objects, narratives, visual languages, and events. In Africa, traditions, the role of ancestors, and spirituality occupy a far more prominent place in everyday life than in Europe, where traditions have receded into the background; visual language stems in part from our artistic forebears.

This exhibition brings together four artists inspired by their (artistic) ancestors.

Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi seeks out ancestral lineages, evoking the spiritual essence of his culture heard in the whispers of ancestors—a language breathing community, connection, and the cyclical rhythm of life.

In new works created for this exhibition, Alida Ymele literally renders symbols and objects that evoke ancestral traditions from the Bamiléké heritage of Western Cameroon, from which she descends.

In his work, Maarten Dekker draws upon artistic forebears such as Rietveld and Mondriaan. Here, repetition functions as a key strategy to bypass the rational and forge a spiritual connection beyond the material realm.

Joel Mpah Dooh also looks to artistic predecessors—the anonymous African sculptors. They play a pivotal role in his drawings alongside his interpretation of contemporary everyday life in the aftermath of decolonisation.