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Baobab Tree with offerings can be seen on a photo. It is an artwork of the exhibition A SACRED STORY AT THE TREE OF LIFE by Memory Biwa and Robert Machiri, which can be seen at the ifa Gallery Berlin.
Baobab Tree with offerings, and incisions/markings, Kaole Ruins, Pwane region, Tanzania, 2023 © Memory Biwa

A SACRED STORY AT THE TREE OF LIFE

At the tree of life: Myth of the beginning

15 Sep 2023
 - 
22 Oct 2023
ifa Gallery Berlin
Linienstraße 139-140
10115 Berlin

A SACRED STORY AT THE TREE OF LIFE takes the form of an ephemeral installation centered on the inscription and significance of landscapes and spaces through memory and ceremony. The shade of the baobab, the sacred tree, becomes the gathering place where we commune with poets, rioters, storytellers, vocalists, players of instruments, and DJs.

Over a period of six weeks the gallery transforms into a portal for the platform, Listening at Pungwe. Pungwe is an occasion where sound system culture is approached as a ritual space; a mo(nu)ment for auditory, corporeal and sociocultural frequencies. Tracing spatiality and a complex web of cultural practices, politics, philosophies, and movements, that are often embodied and transferred through sound.

Enchanting Rituals: The Essence of "Listening at Pungwe"

Listening at Pungwe, a collaborative project by Memory Biwa and Robert Machiri, pivots on circulatory aural imaginings and practices in southern Africa, to produce public and alternative spaces of sociality.

Participating artists: Listening at Pungwe, Jumoke Adeyanju, blk banaana, Malik Ntone Edjabe aka Hypocrite, Eric Vaughn, Banji Chona, Percy Zvomuya, Eiliyas, Nikola Hartl, Zen Marie, Elsa M’Bala, Melanelle B. C. Hémêfa, Day Eve aka audioslut, Savanna Morgan

Curatorial Ensemble: Memory Biwa, Robert Machiri, Jumoke Adeyanju, Nikola Hartl

The artists Memory Biwa and Robert Machiri

Memory Biwa is a historian, and artist. Her work addresses memorial and reparative processes in Namibia, which encompasses a wider discourse on restitution and reparations. Biwa’s focus on oral narratives and performance informs notions of subjectivity and the re-centering of alternative epistemologies and imaginaries.

Robert Machiri is a sound artist and hoarder of sound-related objects. Machiri's work exists at the juncture of two streams of practice; curatorial concepts founded through the notion of conviviality and art as pedagogy. Biwa and Robert Machiri form the duo, Listening at Pungwe.

* The title echoes Sanusi Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa’s Chapter, ‘The Sacred Story of the Tree of Life’, in “Indaba My Children: African Tribal History, Legends, Customs and Religious Beliefs”, Canongate Books Ltd, Edinburgh, 1998, first published in 1964.

Programme

14. September, Exhibition Opening

Thursday, 14.09. from 19:00 – 22:00

See event

15. September, Launch der Sound Installation

Friday, 15.09. at 14:00

See event

16. September, Performance: Poetry meets_

Saturday, 16.09. from 19:00 – 21:00

Jumoke Adeyanju will bring into the space the Poetry Meets_ Series, an international, multilingual community event showcasing visual art, spoken word, DJs and musicians, and lyrically endowed artists from Berlin and the diaspora.

See event

17. September, Collage Workshop

Sunday, 17.09. from 16:00 – 18:00

With the multidisciplinary artist Duduetsang Lamola aka blk banaana

Please register at: ifa-galerie-berlin(at)ifa.de

See event

13. October, Performance: Re_storying Space

Friday, 13.10. throughout the day

Intervention by and with storyteller and alchemist Banji Chona.

See event

21. October, Finissage

Saturday, 21.10. from 17:00 – 20:00

The finissage and end of the cycle of A SACRED STORY AT THE TREE OF LIFE with interventions and musical explorations by Percy Zvomuya, Robert Machiri and others.

See event

The exhibition is part of the Berlin Art Week 2023

Impressions of Berlin Art Week 2023

The picture shows a man setting up the music equipment on the darkened stage. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows a man in a blue outfit dancing and singing on stage. The man holds an artistic artifact in his hand, which resembles a sock with flowers. In the background one can see a man on the keyboard. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows a room separated in the middle with a column. Various symbols are drawn on the column. To the left of the column there is a chair, next to which three white bowls and one green bowl are positioned. Behind the column you can see a woman sitting on the ground. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
In the picture one can see a window with the orange drawings. The window offers a view of the glowing street lamp illuminating the other side of the street. There are two green bowls and a pink bag on the windowsill. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows a woman with drawing materials. She stands on a stage and shows her artwork, which she edits on the screen in real time. In the artwork, green and blue colors dominate in a pattern at which the lightining oft he room is aimed. Next to the artist, another woman can be seen sitting on the floor. There are various photographs on the floor in front of her. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows several people sitting at tables on the edge of a street. Right next to it is a small group of people standing. People are in front of a building and are engaged in conversation with each other. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows three people on stage. They are working with a large music system. There are various cables under the table with the sound system on it. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
In the picture one can see an artist with the microphone. She wears a large gold chain with hanging elements around her neck. The artist appears to be standing on a stage in scarce lighting. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
A person speaks into a microphone during Berlin Art Week 2023 in the ifa Gallery Berlin. The event is a part of Poetry Meets.
The photo shows the audience of the Berlin Art Week 2023 in the ifa Gallery Berlin.
The picture shows a man with a long beard and a hat. The man pulls the buttons on the sound system. The reddish lights can be seen in the background. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows a woman on stage holding a microphone. Behind her is a screen with large pictures. The audience sits on the floor around the woman. The room is darkened while the woman takes the spotlight. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
The picture shows three women behind the sound system. One woman stands and points to a square form in her hands while the two seated women observe the object. A screen with the text can be seen in the background. The picture is part of Berlin Art Week, which took place from 13 September to 17 September 2023.
Workshop participants can be seen in the ifa Gallery Berlin during Berlin Art Week 2023.

Opening Hours – ifa Gallery Berlin

Tuesday – Sunday: 14.00 – 18.00
Thursday: 14.00 – 20.00
Closed on Mondays and holidays

Free admission

 

ifa Galleries

Thw ifa Galleries in Stuttgart und Berlin present contemporary art from  a global point of view. The work of the ifa Galleries is based on seeing the world from a diversity and plurality of perspectives, discovering new stories, and shaping emancipatory processes, interactions, and artistic spaces. Our focus is on long-term relationships with artists, partners, and visitors, and our exhibitions and education programmes are developed through practices of collaboration that trace global entanglements and piece them together in new forms of narrative.

ifa Gallery Berlin

ifa Gallery Stuttgart

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Contact

ifa Gallery Berlin

Linienstraße 139/140
D-10115 Berlin

Telephone: +49.30.284491.40
Email: ifa-galerie-berlin@ifa.de

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