Kikwembe, calico, oil paint, ink, brush pen, acrylic paint, pastel, fabric on unprimed canvas
120 x 115 cm


The work "(Alikuwa amekufa kwa uchawi.)(Pietà)" ("He was dead by magic" in Swahili),  is part of a series Pierre Mukeba first presented during his solo exhibition "Amri Kumi"(""Ten Commandments" in Swahili) at the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery in 2022. 

Within an anachronistic storyboard, Mukeba’s characters are brought to life by the artist’s acute technical dexterity, allowing intense emotional states to capture sinful acts. Dazzling vignettes of personal experiences, articles read, images absorbed, contemporary myths told by family members and current events are interpreted into modern religious fables within sculptural windows of layered materials. Twisting and turning, we become quickly immersed in what feels like the heat of Dante’s Inferno. Weaving oneself into the story line step by step, stitch by stitch the action of the viewer – performative, deliberate – inserts a new character into the narrative. Swimming in this sea of delinquents, faced with Jung’s shadow, we grapple with our own position on religion and sin. Are we judge or executioner? Sitting in a middle ground between good and evil, dark and light or heaven and hell, Mukeba offers a position on humanity, allowing us to see a possibility that perhaps, no matter our cultural or religious background, love and forgiveness can prevail. Within dangling bodies, writhing in acts of sin, a space of healing is offered. How shall we be judged?

–Victoria Scott, 2022 (excerpt)

Congolese-Australian painter Pierre Mukeba explores themes of violence and atrocity alongside family and personal strength in his depictions of people and narrative scenes from his childhood. Black figures in his work convey power and strength in the face of struggle. Culled from the news or inspired by Mukeba’s childhood memories of the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and refugee camps in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the stories are revealed in works like Manhood (2019), which features figures adorned in African textiles, their patterned fabrics drawn with exquisite detail in pen and ink. He has said that his choice of colors reflects a symbolic scheme drawing on his ancestral roots; in Mukeba’s eyes, red represents war and power, blue represents devotion and goodwill, and yellow symbolizes optimism and prosperity. He also frequently incorporates red to convey the feelings and life his native country inspires. He won the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize in 2017 the Ramsay Art Prize People’s Choice Award in 2019. He has exhibited at the Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art and the NGV Triennial. –Artsy