Museum of Art

Artists: Sammy Baloji, Democratic Republic of the Congo/Brussels; Maika’i Tubbs, Hawai’i/Brooklyn

Faculty: Leslie Hill, Associate Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Patrick W. Otim, Assistant Professor, History

Please join us and participate in a discussion with visiting artists and faculty on these compelling topics.

My reading of the Congolese past is a way of analyzing African identity today, through all the political systems that the society has experienced. That identity can be connoted through the occupation of space, how the environment is exploited, or through evident signs of a civilization that was built before, during, and after colonization, moving into the current era of globalization. The essence of my concern lies in the daily life of Congolese people. They themselves are traces of the recent past, which is also present. To superimpose the past onto the present reveals the will to denounce both past and present abuses. – Sammy Baloji

Maika’i Tubbs uses found detritus to create sculptures and installations that address themes such as ecology, resource consumption, and obsolescence. His recent work draws upon the geological discovery of plastiglomerate, a fusion of micro plastic, rock, sand, coral, and wood. The abundance of these human-made hybrids found along the coastline of Hawai’i Island presents an indicator of humankind’s environmental impact as well as a shift in the concept of nature itself.

Followed by a reception in the museum

Funded in part by the Philip J. Otis ’95 Endowment.