Kitanga 2 (Jeremiah)

Kitanga 2 (Jeremiah)

2024

140 gsm organic cotton

42 x 42cm

edition of 150

Atong’s Atem’s work explores colonial myths and narratives through visual culture and questions the dynamics of identity in Australia. Her postcolonial practice captures the identities, cultures and movements of the African diaspora, while speaking to the Australian landscape.

Atem’s textile works draw on South Sudanese textile practices and the colonial roots of fabrics that have become synonymous with pan-African textiles. The kitanga (kanga), like many other African textiles, has become firmly embedded in South Sudanese history and culture, yet draws on the rich cultural and aesthetic influences of North Sudan, East and West Africa, the Arab world and Indonesia. In this new work, Atem interrogates the often-forgotten relationship between colonisation and African textiles.

These kitanga (kanga) textiles take traditional form while drawing on a myriad of cultures, iconographies and aesthetics, bring- ing to life the many cultural influences that have shaped the artist’s life.