Sandra Mujinga, Shawl (Elephant Ears) #2, PVC, acrylic paint, faux leather, grommets,

carabiner, glycerin, threaded rod, rod coupling, hooks, 2017.

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Mujinga’s textile works play on the performative ability of textiles and material layering.

Shawl (elephant ear) proposes a new functionality for clothing. When used as a prop, the

textile does not necessarily cover one individual but could be worn in parts by several

performers. Questioning the singularity of the human individual, the textiles also refer to our

planetary co-inhabitants - in this case the elephant with other pieces in the series

referencing the octopus and other critters, earth-dwellers, and parallel species.

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The series is based off of Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy which imagines a future where

benevolent colonisers reach the earth and change the course of human history. Butler’s

narrative written at the end of the cold war (between 87 to 89) pits the two species apart

and unable to compromise with humans who act ungrateful to the technological and genetic

advancements brought to earth and fight to survive in a pure human environment. Butler’s

own biographical trajectory follows her as an award-winning black female science-fiction

writer who was able to become a successful and influential figure in the face of all adversity.

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-Àngels Miralda

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