Samson Kambalu | Fourth Plinth Shortlist Nominee
Fourth Plinth Commission 2022 and 2024 Artist Shortlist
TORCH is thrilled to learn that Dr Samson Kambalu, Associate Professor of Fine Art, Ruskin School of Art and current Humanities Knowledge Exchange Fellow is among the six nominees!
Samson Kambalu by Jeremy Hibbert
The Fourth Plinth is a world-famous art comission, bringing contemporary art into a public space (Trafalgar Square, London) to inspire engagement and debate.
Retrieved on 12/03/2021 from the Mayor of London webpage:
Samson Kambalu's often irreverent fusion of social, national and artistic tropes and identities is intentionally mischievous and provocative. His aim is to skew our reading of cultural behaviour and customs and to seek out the areas where humanity meets. The artist grounds his multi-media practice in Nyau culture – a secret society of the Chewa tribe, Malawi, which is especially known for its ritual mask performances. Kambalu’s ‘Nyau Cinema’ is characterised by spontaneity, playfulness and a non-linear approach to time.
Samson Kambalu was born in 1975 in Malawi. He lives and works in Oxford where he is an Associate Professor of Fine Art and fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford University. Kambalu featured in All the World's Futures, the 56th Venice Biennale. His work has been included in numerous international exhibitions and projects including the Dakar Biennial (2014 and 2016); Tokyo International Art Festival (2009) and Liverpool Biennial (2004 and 2016). He has had solo exhibitions at PEER Gallery, London; Mu.ZEE, Ostend, Belgium, (2020); Whitechapel Gallery, London; Logan Centre, Chicago; NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Miami; Kunsthalle Mainz, Germany, (2016).
Further information is available on the Mayor of London website.
You can find out more about Samson Kambalu's Humanities Knowledge Exchange Fellowship at TORCH here.
