The expansive video and sound installation ichibukisho is Clarita Maria Phiri-Beierdörffer’s diploma project. In her works, which are often autobiographical, she addresses the possibility of self-determined memory. She collects and processes photographs and stories, which she then uses in an attempt to confront lived experiences with acquired knowledge. She is particularly interested in the question of how far memory processes are reinforced by images, or even created by them. In CiBemba, a language spoken in Zambia, Tanzania and Congo, the word “ichibukisho” is used to describe the act of remembering. The installation of the same name consists of video interviews in which the protagonists speak of their origins, their self-understanding and their traditions. A further component of the artwork is a filmed group portrait in which Clarita Maria Phiri-Beierdörffer examines family relationships. The materials used in the installation refer to the spatial situation in Lusaka where the conversations took place.
Clarita Maria Phiri-Beierdörffer, who grew up in Zambia, Namibia and Germany, now studies at the Academy of Visual Arts (HGB) Leipzig, in the class of Prof. Dr. Ines Schaber and Clemens von Wedemeyer.
A diploma project presentation in collaboration with the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig.
The opening will take place on 9 February at 7 pm.
The exhibition will be on display at the GfZK from 10 February to 14 April 2024.