The work of Lungiswa Gqunta, who was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1990, examines colonial landscapes and the spatial legacies that result from them. Gqunta focuses on creating multisensory experiences to highlight the social imbalances deriving from colonialism. Her works have been exhibited at the 2017 Istanbul Biennial and at the Whatiftheworld Gallery in Cape Town, among others.
Lituation (2018)
Mixed media
This installation seeks to interpret the garden as a stratified space complete with stories, sacred rituals, and memory. Our relationship to the land is tied to exploitative work but also to a sense of transcendence. In her installations, she uses familiar and domestic objects, which, when combined, become weaponry: beer bottles filled with petrol turn into weapons that suggest mobilisation and acts of resistance.
The installation is composed of glass bottles and unleaded petrol which cover the entire floor of the Serra delle Papaie in the Botanical Garden.