Wuh.ey - “Mfalme wa Pwani”

From the series: African Fusion
Paper: Hahnemühle Fine Art Archival Print
Sheet size: 60 × 60 cm
Year: Edition of 2025
Edition: 3 + 1 AP

Wuh.ey – “Mfalme wa Pwani”

He leans forward, laughing at us—golden, defiant, vibrant. "Mfalme wa Pwani"—the king of the coast—is enthroned not on a pedestal, but among plastic chairs, cats, and beer bottles, at the water's edge, where life pulsates.

Wuh.ey creates an image here that oscillates between myth and street. The man wears a shell cap like a crown, his teeth gleaming like gold coins—a modern-day trickster, half shaman, half rapper, half fisherman. Behind him flutter two flags, symbols of an empire without borders, built on pride and survival.

The scenery is reminiscent of the floating villages of West Africa, where people live on stilts, where water and land merge. No king in the traditional sense rules here – improvisation, humor, and spirit reign supreme. "Mfalme wa Pwani" is a symbol of a new dignity born of chaos, pride, and style.

The cats, witnesses to this scene, seem like silent priestesses, guardians of the in-between world. Everything in the image exudes ambivalence: sacred and profane, archaic and pop, serious and playful at the same time.

Wuh.ey captures this moment as a hymn to self-assertion. The "King of the Coast" is not someone who rules—he is someone who stays, laughs, and lives while the water rises.