Wuh.ey - “Mzaliwa wa Wakati”

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 – “Mzaliwa wa Wakati”

In a baroque salon, amidst gold, brocade, and classical paintings, stands a figure that doesn't belong there—yet transforms everything. "Mzaliwa wa Wakati"—the Child of Time—embodies both Renaissance and ritual. A body clad in black velvet, adorned with African beads, gold rings, sneakers, and a mask reminiscent of mythical ancestors.

In this work, Wuh.ey breaks with the hierarchies of art history. The colonial gaze, the exoticized body, the European heritage—all of this is reversed. The masked protagonist stands at the center like a queen or a king, sovereign, untouchable. His posture is silent but full of authority: Here, another memory speaks.

The sneakers aren't a break in style, but rather a manifesto. They anchor the character in the present—a reminder that identity is constantly in flux, that tradition isn't a past but a living rhythm.

"Mzaliwa wa Wakati" is a visual poem about belonging, power, and memory. It asks: Who is allowed to move in these spaces? Who defines beauty, history, and authority?

Wuh.ey doesn't answer, he points. His figure stands there—between eras, cultures, realities—and embodies the most radical form of freedom: that of reinventing oneself.