Wuh.ey - “Kifungo cha Mwanga”

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 – “Kifungo cha Mwanga”

In the twilight of a vast landscape stands a figure whose head is enclosed in a golden cage. Atop the cage rests a crow—guardian, messenger, companion of the shadows. The title, Kifungo cha Mwanga ("The Prison of Light"), reveals the central contradiction of this image: imprisonment and enlightenment, limitation and knowledge, death and consciousness.

The figure is both withdrawn and sublime. Its mask of golden chains allows only a vague outline of its face to shine through, as if identity were not a personal characteristic here, but a metaphor for the condition of existence. The crow on the cage becomes a symbol of a higher perception: it sees where humans cannot.

Wuh.ey utilizes the motif of spiritual isolation in this work. The body stands still, almost petrified, yet the metal shimmers—as a reminder that every prison can also be made of light. The golden cage becomes not only a symbol of oppression, but also an ornament of dignity.

"Kifungo cha Mwanga" is a visual parable about consciousness in times of darkness. About the ability to recognize beauty even in limitations—and to find the paradoxical freedom that comes from embracing one's own shadows.