The last supper and the sheges

Pierre Mukeba's work is concerned with his personal experience as an African-born Australian, including his memories as a refugee and the cross-cultural experience of living in Australia. Mukeba interweaves references to childhood, family, war, displacement and migration in his drawings and textile works. His art is a dynamic representation of his lived experience fused with Congolese spirituality and Christian faith.

For The last supper and the sheges, Mukeba takes as his starting point Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper c1495-98, which depicts the moment where Jesus reveals to his apostles his knowledge of imminent betrayal. The word shege comes from the Yoruba language spoken in West Africa, and in this context loosely translates to unbearable hardships or faithlessness. Shege is often used to describe street kids and people living on society’s margins, who turn to crime or prostitution to survive. Although harshly judged in the community, Mukeba has observed the religious faith of the sheges is the most incorruptible.

Mukeba’s drawings are made with commercial ink pens on unstretched calico, embellished with paint and appliqued kikwembe cloth. Kikwembe is a vibrant and boldly patterned textile also known as ‘Wax Hollandais.’ The fabric has a convoluted trade history running from Southeast Asia via Northern Europe, African port towns and, latterly, Chinese textile mills. Mukeba uses it for its personal resonances, tactile qualities and unmistakable visual impact, but one of its principal effects is to impart an African inflection.