Installation view; 10 x photograms (180x124), 21’ looped multi-channel audio, Cornish granite gravel

Quantum Ghost is a solo exhibition comprising an immersive sound installation and a series of ten large-scale photograms, mapping a journey through archives and territories related to the Sibungu’s heritage. Digging deep into personal documents and oral histories, the exhibition unearths the subterranean histories and political undercurrents connecting the mining regions of Namibia and Cornwall. From mined ores and sedimentary rocks to precious metals and rare earths, it examines the raw materials at the core of capitalist extraction, revealing how the echoes of colonialism and diasporic migration reverberate through the deep-time of geology. It also reconstructs the paper trail left by the artist's late father, a member of SWAPO (South West Africa People's Organisation, the political mass movement that fought for Namibia's liberation from Apartheid South Africa) who went into exile in the 1980s and studied mining engineering in Cornwall.

The audio was developed in collaboration with UK-based artists and musicians Demelza Toy Toy, Jol Thoms, and Hannah Catherine Jones, and features contributions from Namibia-based artists and researchers Perivi Katjavivi and Memory Biwa.  Quantum Ghost toured from Garsworks, to London — the supporting public programme included a live performance with Libita’s collaborators. In addition the performance; Welcome Note in a Welcome Speech, opened both exhibitions — performed by Imani Mason Jordan, written in collaboration with Libita. 

This commission has been generously supported by the Freelands Foundation Programme and the Arts Council England. Elements of Quantum Ghost have gone on to be presented with; Temple Bar Gallery, Ireland, and Sonsbeek, Netherlands, (2021), Courtauld, UK and Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway (2023). Photograms (8-10) can be loaned upon request from the Arts Council Collection. 

Sound engineer: Fred Defaye
Image credit: Max McClure

Learn more about the exhibition here.
Reviews available in CV and here.