To Be Blindly Hopeful

2024

Views of the exhibition
Mostyn, Llandudno, United Kingdom
Curators Alfredo Cramerotti and Kalliopi Tsipni-Kolaza
With the support of the Galerie Sultana, Paris, France, the Goodman Gallery, London, United Kingdom and the French Institute of the United Kingdom, London, United Kingdom

To Be Blindly Hopeful emerged from the very last sentence of a journal that Maheke wrote between August 2020 and June 2021, encapsulating those turbulent months. The exhibition serves as a proposal to revisit fragments of this journal, a personal odyssey that became the genesis of a body of work, as intricate as it is expansive. The exhibition title references the artist’s mindset during a period marked by uncertainty and upheaval. It beckons us to consider the potency of hope, not as a calculated response to circumstance, but as a courageous act of faith in the face of adversity.

Central to Maheke’s practice is a delicate dance between the intimate and the global, echoing the sentiment expressed by bell hooks, who reminds us that “the space of our lack is also the space of possibility.” The exhibition unfolds as a journey through the various streams of struggle from which these artworks draw their voice. Each piece is a testament to the artist’s ability to navigate the complex interplay between the self and the collective, offering viewers an opportunity to reflect on their own roles within the broader tapestry of human experience.

Extract from the exhibition presentation, Mostyn, Llandudno, United Kingdom