A day with the artist Samson Kambalu at Magdalen College in Oxford
Spending time with Samson Kambalu – whose Antelope sculpture is scheduled to soon occupy Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth – is akin to accompanying a dragonfly on its zigzag flight. Striding at some speed, he leads us back and forth through the sun-dappled cloisters of the Great Quad at Oxford’s Magdalen College, past the ancient deer park, into the modern library, then – via a succession of pauses in panelled common rooms – up to the medieval Hall.
Samson is a fellow of Magdalen and associate professor of fine art and director of research at The Ruskin School of Art, and the peregrination is pertinent. Despite having use of a study in college and Dylan Thomas’ former writing hut on the banks of the River Cherwell, Samson’s practice is consciously unconstrained by walls. ‘I did once try having a studio, but Africa wasn’t going to come to me there,’ he says.
Samson was born and raised in Malawi during the early years of independence – a childhood he has charted in his book The Jive Talker: Or How to Get a British Passport*. Antelope began with a 1914 photograph he found in the African and Commonwealth archives of Oxford’s Weston Library. It shows the Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe – leader of an uprising that led to the founding of Malawi – with John Chorley, a white European missionary. Both are wearing hats. ‘For Chilembwe, it was an act of defiance. It was illegal for a black man to wear a hat or shoes in the presence of a white man. But, evidently, Chorley supported him,’ says Samson. He has made Chorley lifesize and Chilembwe much larger, correcting an imbalance in narrative from the other side of colonial rule.
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That variance is a thread through Samson’s art: ‘In Africa, we don’t have museums, but we have traditions – we have Nyau practice, we have masking. Masks aren’t accessories to hide behind: masks help adults play and play is the dance of the universe.’ Such irreverence is reflected in his performance pieces, often posted on social media. The shelves of his study contain wigs for such occasions and a bag of rubber bones – a purchase inspired by a scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
This curious mix of pop culture and tradition is embodied by Samson himself, who often pairs brands such as Armani and Dolce & Gabbana with academic regalia – and a hat. ‘I’ve situated my practice in the territory of the dandy, the flâneur,’ he explains. ‘It’s art as lifestyle.’ The dragonfly, symbolic of change and uninhibited vision, seems an appropriate analogy in more ways than one.
Samson is represented by Kate MacGarry in London, Galerie Nordenhake in Stockholm and Goodman Gallery in South Africa: samsonkambalu.com | katemacgarry.com | nordenhake.com | goodman-gallery.com
Joshua Monaghan1/7Samson in one of the Magdalen common rooms, where the panelled walls are hung with paintings from the College’s collection.
Joshua Monaghan2/7His style is a reflection of his practice – ‘in the territory of the dandy, the flâneur’.
Joshua Monaghan3/7By a college staircase in Dolce & Gabbana trousers, an Armani waistcoat and Amiri boots.
Joshua Monaghan4/7The sign outside his study.
James O Jenkins5/7A maquette of Antelope, which was sponsored by Galerie Nordenhake.
Joshua Monaghan6/7Samson on the roof of Magdalen College.
Joshua Monaghan7/7In Magdalen’s Hall.
