Upile Chisala

Do you skip past the prelude of things because you want to get to the meat of the

story as quickly as possible?

Darling, preludes are a moment of pause and the very place we lay the ground for

the goodness we expect ahead. Here, where we prepare, plan and pray can be just

as important as the moments where that preparation comes to fruition and that plan

is fulfilled and that prayer is answered. The chunk of our lives spent in anticipation of

beginnings, be it of new years or of new seasons in our lives, is in many ways where

we are formed.

In A Prelude, the BKhz Gallery welcomes you into a space filled intentionally with art

that stretches the pause provided by a prelude. This exhibition asks the audience to

bravely dive deeper as they begin to set intentions, resolutions, hopes and wishes

for their stories. Confronted with the pandemic the boundaries of everyday life

continue to be tested and how we navigate the world alone and in community

continues to shift. We are all witness to how Covid-19 has made us postpone

dreams and innovatively rethink our lives. We have lost and lost again due to this

pandemic. But what has not been robbed from us is our ability to hope, to hope is

human; To hope in light of what we know and in light of what we don’t, is the most

human thing ever. 

A Prelude is curated to sometimes gently (and sometimes not so gently) help the

viewer question life’s course as they plan, reminding them to leave room for the

unexpected. Some pieces delve into the spiritual while others tackle the political,

some play a trick on the eye while others are naked, some pieces are solitary while

others focus on the home and the community. Conversations are travelling from wall

to wall between the art, the onlookers, the techniques, the times, the scales and

colours. Common threads of  belonging, institutional violence, home, healing and

identity can be found in the smallest of artworks to the largest ones in this collection.

As we move through the gallery and the world alike, we must be open to wonder.

What is next might not be clear and may shift but what is here in the prelude could

be magical if we let it be.