Thandiwe Muriu: More Than Half

The exhibition presents a new photographic series by Kenyan artist Thandiwe Muriu, developed during her participation in the KYOTOGRAPHIE African Artists Residency.

For the project, Muriu immersed herself in Kyoto’s rich tradition of textile craftsmanship, discovering historical connections between Japanese and East African textile cultures. The East African kanga, for example, was printed by Japanese manufacturers as early as the 1930s, while the tie-dye traditions of East Africa find parallels in the Japanese shibori. These encounters inspired a new chapter of her CAMO series, bringing together the visual languages of the Japanese kimono and African wax textile.

With "More Than Half", Muriu shifts her focus from camouflage to coexistence, using textiles, portraiture and pattern to explore belonging and the complexity of identity. At the centre of the series are Afro-Asian (Blasian) women, whose identities naturally bridge Japanese and African cultures.

"More Than Half" ultimately celebrates wholeness through multiplicity: the idea that different cultures, histories and identities can coexist peacefully, forming not fragments, but a complete and singular whole.