Rehema Chachage

Lives and works in Vienna, Austria

Artist statement

I start with conversations, often with my mother and other members of my community, and often happening over several card games that go on until late in the night. Sometimes, these conversations take place in the kitchen while we cook. At other times, they unfold while lazing around, sunbathing in my mother’s backyard. As far as I can remember, every stage of my life has been facilitated by some level of togetherness and by processes of handing down (stories, hi/herstories, gifts, skills, names, recipes, clothes, etc.). These exchanges often unfolded within spaces I have come to recognize as knowledge spaces (the kitchen space, the backyard, the hearth, under the tree/the street corner, etc.). These are the spaces that have been integral to shaping my understanding of the world and the language through which I articulate it. Therefore, I see my practice as an ongoing act of citation and referencing, working with and alongside these spaces to honor their significance. My research-based art practice is relational in its very nature: it develops with, alongside, and toward others. It is grounded in processes of tending, remembering, and re-membering; in the everyday acts that sustain us when language fails. I draw inspiration from the context of Tanzania, which has historically been shaped by a community of togetherness—held by care, improvisation, and mutual regard—even amid the fractures that unsettle us: colonial inheritances, political ruptures, and contemporary moments...

Artwork