Kiasma | Museum of Contemporary Art

In preparation for her exhibition, Dineo Seshee Raisibe Bopape spent time in the rural municipality of Hämeenkyrö, Finland, engaging with the joy of being with the lakes, the landscape, the healers of the region and healing herbs. The installation in the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma turns the entire fifth-floor gallery into a scented arena. “(ka) pheko ye – the dream to come” continues Bopape’s exploration of healing and re-membering. This is the award-winning artist’s first solo exhibition in the Nordic countries.

Bopape creates her works and installations with natural materials such as clay, soil, ash and plants but uses also manufactured items that we are intimately connected with. The materials are highly symbolic, referencing social, personal or material histories and actual geographic locations. Soil, in particular, is a key material. According to Southern African lore, minerals in stone are seen as repositories of memories and ancient wisdom. The female realm and the ‘feminine’ often play an important role in Bopape’s work as the source of life, renewal and dreaming.

Bopape went on several field trips in Finland when she was preparing the show. (ka) pheko ye – the dream to come draws upon the idea of dreaming as an activity that is common to all beings and allows one to connect with various timelines. During her stay in Hämeenkyrö, Bopape worked with experts on the Frantsila organic herb farm developing a fragrance and a tea blend for the exhibition that features dream-supporting herbs such as heather and hops. Alongside natural materials, Bopape also uses video, sound and lights in the exhibition.

In her practice, Bopape investigates re-membering as a conduit for consolidating one’s fragmented self through time. Bopape says she carries within her the memory of her ancestors: the phrase “(ka) pheko ye” in the title of the exhibition, a reference to a journey with a medicinal directive, is in sePedi, her mothertongue.

The exhibition is curated by João Laia, chief curator of temporary exhibitions at Kiasma.