art-ist

Malua hears colour in ‘Den of Synesthetes’

For his first trick, Nambowa Malua conjures an exhibition right before the crowd at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre’s eyes.

Weaving from one blank canvas to the next as musicians Tapz and Chirau provide the soundtrack for his live painting, Malua presents and creates ‘Den of Synesthetes’ elevated by the sound of drumbeats and the thrum of a guitar.

While some people dance and others sway, the music which rings through the Franco’s large gallery is no casual background affair. It is, in fact, part of the process and hints at the artist’s second trick.

Malua is painting the music.

“The name of my exhibition is ‘Den of Synesthetes’. Den as in cave, a space to experience this condition, this neurological state,” says Malua who, under certain circumstances, can effectively hear colour.

“I am a synesthete and I experience synesthesia in hearing colours. For some people synesthesia is a little bit more complex in the sense that some people are able to smell a colour for example. Some people are even able to see numbers when certain words are spoken and so on.”

Malua’s work is centered around altered states of consciousness and the artist is deeply inspired by musicians Tapz and Chirau whom he describes as extremely powerful sound therapists who use sound as a tool for healing.

“It’s all about channeling and opening yourself up to allow visuals, images and messages to pass through you and then expressing them on canvas,” says Malua. “These kind of altered states of consciousness require help from others. So these individuals were there to assist me in fully being present in this state.”

While live painting may seem daunting, Malua embraces the challenge and the discomfort.

“Live painting for me is an attempt to break a lot of things, to disrupt a lot of things and among them is a sense of secrecy,” says Malua.

“This idea that I have a style or way of creating that is only possible for me and only known to me. I want to break that. I want to share my knowledge. I want people, especially young people, to see how I create and that becomes somewhat inspirational.”

This need to pay his talent forward likely stems from Malua’s own experience.

Malua began drawing at age 7. He was eventually taught to paint by his older brother who studied fine art in South Africa before working as a curator in Namibia. Learning after homework, on the weekend and finally pursuing a degree in visual art at the University of Namibia, Malua used these sacred moments with his elder sibling to refine the vivid, magnetic images that are his signature.

In ‘Den of Synesthetes’ which springs to life on a warm Tuesday night as wine flows, the audience follows and a shaman walks, Malua manifests a space that intrigues him.

“I didn’t see these artworks, they kind of just appeared,” Malua says.

“Most of the paintings have this otherworldly feeling in a way. They are not too abstract but also not so realistic. I feel like that’s a beautiful dance. It’s also a style I’m slowly developing. I want to find the grace between the real and not real,” says Malua.

“The very intention to title an exhibition that’s not there yet is in itself an interesting phenomenon to talk about. But I knew for a fact that I wanted to have this space where I’m exploring the senses. I’m exploring the dance between our ability to see, to hear and even to taste.”

Once locally famed for his portraits of Namibian artists and creatives and moving purposefully into a space of intuition, healing and the spiritual, Malua sets his paintbrush down at ‘Den of Synesthetes’ having unlocked a new set of characters and a fascinating mode of creation.

“Live painting has a way of dissolving ego in one way or the other,” he says. “To be vulnerable or open in that sense is just heart opening, absolutely heart opening.”

Martha Mukaiwa is a columnist and writer based in Windhoek, Namibia inbetween spirited sojourns around the world. Her narrative nonfiction, personal essays, travel writing and short stories have appeared in Travel Africa, Quartz, Fields & Stations, Holiday, The Africa Report, Truthdig, Matador Network, Africa is a Country, The Namibian & The Kalahari Review. Martha is an honorary writing fellow at the University of Iowa. Read more at marthamukaiwa.com .