THANDIWE MURIU タンディウェ・ムリウ

Thandiwe Muriu’s journey into Camo began with a desire to redefine womanhood and express her feelings of invisibility. Shaped by her own journey of breaking out of the space of so-called “women’s work” to become an advertising photogra-pher, Muriu grappled with the societal expectations surrounding the place of women. Engaging in a dialogue between tradition and modernity, she employs textiles and common household items, making her subjects a canvas for reflec-tion on identity, representation, and community.

In Camo, wax textile is used as social vocabulary. Generationally, wax has been worn, shared, reinterpreted, and emotionally invested in as a tool of expression across the African continent. A widely accepted symbol of ‘Africanness’, it is deeply embedded in social and cultural practices.

Muriu’s subjects blend into these patterned fabric backgrounds yet remain in undeniable focus. Both a reflection of the pressure for women to occupy space quietly, and a rejection of the historical objectification of women’s bodies, Muriu’s works create a tension between visibility and erasure.

Asking questions about womanhood, Muriu turns to history in a process she calls ‘modernising history’ – reflecting on the past to expand the future. By doing so, she reflects on the expansive panorama of womanhood while presenting an offering of hope and joy.

The title of the series references ‘camouflage’ evoking thoughts of disappear-ance and blending in. But in Camo, what might otherwise remain overlooked or dismissed is given space to endure, to be seen, and to thrive.