Earth and Sky: Sungi Mlengeya

From September 5 to October 24, 2026, Les filles du calvaire presents Earth and Sky, the first monographic exhibition in France of Sungi Mlengeya. Through this new body of work, the Tanzanian artist offers a sensitive reflection on how life extends beyond absence through memory, transmission and influence.

Recognised internationally for her minimalist paintings of dark female figures emerging from vast white spaces, Sungi Mlengeya has developed a refined and instantly recognisable visual language. Conceived following the death of her mother, this exhibition marks an intimate turning point for the artist. Rather than questioning the finality of death, the artist focuses on what remains: inherited gestures, thought processes, and creative impulses that quietly shape subsequent generations. Each life thus appears as both a root and an extension, nourished by the past while opening towards the future. The title Earth and Sky reflects this dual movement between grounding and expansion. Negative space, which is central to the artist's pictorial language, becomes a "sky" here: a field of projection where invisible presences and legacies endure. In this way, Sungi Mlengeya offers a meditation on the continuity of existence, in which life transforms and unfolds within subsequent generations rather than extinguishing itself.

Curated by Daudi Karungi.