Presented at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI), ‘Tabula Rasa’ marks a new chapter in Peterson Kamwathi’s ongoing exploration of power, belonging, and collective identity. Taking its title from the notion of the “blank slate”, the exhibition critically examines historical frameworks that have sought to simplify complex identities and erase difference.
2 July 2026
‘Tabula Rasa’ marks a new chapter in Peterson Kamwathi’s ongoing exploration of power, belonging, and collective identity. Taking its title from the notion of the “blank slate”, the exhibition critically examines historical frameworks that have sought to simplify complex identities and erase difference. Across drawing, installation, and mixed-media works, Kamwathi brings together individual figures, maps, monuments, scripts, and symbols that speak to the forces shaping collective life. Rather than presenting history as fixed or singular, ‘Tabula Rasa’ reveals identity as layered, negotiated, and constantly in formation.
‘Tabula Rasa’ suggests a blank slate, though history lingers. What specifically interests you about exploring the tension between erasure and persistence in this exhibition?
I find the term ‘Tabula Rasa’ contradictory – It being an all-encompassing application of Blankness or emptiness, and as, when related to people and their identities, it distorts. This theory has been deployed as a system that does not leave room for the adjustments that might occur at humanity’s points of contact. I think that this 17th-century frame greatly informed the gaze that typified European forays of exploration and the missionary agenda into non-Western worlds. Its fixedness served to flatten and eventually attempt to erase the richness of the people they encountered. This theory as a structure created and continues to enforce the tools and parameters we apply in the definition of our individual and collective ourselves. These are through language, systems of education and knowledge, boundaries and borders, etc. In this exhibition, through the work, I nudge against this rigidness and hope to emphasise the attitudes and perspectives that inform one’s, ability and capacity to see the depths and breadth of others. In these works, the individual, who is actively participating in and representing the group, accentuates all that is of value for their identity, while still having to contend with the categorisations that are imposed.
Groups of people often take precedence over individuals in your work. In today’s context, how do you see the interplay between the individual and the collective playing out in Tabula Rasa?
In this exhibition, the individual is more visible inasmuch as I continue to explore and unpack the group. In previous works, I utilised the spectacle of the group to express the form, structure and function of groups. Here, the body of the group served to highlight the causes and, at the same time, provided protection to the individual members. Individual identifiers were not a concern- the spectacle of the group was. Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate the role of the individual in the makeup of any group. An individual, whether visible or not, will remain the most basic part of any group, whether they have agency or not. In ‘Tabula Rasa’, I position the figure of the individual at the centre of their different territories and intersections- historical, political, cultural and economic. The group, in this instance, is represented by the objects and expressions that are outcomes of collective effort, for example, scripts, maps, monuments, slogans, etc.
By uniting diverse histories, symbols, and moments in a single visual space, your exhibition establishes a dialogue across narratives. What compels you to bring these stories together?
I am fascinated by rich layers that constitute our individual and collective lives. We may desire simpler and less weighty categorisation for our individual and collective journeys, but factors of place, position, history, community, environment, history and geographies have an impact on the direction of our present and future selves. These facets and layers are dynamic, interconnected and of varying intensities. In the work, I highlight parts of these intersections and also acknowledge the complexity that is present in the worlds we inhabit and transverse. I am curious to identify points of influence and interconnectedness that emerge as grouping contend within the tension of imposed classification. The group system is one of the ways that complex existences are managed, and I am interested in this as a structure. This work is a part of the effort to express complexity and linkages.
Although you use different media, drawing remains central for you. How does drawing shape your approach to exploring new ideas?
Drawing offers me a broad range of visual and physical marks to work with. For me, like with paper, it is a medium that goes way back to my early childhood. I have an unexacting attitude towards paper as a surface, on one hand I appreciate its ability to hold details, and on the other hand it is familiar and so I can experiment and explore mark-making with an ease that I do not find in other media supports. I am also more forgiving of myself when my efforts fall flat. Drawing is one of the earliest ways most paper exercise mark making, from childhood doodles to writing. I enjoy how versatile drawing is as a medium- its directness, the distance between hand and surface is minimal and sometimes not even there, like when spreading in the pastel onto the surface of paper or wall. The flatness of the drawn surface allows me to combine other media in the making of my artworks.
For me, drawing is the easiest way to bridge idea and expression.
When you repeat certain elements, like the human figure, what insights about society, power, or collective experience emerge from this repetition?
How we distinguish one collective from another is through their specific rituals and routines. Repetition underpins the workings of most groups, and the outcome can be the preservation of their customs. Rituals and routines foster bonds of belonging, therefore enabling the continuity and growth of groups. The outward form of any group is generic, especially if viewpoint from a distance. Its purpose is also fixed or restricted to a small subset. In my observations, the crowd is a micro-institution with hierarchies and fixed roles for each person. An example is the queue, which functions as one of the ways to enforce order and mitigate the chaos in situations of limitation to points of access or services. Groups enhance humanity’s capacity to navigate difficult territories, be it physical, political, social, economic or environmental.
Uncertainty and multiple interpretations often characterise your works. In our image-saturated era, how do you see ambiguity shaping your practice?
I would describe it more as layered than multiplied. But yes, the layering also creates the possibility of multiple entry points into the reading of my work. There is a certain desensitisation that seems to be emerging on the back of this age of never-ending images. The familiar gets relegated to the background, and they are possibly forgotten. The familiar forgotten is perceived as blurry and unimportant. My fascination with groups is built on the awareness of how the repetitive can become familiar. It is driven by the sense that we most often underestimate the potency, function and impact of a group because its optics are familiar. The medium and scale I work with are intended to urge the viewer to re-look at what may look routine. Overall, I feel that art and creative expression are powerful at bringing to the fore that which may be familiar, obscured or forgotten.
Crowds, public gatherings, and organisational systems are central themes throughout your career. Compared to a single figure, what unique insights into power and society do crowds offer?
Crowds are good markers of the prevailing patterns of most societies. The structure of a group is a micro-institution. It can be ephemeral, but where you have a crowd or a human grouping, you also have hierarchies of power, control, and intrigue. When these dynamics of control are employed, the crowd adopts a singular monumental fluidity whose effectiveness and visibility gives agency to the cause at being addressed. The voice and presence of the group amplify the voice, reach and presence of the individual. In its duration, the crowd will offer sanctuary to the single figure. Beyond the optics of face value, the crowd is a complex and potent institution.
Reflecting on your practice in light of ‘Tabula Rasa’, which conversations around memory, history, and future do you hope the exhibition will inspire?
Through my work, I am keen on creating contexts that foster thought and reflection. The group and its facets are a context that most humanity has a sense of, and with this exhibition, I open the space for us to examine the breadth of our positioning and identities- beyond face value- as constituents of the many groupings, we are connected to.
This exhibition is on view at the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute in Kenya until 23 August 2026.
