Dream is the driving force behind Rhoda Davids Abel’s Superbloom exhibition—unfolding 7 inspiring ways memory, myth, and everyday objects are transformed into powerful visual storytelling.
On a rainy day in Bern, just hours before the **Superbloom** exhibition opened at Stadtgalerie Bern, South African artist Rhoda Davids Abel shared reflections on her layered creative practice. Her work intersects the realms of dreams, oral history, and the subtle narratives embedded in everyday objects .
Table of Contents
1. Dreaming as Archival Practice
Born into a lineage of dreamers, Abel treats dreams as living archives—repositories of ancestral wisdom often overlooked by formal institutions. In her installations, she revives these inner landscapes, bridging personal myth with collective memory :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.
2. Material Storytelling Through Objects
Abel’s multi-layered works employ humble everyday items—tin cans, ostrich eggshells, produce bags, inherited fabrics—each carrying histories and emotional resonance. Through careful arrangement, she reanimates these objects, transforming them into visual anchors for hidden stories :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
3. Mythic Narratives: The Cloud-Goat
Central to the Superbloom installation is the “cloud-goat,” a visual retelling of her grandmother’s myth—an animal that transforms into cloud, carrying messages between family members. Floating produce bags, adorned with bells and shells, evoke the mystical presence of this creature and its cultural resonance :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.
4. Multidisciplinary Approach
Working across poetic text, photography, video, and performance, Abel dismantles the hierarchy between oral and visual cultures. This deliberate interweaving of mediums emphasizes the fluidity of myth and memory, allowing her work to pulse with layered narratives :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.
5. Context of Superbloom
The exhibition title, Superbloom, draws metaphorical power from the Namaqualand floral phenomenon—rare and vibrant—mirroring Abel’s mission to cultivate silenced stories so that they can blossom anew within institutional spaces :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.
6. Collaboration & Curation
Curated by Eva‑Maria Knüsel, Superbloom is a dual exhibition featuring Rhoda Davids Abel and Sergio Rojas Chaves, held from February 14 to April 12, 2025. The dialogic curation emphasizes themes of shared histories and diasporic narratives at Stadtgalerie Bern :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}.
7. Artistic Trajectory & Recognition
Abel is an artistic researcher whose practice connects personal heritage with global contexts. She completed her Fine Arts MA at Sandberg Instituut/Gerrit Rietveld and has won accolades including the Swiss Performance Art Award in 2022. Her work has appeared in institutions like Kunsthaus Langenthal, Kunsthalle Palazzo, and Spier Light Art Festival :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}.
Why This Matters
- Re-centering oral traditions: Abel’s work amplifies non-Western epistemologies and positions them within contemporary art discourse.
- Environmental storytelling: Crafted materials, such as produce bags and thrifted fabrics, reflect sustainability and resourcefulness.
- Gender and memory: Her practice amplifies women’s ancestral voices and personal mythologies.
- Transnational resonance: In Bern, Abel’s narratives engage a global art audience, creating new conversations about identity and belonging.
Quotes from the Artist
“Dreams are living archives… shaping personal and collective memory.” :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}
“Superbloom nurtures forgotten, buried, or silenced stories, allowing them to surface and flourish in new, unexpected ways.” :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
How to Experience Superbloom
Visit Stadtgalerie Bern (curated by Eva‑Maria Knüsel) to experience Superbloom—on view until April 12, 2025. Engage with guided tours, artist talks, and workshops exploring themes of storytelling, material culture, and embodied myth.
Further Displays & Events
- Joint presentations with Sergio Rojas Chaves highlight cross-cultural mythmaking.
- Public workshops in April led by Abel, focusing on “object-based storytelling.”
- A closing-night panel discussing dream-archives moderated by the curator.
Reflection & Vision
By weaving myth, memory, and materiality, Rhoda Davids Abel offers a poetic reimagining of the past. Her work emphasizes memory as collective and subjective, suggesting that everyday objects—fabric, eggshells, tin cans—can carry powerful ancestral narratives.
In a cultural landscape often dominated by Western archival systems, Abel’s project challenges the hierarchy of knowledge production and invites us to question—whose stories are preserved, and how might they reshape our present?
To learn more, explore the press release on Stadtgalerie Bern’s site and catch the full interview video on YouTube.
