Cassi NamodaThe great defeat of Gungunhana, 2021
‘The Great Defeat of Gungunhana’ by Cassi Namoda uses the historical exile of Gungunhana – the last dynastic emperor of the Gaza Empire in present-day Mozambique – as a point of departure to reflect on the enduring scars of colonial conquest. Through this work, Namoda explores the psychological aftermath of war and the deprivation of resources in its wake, situating these themes within the broader context of post-colonial disembodiment and cultural alienation. While her practice speaks to the shared condition of many Africans living in the aftermath of empire, it remains deeply rooted in Mozambique, drawing upon the nation’s landscapes, archives, vernacular, and oral histories.
Executed in blue and white on ceramic tile, the work appropriates the visual language of azulejos – decorative tiles commonly found in Portuguese and Spanish architecture that often depict religious or mythological scenes. In contrast, Namoda’s use of this medium resists nostalgia, presenting instead a counter-narrative of exile, displacement, and erasure. The choice of material symbolically mirrors the colonial cities from which her practice draws both tension and vitality, reconfiguring a medium historically used to celebrate empire into one that mourns its consequences. Through this inversion, Namoda inserts a Mozambican voice into a form traditionally dominated by colonial storytelling, layering memory, resistance, and vulnerability into the glazed surface of each tile.
