Collective Cares: Studio Visit #006 – Benard Taulai Sakala

In this 6th Studio Visit contribution, Naoko Mabon visits artist Benard Taulai Sakala in Lumwana, Kalumbila District, where he is creating a series of murals for a newly developed accommodation facility.

Through the conversation, they explore the realities of sustaining an artistic practice, the relationship between commercial commissions and creative expression, and the role of art to communicate environmental concerns.

While Benard speaks passionately about plastic pollution, responsibility of artists and the potential of his art to signal for society, Naoko reflects on the wider context of Kalumbila: a landscape shaped by large-scale mining, unjust displacement and the ongoing marginalisation of local stories and heritage.

The encounter opens up a question: Can art simply be made in a place, or should it also engage with the histories, communities, environments and urgencies that shape that place?

Read full on Collective Cares website here.