27.8.2025
New exhibition Still I Rise by Sarah Nakiito and Liisa-Irmelen Liwata
Curated by Elham Rahmati & Vidha Saumya
Exhibition space Vintti | Kunsthalle Seinäjoki
Taking its title from Maya Angelou’s iconic poem And Still I Rise (1978), this exhibition by Sarah Nakiito and Liisa-Irmelen Liwata weaves together two practices rooted in resilience, ancestral memory, and the ever-evolving act of self-definition. Their works navigate the emotional and political terrain of survival, where defiant hope, tactile materiality, and deeply personal mythologies converge.
Sarah Nakiito’s practice is shaped by the duality of her lived experience between Sweden and Uganda. Her works examine contrasting cultural responses to crisis, drawing attention to the instinctive collectivism in migrant and diasporic communities versus the individualism often present in Western contexts. This tension is embodied through her use of bark cloth: Olubugo, a traditional Ugandan material, is interwoven with the inner bark of the linden tree—once vital in Swedish pre-industrial society. This fusion creates a living, breathing textile—one that charts the convergence of Nakiito’s layered identities and histories. Her work resists erasure, not only honoring tradition but actively sustaining it as a contemporary, evolving practice.
Liisa-Irmelen Liwata’s work turns inward and skyward. Rooted in the concept of napa—the Finnish word for “belly button”—her practice explores the navel as both physical origin and central point of orientation. This duality becomes a metaphorical compass, guiding an exploration of cultural identity, bodily memory, and belonging. Through symbolic instruments of navigation—compasses, celestial charts, and “belly button stars”—Liwata constructs a personal cartography. Her work traces constellations in the Northern and Southern Skies, whose polar stars guide you in the right direction. At the same time Liwata maps parallel cosmic landscapes that reflect her own hybridity.
Together, Nakiito and Liwata create a space of open inquiry and assertive presence. Nakiito’s practice channels collective empowerment—an urgent act of rising and reclaiming space in the world. Liwata, by contrast, invites slow introspection, valuing the questions that emerge over any singular conclusion. As their practices intersect, viewers are drawn into a dynamic space: one of witnessing, reflection, and quiet rebellion.
Sarah Nakiito, a former migration researcher turned artist, utilizes textiles and performance to navigate the experience of being a black woman in a diaspora. Her practice operates in the borderlands of textiles, installation, costume design, performance and video, where Nakiito explores corporeality, memory and resistance in relation to colonial and inherited structures. The practice is interdisciplinary and moves between traditional craft techniques and spatial expressions such as installation, scent, sound and ritual gesture- the personal is intertwined with historical, political and social layers through an exploration of storytelling techniques and narrative structures.”
Liisa-Irmelen Liwata is a Finnish-Congolese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. In her works, she uses sculpture and text to discuss the connections between the body, land and language. Having grown up at the crossroads of several cultures, Liwata is interested in exploring the point where existence overlaps. She works mostly with ceramics using a painterly technique, creating images on clay surfaces by pressing and sliding different coloured clays. The method is a combination of printmaking, collage work and finger painting. Liwata has graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2024.
Curators
Elham Rahmati (b. 1989, Tehran) is a visual artist and independent curator based in Helsinki. She is the co-founder and co-editor of NO NIIN, an independent online monthly magazine at the cusp of art, criticality, and love.
Vidha Saumya (b. 1984, Patna) is an artist-poet. She is the co-founder and co-editor of NO NIIN Magazine and a founding member of the Museum of Impossible Forms.
Press photos will be updated to: http://bit.ly/STpressikuvat
Opening event
A duo exhibition Still I Rise by artists Sarah Nakiito and Liisa-Irmelen Liwata opens at Kunsthalle Seinäjoki on Friday, 5th of September, from 6 pm to 10 pm.
The opening event of the exhibition is part of the Night of Phenomena (Ilmiöiden yö) cultural event in Seinäjoki. Please, look for more specific program and timetable here.
You are warmly welcome to celebrate with us! The event is free for everyone.
More information and inquiries:
Laura Laukkanen
Art Curator, Kunsthalle Seinäjoki
tel. +35840 774 8560
laura.laukkanen@seinajoki.fi
