Boemo Diale

"During my time at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel I have spent time studying and researching Feminist folklore. Generally my work deals with an exploration of identity, generational trauma, dreams and manifestations. My take on these topics are often inspired by African spirituality and the broader cultural inheritance of South African women. The lens in which I approached this placed symbols of indigenous cosmologies and spirituality at the centre of this narrative to aid in metaphorical and spiritual protection from the world at large. The wise woman of Fire is a folklore tale coming from South African Sotho and Xhosa tradition. A tale about a nameless woman who lives in the mountains and teaches lost children how to survive using fires, herbs and ancestral stories. The value of this story is her position as a keeper of intergenerational knowledge and feminine survival wisdom. During my time here I was introduced a protection deity in Taoism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion named Nezha. A child-God born with supernatural powers, defying authority. He slays a dragon and ultimately sacrifices himself to save his people. Later he is reborn from a lotus flower. Some of these elements appear in the boarder such as the spiral representing his fire wheels and tools representing his magical weapons." (Boemo Diale, 2025)