Ax•is Mun•di

Mani Kambo presents a major new commission of works comprising textiles,
sculpture, wood engraving and knotting. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Kambo
explores the inner spirit by drawing on her own personal totemic symbols. The
artist’s practice is rooted in her family’s history within a caste system and influenced
by her upbringing in a household filled with superstition, prayer and religious
ceremony. Through her work, Kambo interweaves everyday routines and rituals with
tradition, spirituality and mythology to trace the stories and journeys that connect all
things. 

Ax·is Mun·di is Kambo’s first institutional exhibition and takes inspiration from the
astronomical Latin phrase ‘axis mundi’. Translating to ‘world axis’ or ‘centre of the
world’, it is an archetypal concept that has rich and varied expressions across
different cultural traditions and religious beliefs. For Kambo, it symbolises everything
in balance, a pivot point connecting above and below, heaven and earth. Her work
explores the cyclical nature of paths, the human soul and its bond to the cosmos,
and the ethereal threads that transform and transcend the fetters of our existence.  
Process and repetition become meditative actions for Kambo, with intimate hand
gestures imbuing objects and materials with reverence and secret meaning. Intricate
knots conceal hidden maps to realms unknown, etched stones are votive relics and
markers on a sinuous trail. They guide visitors ever onwards towards the centre, to
five new textile banners emblazoned with arcane symbols and iconography, their
mysteries waiting to be unravelled.