On Korana river in early spring 2022

Curator: Alfred Freddy Krupa created this piece, titled "On Korana river in early spring," just recently in 2022. It’s an ink drawing, a stark exploration of landscape through modernist abstraction. Editor: Wow, that's immediate, isn't it? The feeling of being right there, the river, but deconstructed, almost violently so. Like nature torn apart and then reassembled with an entirely new logic. Curator: Yes, it's Krupa's particular style of pen-ink sketch experimentation. He often finds ways to present natural scenery like this—less as a portrait and more as a feeling. What might that feeling be to you? Editor: A tension. It’s as if the river is holding back, resisting some unseen force. There's a definite resistance there—to conventionality, sure, but also something deeper. What's being held back is almost a question of identity. The lack of colour emphasises the rawness of the lines, giving the river the same grayscale treatment many formerly colonised countries were subject to. This creates a very personal relationship with that place, that space, for people of colour. Curator: I can see that perspective. Thinking about it now, the use of ink does evoke that kind of depth, a sense of things buried and revealed through darkness and light. But also think about the flow, even though it feels restrained. The Korana is a border river. Editor: Exactly! Krupa here has not just created some pretty scenery for us to look at. The dripping ink, the hesitant lines all seem to be struggling to define the location within a given boundary. But which? Is that boundary his nation? His home? Curator: He lived in a war zone for several years. We’ve seen a huge resurgence in interest in exploring the psychological impacts of those situations. Editor: That resonates strongly. It suggests art as a way of processing the complexities of identity amidst trauma. We have a great history to tell! Curator: It does, doesn't it? It reveals so much, but holds so much more back too!