About Obel:
I’m a performance artist, and my work revolves around bodies of water and bodies of
humans, often looking at the conflicts these bodies are subjected to and how they defy
and find their own mtindo (flow). I’m passionate about the representation of minority
groups, especially queer and marginalized persons, and the representation of water
bodies such as rivers and lakes, as they continuously face the threat of destruction.

Ongoing Projects:
Kiu River: exploration and its ecosystems: a collaboration project with Kenyan
artist Esther Kamba, exploring the origin of Kiu River and its flow towards its
destination in the Indian Ocean, and how people collaborate to care for and
destroy it.
Engero; Fichua Hadithi – A performance art project in collaboration with
Ugandan artist Benj Poet, about relationships between Nyawawa spirits from
Nam Lolwe (Lake Victoria) in East Africa and the ritual performed every year to
drive out the spirits from homes back into the lake to cleanse the communities
from diseases and inexplicable natural disasters.
Residencies attended in the past:
Foreign Objekt: Online. I developed an aural collage project, a combination of
sounds of a river, sounds of people, and sounds of animals around me.
https://www.posthumanart.com/post/joseph-obel-mto-na-mtindo-the-river-and-
the-flow

Past performance projects:
My Body Betrays Me Again
A performance art exploring the adjustments queer bodies make as they try to hide
from prying, homophobic eyes. https://vimeo.com/1102745009
Kundi-Nyota
A performance art exploring growing up queer in a family where there is no one to
ask questions about sexuality and being different. https://vimeo.com/810134600