Aaron's website changes: the ones actionable now

_data/exhibitions.json

@@ -1,35 +1,42 @@
 [
   {
-    "title": "Simple Commodities",
-    "slug": "simple-commodities",
-    "date": "2024",
+    "title": "Ukupupuka",
+    "slug": "ukupupuka",
+    "date": "2025",
     "venue": "",
-    "description": "As Zambia marks sixty years of independence, Simple Commodities is my exhibition of questions. Ba, Zambia, twafika pesa? Where have we reached? From the energy crisis to the price of bread, mealie meal, and fuel, I ask what freedom has brought, drawing on our past to imagine an Africanfuturist future.",
+    "description": "Ukupupuka means flight in Bemba. In this show, I seek visual avenues of elevation that carry us past our physical limits. I excavate the histories of marginalized Africans and envision the future through a Black African lens, letting past, present, and future flow together. Transcendence lets me inhabit all three.",
     "images": [
       "01.webp", "02.webp", "03.webp", "04.webp", "05.webp",
       "06.webp", "07.webp", "08.webp", "09.webp", "10.webp",
       "11.webp", "12.webp", "13.webp", "14.webp", "15.webp",
       "16.webp", "17.webp", "18.webp", "19.webp", "20.webp",
       "21.webp", "22.webp", "23.webp", "24.webp", "25.webp",
-      "26.webp", "27.webp", "28.webp", "29.webp", "30.webp",
-      "31.webp", "32.webp", "33.webp", "34.webp", "35.webp",
-      "36.webp", "37.webp", "38.webp", "39.webp", "40.webp",
-      "41.webp"
+      "26.webp", "27.webp", "28.webp", "29.webp"
     ]
   },
   {
-    "title": "Ukupupuka",
-    "slug": "ukupupuka",
-    "date": "2025",
+    "title": "Simple Commodities",
+    "slug": "simple-commodities",
+    "date": "2024",
     "venue": "",
-    "description": "Ukupupuka means flight in Bemba. In this show, I seek visual avenues of elevation that carry us past our physical limits. I excavate the histories of marginalized Africans and envision the future through a Black African lens, letting past, present, and future flow together. Transcendence lets me inhabit all three.",
+    "subtitle": "A solo exhibition by Aaron Samuel Mulenga",
+    "description": [
+      "As Zambia celebrates 60 years of liberation this year, Simple Commodities is an exhibition of questions, inviting us to reflect on how far we have come, where we are today and where we are going as a nation.",
+      "Aaron Samuel Mulenga begins his solo exhibition with a confrontational installation of charcoal and burlap, entitled Ba, Zambia, twafika pesa? Ba Zambia, where have we reached? From the energy crisis to the high cost of simple commodities such as bread, mealie meal and fuel, what is Zambia’s political and economic state today?",
+      "While Aaron invites us to critically assess the present, his perspective of time and existence is one that is cyclical. To Advance, One Must Look Back is one of the artworks in the exhibition reminding us that the past is present with us, as we carry an inscription through our DNA of our ancestors. This connection could serve as a source of strength or inspiration to us. His works in coffee offer an alternative historic portrayal of the origins of Christianity and religious iconography on the continent. By depicting people of colour in these visions, he contests histories that are shaped by Eurocentric narratives. The celestial beings adorning halos hold a gaze into the past, present and future. They could be imagined as Afronauts, Saints or Ancestors that exist with and alongside us.",
+      "Simple Commodities considers how dynamics of power, identity and spirituality have shaped our nation thus far and proposes how we might move forward with an “Africanfuturist” agenda, which centres African thought and vision by drawing from our rich past to imagine a brighter future."
+    ],
+    "credit": "Sana Ginwalla, Curator",
     "images": [
       "01.webp", "02.webp", "03.webp", "04.webp", "05.webp",
       "06.webp", "07.webp", "08.webp", "09.webp", "10.webp",
       "11.webp", "12.webp", "13.webp", "14.webp", "15.webp",
       "16.webp", "17.webp", "18.webp", "19.webp", "20.webp",
       "21.webp", "22.webp", "23.webp", "24.webp", "25.webp",
-      "26.webp", "27.webp", "28.webp", "29.webp"
+      "26.webp", "27.webp", "28.webp", "29.webp", "30.webp",
+      "31.webp", "32.webp", "33.webp", "34.webp", "35.webp",
+      "36.webp", "37.webp", "38.webp", "39.webp", "40.webp",
+      "41.webp"
     ]
   }
 ]

_data/projects.json

@@ -125,52 +125,60 @@
     "image": "tengatenga-can-i-help-you-carry-your-load.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "The Afronauts",
+    "title": "Afronaut Mwamba",
     "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": null,
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
-    "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "the-afronauts.webp"
+    "date": "2017",
+    "medium": "Acrylic paint, wax cloth, burlap sack",
+    "dimensions": "39 x 48\"",
+    "image": "afronaut-mwamba.webp"
   },
   {
     "title": "Afronaut Lombe",
     "project": "Afronauts",
     "date": "2020",
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
+    "medium": "Acrylic paint, wax cloth, burlap sack",
     "dimensions": "35 x 47\"",
     "image": "afronaut-lombe.webp"
   },
   {
     "title": "Afronaut Jojo",
     "project": "Afronauts",
     "date": "2021",
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
+    "medium": "Acrylic paint, wax cloth, burlap sack",
     "dimensions": "39 x 48\"",
     "image": "afronaut-jojo.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "Afronaut Chintelelwe",
+    "title": "Flight Is Better When Done in Tandem",
+    "project": "Afronauts",
+    "date": "2019",
+    "medium": "Fiber filling, burlap sack, coffee and acrylic paint",
+    "dimensions": "87 x 81\"",
+    "image": "flight-is-better-when-done-in-tandem.webp"
+  },
+  {
+    "title": "From the Ground Up! Ulubuto",
     "project": "Afronauts",
     "date": "2021",
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
-    "dimensions": "39 x 48\"",
-    "image": "afronaut-chintelelwe.webp"
+    "medium": "Coffee and acrylic paint on canvas",
+    "dimensions": "71 x 51\"",
+    "image": "from-the-ground-up-ulubuto.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "Afronaut Mwamba",
+    "title": "The Afronauts",
     "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": null,
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
+    "date": "2020",
+    "medium": "Digital artwork",
     "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "afronaut-mwamba.webp"
+    "image": "the-afronauts.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "Flight is Better When Done in Tandem",
+    "title": "Afronaut Chintelelwe",
     "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": null,
+    "date": "2021",
     "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
-    "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "flight-is-better-when-done-in-tandem.webp"
+    "dimensions": "39 x 48\"",
+    "image": "afronaut-chintelelwe.webp"
   },
   {
     "title": "For Freedom We Dream Until It Happens",
@@ -181,28 +189,20 @@
     "image": "for-freedom-we-dream-until-it-happens.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "From the Ground Up! Ulubuto",
+    "title": "W.I.T.C.H Album Cover",
     "project": "Afronauts",
     "date": null,
     "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
     "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "from-the-ground-up-ulubuto.webp"
-  },
-  {
-    "title": "Untitled (Afronaut Interaction)",
-    "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": null,
-    "medium": null,
-    "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "untitled-afronaut-interaction.webp"
+    "image": "witch-album-cover.webp"
   },
   {
-    "title": "W.I.T.C.H Album Cover",
+    "title": "Pillars",
     "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": null,
-    "medium": "Acrylic, wax cloth on burlap",
-    "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "witch-album-cover.webp"
+    "date": "2023",
+    "medium": "Acrylic and wax cloth on burlap",
+    "dimensions": "97 x 81\"",
+    "image": "pillars.webp"
   },
   {
     "title": "Intanda Nga Shakumana (When the Stars Meet)",
@@ -417,14 +417,6 @@
     "dimensions": null,
     "image": "photography-10.webp"
   },
-  {
-    "title": "Pillars",
-    "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": "2023",
-    "medium": "Acrylic and wax cloth on burlap",
-    "dimensions": "97 x 81\"",
-    "image": "pillars.webp"
-  },
   {
     "title": "Penance",
     "project": null,
@@ -449,14 +441,6 @@
     "dimensions": "23 1/4 x 27 x 13.5\"",
     "image": "ulupwa.webp"
   },
-  {
-    "title": "Afronaut Banana",
-    "project": "Afronauts",
-    "date": "2024",
-    "medium": "Bronze",
-    "dimensions": null,
-    "image": "afronaut-banana.webp"
-  },
   {
     "title": "Matthew 10:16 (Sheep in Wolf's Clothing)",
     "project": null,

content/about/index.md

@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ portrait: /images/aaron-portrait.webp
 <div class="about">
   <div class="prose">
 
-Aaron Samuel Mulenga is a Zambian visual artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and installation. His work investigates memory, colonial legacy, and the quiet rituals through which communities carry their histories forward.
+Aaron Samuel Mulenga is a Zambian visual artist whose practice spans installation, sculpture, coffee painting, and drawings. His practice investigates cultural memory, speculative imaginations of the future, and how shared communities create environments of care that center love, equity and hope for the future.
 
-Working primarily with coffee, bronze, burlap, and found material, Mulenga draws on the textures of everyday Zambian life — and on the long shadows cast by empire — to compose images that are at once intimate and historical.
+Mulenga’s work is directly inspired by Zambia’s vibrant culture and rich history. His 2D work incorporates collage, painting and drawing by using coffee and African print fabric on burlap and canvas. Mulenga’s sculptures and installations are made in bronze, wood, and found material, reminiscent of the bricolage practices found in masquerade practices in the country.
 
-He has exhibited in Lusaka, Berlin, and across the United States, and continues to develop bodies of work that pair archival research with material experimentation.
+Mulenga's work seeks to foreground little known Zambian narratives such as in the work of the Zambian WWI porters, and Zambian space explorers, which he explores in his Tenga-Tenga and Afronauts series respectively.
+
+Mulenga has exhibited in Lusaka, Berlin, and across the United States, and continues to develop bodies of work that pair archival research with material experimentation.
 
   </div>
   <aside class="about__portrait">

content/exhibitions/index.njk

@@ -20,9 +20,19 @@ eleventyExcludeFromCollections: true
   <section class="gallery-section" id="{{ exhibition.slug }}">
     <div class="gallery-section__info">
       <h2 class="gallery__heading">{{ exhibition.title }}</h2>
+      {%- if exhibition.subtitle %}<p class="gallery-section__venue">{{ exhibition.subtitle }}</p>{% endif -%}
       {%- if exhibition.venue %}<p class="gallery-section__venue">{{ exhibition.venue }}</p>{% endif -%}
       {%- if exhibition.date %}<p class="gallery-section__venue">{{ exhibition.date }}</p>{% endif -%}
-      {%- if exhibition.description %}<div class="gallery-section__desc">{{ exhibition.description }}</div>{% endif -%}
+      {%- if exhibition.description -%}
+        <div class="gallery-section__desc">
+          {%- if exhibition.description is string -%}
+            {{ exhibition.description }}
+          {%- else -%}
+            {%- for para in exhibition.description %}<p>{{ para }}</p>{% endfor -%}
+          {%- endif -%}
+          {%- if exhibition.credit %}<p class="gallery-section__credit">&ndash; {{ exhibition.credit }}</p>{% endif -%}
+        </div>
+      {%- endif -%}
     </div>
     <div class="gallery">
       {%- for image in exhibition.images -%}

content/index.njk

@@ -14,12 +14,15 @@ featured:
     {%- set project = projects | findByImage(filename) -%}
     {%- if project -%}
       <div class="slideshow__slide{% if loop.first %} is-active{% endif %}">
-        <a href="/projects/#{{ project.title | slug }}" aria-label="{{ project.title }}">
+        {#- Works without a project group are shown in the Ukupupuka exhibition, not on the Projects page. -#}
+        <a href="{% if project.project %}/projects/#{{ project.title | slug }}{% else %}/exhibitions/#ukupupuka{% endif %}" aria-label="{{ project.title }}">
           <img src="/images/{{ project.image }}" alt="{{ project.title }}"{% if not loop.first %} loading="lazy"{% endif %}>
         </a>
       </div>
     {%- endif -%}
   {%- endfor -%}
+  <button type="button" class="slideshow__nav slideshow__nav--prev" data-slideshow-prev aria-label="Previous image">&larr;</button>
+  <button type="button" class="slideshow__nav slideshow__nav--next" data-slideshow-next aria-label="Next image">&rarr;</button>
 </div>
 
 <script>
@@ -30,10 +33,23 @@ featured:
     if (slides.length < 2) return;
     var interval = parseInt(root.getAttribute('data-interval'), 10) || 5000;
     var i = 0;
-    setInterval(function () {
+    var timer = null;
+
+    function go(next) {
       slides[i].classList.remove('is-active');
-      i = (i + 1) % slides.length;
+      i = (next + slides.length) % slides.length;
       slides[i].classList.add('is-active');
-    }, interval);
+    }
+
+    function start() {
+      clearInterval(timer);
+      timer = setInterval(function () { go(i + 1); }, interval);
+    }
+
+    // Manual navigation restarts the timer so a click isn't immediately overridden.
+    root.querySelector('[data-slideshow-prev]').addEventListener('click', function () { go(i - 1); start(); });
+    root.querySelector('[data-slideshow-next]').addEventListener('click', function () { go(i + 1); start(); });
+
+    start();
   })();
 </script>

content/news/2026-11-07-competing-cosmologies-wende.md

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+title: "Exhibition — Competing Cosmologies: Interpreting the Sky"
+date: 2026-11-07
+---
+
+A group exhibition at the Wende Museum in Culver City, California, November 7, 2026 – October 17, 2027, co-curated by the Wende's curatorial department and NASA historian Lois Rosson. The show looks at how space science from the Cold War onward shaped artists around the world, in four sections: Astronomy, the Space Race, Futurisms, and Aliens.
+
+[View the exhibition at the Wende Museum](https://wendemuseum.org/exhibition/cosmos/)