Taking a closer look at @michael_armitage_studio’s paintings, you will notice uneven surfaces revealing visible tears and pits. The substrate on which the artist chooses to paint is an explicit nod to his African heritage. Sourced from a fig tree, the material called Lubugo undergoes a labor-intensive process: below the rough outer skin of the tree, an inner layer of bark is peeled off, singed with banana leaves, soaked, softened by the blows of mallets, dried, and stitched together. This choice of material is foundational: traditionally used in Ugandan ritual contexts, Lubugo, which translates as “funeral cloth,” ensures an evocation of death, and along with it of love and loss, that buckles beneath each otherwise vibrantly painted surface. 📸 Michael Armitage, “You, Who Are Still Alive”, Kunsthalle Basel, 2022, detail views on: (1–2) “Amongst the Living”, 2022 (3–4) “Dead Soldiers”, 2022 (5) “Head of Koitalel”, 2021 (6) “Curfew (Likoni March 27, 2020)”, 2022 all photos by @philipp_haenger #kunsthallebasel #baselmuseums #lovebasel #museenbasel