Untold Stories

Untold Stories, a sub-chapter of the corpus Reconstructed Identities, continues Evans Mbugua’s exploration of identity and memory through portraits of his immediate family circle. The project brings to light gaps and silences in the family history, particularly concerning his parents’ childhood. Confronted with rare archives and the loss of his father, Mbugua turned to fragments (stories, photographs, and memories) gradually collecting testimonies, notably through intimate conversations with his mother.

A decisive encounter in 2024 with a 104-year-old woman connected to his paternal grandparents opened a rare window onto a family past stretching from the precolonial era to independence. This research expanded through historical texts and archives, while acknowledging that parts of the story remain irretrievably absent.

Untold Stories unfolds as a chronological frieze in which everyday family moments intersect with national history, extending personal memory into a transgenerational narrative. The meeting of his parents in 1970 forms its central axis, explored through distinct material techniques like reverse glass painting and fragmented, stained-glass–like compositions reinterpreted in PMMA.

Part of a broader effort to recover silenced voices, Untold Stories creates space for memories long withheld, allowing them to surface within both artistic and collective consciousness.