‘The Braided Bone Chamber’ is a large-scale hanging sculpture by Congolese artist Patrick Bongoy, made for BMW South Africa in partnership with Southern Guild. The artwork combines recycled rubber and coloured light to create a dynamic counterpoise that speaks to an awakening of consciousness and gentler way of living – a message that resonates with BMW’s evolution towards electromobility.
Bongoy’s work transforms the inner tubes of discarded tyres into intricate, textural forms that draw on Africa’s rich history of making by hand. The sculpture is illuminated from the inside, revealing a stencilled extract from ‘Lydia in the Wind’, a poem by celebrated South African writer and performer Malika Ndlovu. A frequent collaborator of Bongoy’s, Ndlovu also wrote the poem from which this artwork derives its title.