"What if a human's genes were combined with a giraffe's? The result sparks curiosity and invites deeper reflection."
Jeremiah Ludaka (b. 1993, Lusaka) is a conceptual figurative artist based in Lusaka. His practice belongs to contemporary African art, but he defines it as conceptual, because its starting point is always an idea pushed to its imaginative consequences: above all "zambianus", the imagined fusion of human and giraffe genetics that generates the elongated figures at the heart of his painting.
The giraffe, in Ludaka's iconography, is a dense and layered symbol. Its ability to see far becomes higher perspective on life, the capacity to look beyond immediate circumstances, wisdom and foresight; its graceful movements and tall stature evoke elegance, gentleness, balance and calm strength; its uniqueness represents the courage to embrace one's individuality and stand out; its distinctive coat pattern speaks of interconnection and unity among living beings and nature. Through these hybrid figures, Ludaka invites reflection on Zambia itself: a country rich in resources yet landlocked in its economic struggles, whose people need precisely the giraffe's gift, the long view.
Ludaka's path to art runs through personal loss. Orphaned of both parents and later bereaved of his two elder brothers, he was raised in an orphanage, where art classes became his refuge: creation made the pain of dark memories fade, and it remains deeply therapeutic for him to this day. From that experience comes the social dimension of his work: through his art he aims to bring attention to the experience of "walk-in orphans" and children raised in institutions, to their different daily perception of parental love, and to inspire those who have endured loss to express themselves through creativity, finding in art, as he did, a measure of peace.
Ludaka has taken part in group exhibitions with Luna Art Gallery since 2025, including a collective exhibition in Lima, Peru (2026), his first international presentation, and with the Imvelo Art Gallery (2026), as well as in the Bookworm community fundraising exhibition with Luna Art Gallery, an engagement consistent with the social vocation of his practice. He lives and works in Lusaka.