Tyrolean Renaissance

Epistemic Bridges : Hadassa Ngamba’s Reinterpretation of the Tyrolean Renaissance2026Tyrol Austria

A visit to the Hofkirche (Court Church) in Innsbruck inspired Hadassa to establish a dialogue between the Tyrolean Renaissance, the spiritual education passed down by her mother, and Central African cosmology. Her research focuses on Archduke Ferdinand II’s primary symbols of legacy: the Silver Altar in the Hofkirche and his famous cabinet of curiosities (Wunderkammer) at Schloss Ambras.

The historical Silver Altar (1577/78) is now a standalone centerpiece of silver and ebony framed in ivory, but it was originally a winged triptych whose side panels were lost to history. Ngambais working on a conceptual reconstruction of this lost triptych. This is part of her perspectives series of works (see related) where she brings in her personal history to reflect on history. Grounded in her Christian faith, she stages a vibrant visual dialogue between her own interpretation of the Bible, Congolese symbols, natural elements, and Latin Renaissance inscriptions, bridging the sacred and linguistic traditions of both cultures.

In collaboration with the Krismer foundry in Telfs and supported by Bishop Hermann Glettler, Ngamba is also creating organic "Funghi" (mushroom) bronze sculptures. For the artist, fungi serve as a profound symbol of reciprocity—a concept she previously explored through similar sculptures produced in Cameroon. This sculptural step is deeply rooted in her fascination with the extraordinary historic metal craftsmanship found within both the Silver Altar and the Cathedral itself. Conceived as symbolic seals, the bases of these sculptures bear Latin inscriptions such as Lapis sistens tempus ("the stone that stops time").

This phrase masterfully brings Ferdinand II’s intense drive to freeze his own mortality and power through perfect black and white marble monuments into resonance with Congolese cosmology—specifically, a central myth linked to a sacred stone in the city of Boma, located on the Boma–Muanda route. According to this history, the Libanga ya Montre ("the stone that stops the clock") protected Boma from massive bombardment and total destruction during the Congo War of 1996–1997 by symbolically suspending the course of time.

The conceptual core of Ngamba’s work critiques modern Western taxonomy. Ferdinand II’s Wunderkammer at Schloss Ambras relies on an encyclopedic drive to isolate and name objects as a tool of intellectual mastery. This embodies a geste d’arrachement (an act of tearing away): to classify an object, it must first be extracted from its living, organic, and spiritual context.

As Ngamba recently highlighted at an "African Intelligence" conference at the HLRS in Stuttgart, this Renaissance classification system is the direct ancestor of contemporary digital data structures. Today's algorithms and Big Data operate under the exact same logic of radical decontextualization—fragmenting reality into isolated data units to make it measurable and controllable. Inscribing her work in direct dialogue with Ferdinand II’s monuments firmly anchors this regional history into a global, contemporary discourse.