History, culture, heritage, and familial connections reveal who we are as human beings. This notion is at the heart of O Mang? O Tswa Kae? O Ya Kae?, on exhibition at Johannesburg’s Constitution Hill from 4 February to 27 March 2023.
O Mang? O Tswa Kae? O Ya Kae? is of Setswana origin, and when translated, reads as “Who are you? Where do you come from? Where are you going?”. Curated by Boitumelo Makousu, the group exhibition explores the journey of memory in archives, belonging, identity, personal roots, indigenous knowledge, and of finding mutual respect and understanding for the ways of life, experiences, and creative expressions of others.
The exhibition aims to create a unified community within the creative and cultural environment and create an archive of memory through both the exhibition as well as activations such as panel discussions.
The exhibition was developed through the Latitudes.Online Curatorship Residency, with the first physical exhibition taking place at the North-West University Gallery in 2022. It continues to grow and develop as it travels.
The artists featured in the exhibition are Amogelang Pila Ditlhale, Kamogelo Walaza, Kutlwano Monayi, Mummy Khumalo, Sedireng Mothibatsela, Thandiwe Mqokeli and Zanele Montle.
The works of each artist, explains Makousu in her curatorial statement, “echo a united social cohesion that develops understanding of living expressions and shared knowledge inherited from our ancestors and passed onto us. The bodies of work chosen within the exhibition are an embodiment of a union of communities that are from diverse cultural backgrounds and upbringings and have come together to create a geographical map of their lived experiences within one space. Surprisingly, the artists in these exhibitions are linked to the space through their families’ histories.”
O Mang? O Tswa Kae? O Ya Kae? becomes a continuous contemplation of reflections on social cohesion that develops appreciation and understanding of living expressions and shared knowledge inherited from our ancestors and passed onto subsequent generations.
The exhibition will be presented at the Constitutional Hill, East Ramparts at The Old Fort on Saturday, 4 February 2023 at 11:00 and it will run up until 27 March 2023.
This exhibition is supported by the National Art Council of South Africa, the National Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP 3) and the Constitution Hill of South Africa: The Creative Uprising Hub.
