VENDA by JM Tshikhuthula

JM Tshikhuthula’s Venda is rooted in the fragile relationship between South African land and water. The charcoal landscape in the exhibition brings to life the emotions at play when a struggle for water is a central part of daily life.

As water shortages become more prevalent in South Africa, Tshikhuthula becomes reminiscent of his homeland; Venda, where his parents were born and where he spent a lot of time in his youth. “Most mornings we would wake up early to go and collect water. This was an activity that brought me a lot of joy – it was a game I loved. The journey to the water took us through the forest and the richness and beauty of the landscape was exciting to me as a young boy. I was, of course, too young to be able to think about the people who lived there permanently. I had no way of knowing what a struggle fetching water was for them. For me, the young child, fetching water was such a common part of the life I knew then I couldn’t see anything unusual about it” he explains. The artist’s landscapes of Venda reflect a deep empathy for South Africans who struggle to access water on a daily basis.

The windmills in this body of work depict the movement of people in the Venda and Limpopo areas when they go to collect water. This, shows the physical effort and struggle of the distances involved, but it also offers a sweet and kind mood – a gesture towards the happy “water-memories” of Tshikhuthula’s youth.

A sense of Resilience by Lindo Zwane

Zwane’s A sense of Resilience is the artist’s debut exhibition with Lizamore & Associates. Zwane’s work is focused on the felling of nostalgia through a process of catharsis. This body of work consists of a combination of recreated and recomposed memories from the artist’s childhood. These nostalgic images depict everyday life and the accompanying challenges that Zwane experienced and observed