2023 Cassirer Welz Award recipient, Bulumko Mbete, currently has a solo exhibition on at the Bag Factory Artists’ Studios titled I’ve known rivers. On Saturday, 5 August, the artist will host a walkabout from 12:00 to 13:00 at the studios in Newtown.
In the past three months of her residency at the Bag Factory, Mbete has explored new ways of working with textiles through researching and trialling different techniques. In this exhibition, the artist establishes an expanding visual language as she makes a departure from her iconic blanket and bead soft sculptures, by presenting new experiments comprised of installation and textile-based artworks. Although aesthetically distinct from her previous oeuvre, the marrow of the thematics explored within her artistic practice are present and expanded upon in this exhibition.
“My project endeavours to document and archive the anecdotes of ‘ordinary people’ and their encounters with South Africa’s rich and poignant history. I am reflecting on the intersection of issues such as labour, migration, economy, sustainability, ethical forms of creation, gender and feminism, social origin, and social use.”