The exhibition curated by Ruzy Rusike will launch on 25 June 2020 as part of the National Arts Festival, featuring 40 sculptures created from the bones of elephant, rhino, giraffe and horses. Whilst the dominant material used is bone – beads, shells, chains, computer circuit boards, pins, animal skins and marbles are integrated into the work. A deliberate act of ‘picking up’ interrupted African creative traditions. The show acts as a vessel to appreciate and connect with the depth and wisdom of African indigenous knowledge systems and African spirituality in the quantum age, and explores the healing potential of African art.
Following in the tradition of the ‘Renaissance Man’, Pitika, the sculptor, poet, writer, academic and spiritual healer is a true artistic, political and academic polymath. He is an undeniably important figure in the narrative of South Africa and art. His witty and dark reflections on society explore the contradictory relationship between tradition and modernity.