Phoka Nyokong
“Dinoolwane, Matlotlo le Baloi” (Folklores, Treasures and Witches)
NWU Botanical Garden Gallery

Phoka Nyokong – Subjugation – 2018 – Photographic digital print on aluminium

This exhibition brings together recently exhibited work for the Absa L’artelier Gerard Sekoto Award, including photographic works and a newly made site-specific installation.

The title of the exhibition is an allusion to the artist’s fascination and deep-rooted enchantment with indigenous Tswana culture and rich folklore traditions. He appropriates his already existing imagery and juxtaposes it with an investigation into the potential of oral literary traditions such as folklores and fairytales, particularly as pertaining to the secretive tradition of witchcraft and traditional ritual. But in this exhibition witchcraft is taken as a metaphoric, even playful realm.

The installation further sets the thematic root of the exhibition in the world of sleep by erecting a safe space for sleep as exploration, of one’s dreams, thoughts and myths. It encourages visitors to explore the space by physically subjecting their bodies to an unknown intimate construction. It is a way of collective archiving, where the artist’s enquiry into the phenomena of sleep meets the viewer’s expectation of the properties of the same.

Exhibition runs from 2 April – 5 May

Phoka Nyokong – Embrace V – 2018 – Photographic digital print on aluminium

 

Phoka Nyokong – Collector-Gatherer II – 2018 – Photographic digital print on aluminium