Venue: Oliewenhuis Art Museum, 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein
Dates: 2 July – 8 September 2024
“I visualise and use patterns to layer contour lines from geographic views of the land and our bodies by using plastic. Tracing the maternal stories by crocheting, braiding and weaving tapestries from the past to the future and highlighting the symbolic presence in rooms and spaces we dwell in.”
In her debut solo exhibition, Kutlwano Monyai draws inspiration from her upbringing through domestic, cultural, economic and spiritual environment to narrate stories from her maternal lineage. She re-imagines and re-creates functional items by crocheting, weaving and braiding plastics, creating tapestries and soft sculptural installations. These functional items that she references act as gestures of care, mindfulness, existence, and as archives that hold memories, stories and experiences related to acts of service from her maternal lineage, aesthetic influences and generational knowledge.
The title of the exhibition, Lefeloboiketlo (A place of rest), speaks of ‘collecting’ slices of time through generations, heterotopias (spaces) that can cause transformation, and bring forward the state of waiting and the phenomena of rest. A combination of two Setswana words lefelo (place) and boiketlo (to relax or rest with ease) have been used to formulate and exercise this phenomenon in her work.
Monyai’s artworks highlight women’s labour, within society. Her community, personal household dynamics, and the laborious processes of weaving, crocheting and braiding replicate these. These are memorial techniques, old traditional methods that were used for years. They reflect on the history of women’s experiences and, most importantly, re-imagines the future. “As a sculptor and painter, I use some of these skills and techniques to form and crochet sculptural objects that remind me of the tedious tasks within a domestic space such as doing laundry with my mother or cooking. These tasks would not go without having a conversation or sharing knowledge, even in moments of silence the communication is evidently loud from routines.” She uses ‘domestic plastic materials’ to navigate and express memories of growing up, conversations with her maternal support system, and to indicate the personal economic and environmental contributions made by women.
Kutlwano Monyai (b. 1996), was born in Limpopo and resides in Pretoria. She has recently completed a post graduate diploma in Fine and Applied Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology. As an artist, Monyai has been part of several group exhibitions and local art fairs, including the GenXis group exhibition, in 2018 and KASRP exhibition in 2019 (hosted at the Pretoria Art Museum). In 2021, she exhibited at the Bag Factory in a show titled Summer Salon 30th Anniversary. She exhibited with the UNTITLED Collective at the Turbine Art Fair in 2019, and earlier that year, she completed a residency at Modern Arts Projects South Africa in the Karoo. In 2021, she was awarded the Young Woman Studio Residency (YWSR) at the Bag Factory.
As an academic, researcher and cultural practitioner, Monyai is curious and interested in the history of black women’s archival practices within their studios and other working environments. Monyai has worked at the Pretoria Art Museum (2017-2019) and the Javett Art Centre (2022) as the education assistant.
The exhibition can be viewed until Sunday, 8 September 2024. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein and is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. A ramp at the entrance of the main entrance provides access for wheel chairs, while a lift provides access to the Permanent Collection display areas on the 1st floor. R10 parking fee will be charged but entrance to the museum is free.
For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 078 968 4300 or oliewen@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.
