Limpopo artists’ exhibition leads them back to Polokwane
Three local and talented artists showcased their work to illustrate what miracles lies within the province and it's residents.
POLOKWANE – The Polokwane Municipality hosted an art exhibition at the city’s art gallery at Library Gardens on Friday evening, featuring the works of three artists, originally from Limpopo.
The event was organized by Lebone Kganyago, the founder of Expat South Africa and aimed to shed light on art in Limpopo and the relationships the province’s artists share.
The purpose of the exhibition was to shed light on the world of art in Limpopo and the relationship that the Limpopo born artists share.
Isabella Maake and Giggs Kgole attended the event and were available to provide information about their work, while Frans Thoka could not attend.
A total of 25 pieces were on display and according to the curator of the Polokwane Art Gallery, Amos Letsoalo, most of them were for sale at prices ranging from R8 000 to R335 000 at the event with the theme ‘Mohlolo’.
According to Letsoalo, ‘Mohlolo’ is the Sepedi word for ‘miracle’ and it binds the corpus of the three artists.
“United equally by their connections to Limpopo and their separation from the region over the expansion of their careers, each forges routes that lead back to this origin place through auditory and visual experience. Finding individuality in material renderings of nation and collective identity, Mohlolo is to be understood as a creative miracle that spans humble origins and global reach to settle on a ferocious sense of self that is rooted in Limpopo,” Letsoalo explains.
Providing more information about the artists, Letsoalo said that Frans Thoka’s practice is an abrupt response to socio-political events in the post-Apartheid South Africa with larger works created from a grey stormy blanket, known as the ‘prison blankets’ and that his multi-layered themes allude to the artist’s childhood experiences and miracles that have led to him being an artist.
Isabella Maake, being hearing-impaired, uses her work to express herself and draws inspiration from questioning existence.
Isabella’s interests are in exploring the duality of being and the miracles of how opposites co-exist as infinities that can exist within two things.
Giggs Kgole uses anaglyphs, whereby two versions of his composite photographic images are printed in various colours (typically blue and red) onto canvas.
Along with his sculptures and soundscapes, he takes the viewer on a journey of self-discovery, reflecting on the idea of home and all the miracles of bringing together a diverse group of people.
