Social distancing is a global reality, disrupting daily life on all levels, including the way we view and enjoy art. In South Africa, it’s no different, but Gallery MOMO, one of the leading names in the country’s contemporary art scene, managing two gallery spaces in Johannesburg and Cape Town, has taken the hurdle to showcase its latest show exclusively online. Entitled Mwana Wevhu, an expression in Shona which translates to ‘Son of the Soil’, the exhibition is dedicated to the work of Adolf Tega (1985). Born in Harare, the Zimbabwean artist started creating art at a very young age and was influenced by his uncle and brother, who are also artists. Tega studied art at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and later moved to South Africa to further his career. The exhibition probes a range of themes about the human condition, including memories, culture, religion and tradition. Tega tackles identity, global migration and displacement as he explores untapped potential, new beginnings and legacy. His subjects are sometimes recollected from flashbacks of family members or other human encounters whose migration stories are relayed on canvas. In this body of work he introduces personal figures like his uncle who migrated to South Africa from Zimbabwe in the 1970s captured in Daydreamer and his friend Makoti whose ambitions were never actualised when she migrated. In that sense Tega illustrates the myriad trajectories humans follow – and probes what is and what is wished for. The artist’s many subjects take centre stage to narrate their story, always poised, fashionably dressed and never victimised (on through Jul 16).
Gallery MOMO
52 Seventh Avenue (Parktown North)
Johannesburg 2193
Telephone: +27 82 4090124
Open by appointment only
Gallery MOMO
16 Buiten Street
Cape Town 8001
Telephone: +27 83 7349513
Open by appointment only
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
