WeeklySA_AdminDIVERSE: Local artists and exhibitors from diaspora converge on Joburg to showcase their talents…
By Jacob Mawela
Every year artists, exhibitors, galleries, curators and art lovers from across parts of Africa meet at the iconic Shepstone Gardens in Johannesburg for the RMB Latitudes Art Fair.
This year was no different. Galleries and artists from across Southern Africa collaborated through art – much to the delight of art lovers, who were treated to a diverse programme of exhibitions, talks, films and more.
Yes, “sisters are doing it for themselves” – a lyrical line from an Aretha Franklin – was in the air as eclectic artistic works of female Southern Africa and Europe were displayed at the 2025 edition of the popular RMB Latitudes Art Fair, at the spectacular Shepstone Gardens in Mountain View, Johannesburg, last weekend.
Apart from familiar faces such as South Africa’s Mary Sibande, with her solo presentation in which her sculpture was reconfigured as a luminous three-dimensional projection to the delight of cheering revellers, a group of independent artists assembled under the curatorship of celebrated artist, Bonolo Kavula.
There was also in display the Zimbabwean artist, Xanthe Somers, as was the Dutch luminary and artist, Thirza Schaap, who featured prominently at this international shindig.
To foster a meaningful engagement on the continent, edition also hosted a Botswana exposé as part of the International Galleries Platform offering opportunities for galleries and artists on the continent and the diaspora to exhibit their wares in South Africa.
Taken as a whole, the range of critical, archival and artistic voices emerging out of Botswana’s contemporary art scene, was a display to marvel.
Sponsor Rand Merchant Bank and its executive head: marketing and communications Linda Kachingwe-Sisya, said: “By shining light on Botswana’s creative voices, we hope to contribute to helping talent gain broader visibility and create lasting connections across the continent.”
The Botswana Focus space comprised the TBP Artist Collective, The Space Botswana, ReCurate, Banana Club, and the Art Residency Centre Botswana (ARC). It also featured cultural practitioners such as Ora Loape and Katlego CL Twala.
Twala, a Botswana-based painter, participating under the auspices of Banana Club, showcased a body of work exploring themes of the ephemeral.
Her display of oil painting titled, Mama, was a tribute to her mother, Genevieve, and her devoted support of her artistic endeavours.
A graduate of the Swedish Academy of Realist Art and the Barcelona Academy of Art, her art delves into the intersectional exploration of masculinity through feminist theory – drawing heavily on psychology and philosophy.
Twala’s subject matter often reflects complex relationships, particularly between boy child and the mother. This unique perspective is characterised by the painter’s ability to merge classical realism with modern socio-cultural commentary.
Additionally, her paintings are part of notable collections, including those located at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in Cape Town.
In 2024, Twala received the New Emergence 2024 Art Prize – cementing her reputation as a rising talent in contemporary art.
Another fellow creative and Southern African neighbour of Twala, Dimpho Lehoko, also participated at the fair.
Vaal-based, Lehoko is a fine arts postgraduate student at the Vaal University of Technology.
Her work unpacks the experience of growing up with a parent battling mental health challenges – this, expressed with doll creations composed of seshweshwe fabrics.
Invited by the BNAP Foundation, a non-profit organisation which supports emerging artists, Lehoko portraits explores themes that challenge “the normalisation of violence against women and children within the South African context” – which also includes harm caused by verbal abuse, emotional neglect, and inherited silence.
Expounding on the interpretation of the artwork, Lehoko says her artwork reflects on how the constraints imposed by her granny were rooted in her consciousness regarding societal issues.
Her choice of art material has been adopted from her own seamstress mother’s use of seshweshwe in the Sesotho dressmaking occupation she specialises in. Reminiscing, she adds: “For years the scent of the fabric filled our home.”
