‘Umlambo uzwiwa nge dondolo’

The Absa Gallery and its partners invite you and your partner to join us for the opening of the exhibition of ‘Umlambo uzwiwa nge dondolo’ by Bambo Sibiya, the 2012 Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award winner.
 
Through this exhibition Sibiya explores various aspects of township life with particular emphasis on single-parent households, which was a formative part of his life and that of migrant labourers coming to Johannesburg at the peak of the apartheid era in the hope of finding work.
 
Sibiya and his two siblings were raised in a township outside Johannesburg by their mother. She strived to ensure they grew up in a loving and supportive home, while at the same time balancing running the household by working to sustain the needs of her family.
 
This unconditional love and support fostered in Sibiya respect and gratitude not only for his own mother, but all single mothers, whom he believes to be dual role models as mother and father.
 
It is this experience that informs the artist’s visual and conceptual compositions, conveying the message that despite the hardships facing families and their survival, women still manage to find ways to feed, nurture and protect their children and keep their families in relative security.
 
In the series of children’s faces, Sibiya invites us to celebrate the beauty and promise these faces hold for the world. The faces document the possibilities that children promise for the future and in this sense pay further homage to his mother and other single parents.
 
We also see other familiar scenes of township life, such as the migrant workers and Swenkas or working-class Zulu men who participated in amateur competitions that were part fashion show and part choreography, and showcased their inherent style and attitude.

The opening address will be delivered by Saki Zamxaka.

08 November - 30 January