Image courtesy Lebohang Kganye / Photo by Audoin Desforges

On today’s episode of Creative Space we have the pleasure of chatting with Lebohang Kganye, a South African visual artist whose work is currently on display at the Barnes Foundation. The exhibition, Tell Me What You Remember, explores apartheid in South Africa, and the generational divide between those who lived through it and a new generation in South Africa, born during the transition to democracy.

Lebohang’s work spans different mediums, working in photography, dioramas and film, to name a few. She describes her art as “a practice,” and presents her family’s stories alongside the larger context of South Africa’s history.

With today being Mother’s Day, it would be remiss of me to not highlight one piece in particular in our conversation, Ke Lefe Laka, that continues Lebohang’s conversation with her late mother. Translating to “my legacy” or “my inheritance,” this series of moving portraits connects past and present and can only be fully experienced by seeing it in person.

Tell Me What You Remember is on display at the Barnes through May 21, so there’s still time.

Also, Lebohang has an exhibition that just opened in Cologne, Germany at the Rautenstrauch Joest Museum.

For more on Lebohang Kganye, visit: lebohangkganye.com. 

To sign up for the weekly Creative Space newsletter, visit: eepurl.com/h8SJ9b.

To become a patron of the Creative Space Podcast, visit: https://bit.ly/3ECD2Kr.

SHOW NOTES:

0:00—Introduction

3:01—Growing up in South Africa’s moment of hope

8:15—Finding inspiration from theater, poetry

10:30—The impact of David Goldblatt’s Market Photo Workshop

13:30—”I always felt like art chose me.”

15:10—What drives Lebohang as an artist

17:00—Her definition of creativity

19:26—The trouble with looking for a project

25:00—A day in the life of Lebohang

29:22—Greatest challenges so far

30:22—Growing as an artist and her Cologne exhibit

35:32—’Tell Me What You Remember’ at the Barnes

38:28—The influence of Muthi Nlhema’s book ‘Ta O’reva’

42:00—Continuing the conversation with her late mother

45:00—The meaning of “direto” and its role in preserving black family history

47:40—Being the lightkeeper of her family’s legacy

49:19—How does it feel to share your story with the world?

50:33—What’s next for Lebohang

52:15—Advice for aspiring artists