Lindokuhle SobekwauMthimkhulu III , 2022
uMthimkhulu III exists as an autobiographical installation reminiscent of a family tree by Lindokuhle Sobekwa, placing framed family photographs on a charcoal tree. This fragmented tree builds on Sobekwa’s attempts to connect his life in Johannesburg with his ongoing journey to discover more about the lives of his family members and his ancestral home in the Eastern Cape. In the work, he makes visible for the viewer the way he links images and family stories through lines, hand-drawn ladders and phrases.
“Mthimkhulu represents the traces of my ancestors, their names and the names of the places they have walked. It is an attempt both to “map” and document my family, but also an act of narration of a rich family oral history that has remained elusive to me because of a fragmentation caused by economic and forced migrations.” - Sobekwa
This is the third iteration of the work, with the first produced during his residency at A4 Arts Foundation in 2020. In this work, Sobekwa embraces collage techniques and intuitive use of materials.
