Lebohang Kganye (born 1990) is a South African visual artist living and working in Johannesburg.[1] Kganye is part of a new generation of contemporary South African artists and photographers born shortly before or after Apartheid ended.[2]

Biography

Lebohang Kganye was born in Johannesburg and grew up in Katlehong, a township in South Africa. She started her photography training at the Market Photo Workshop in Johannesburg in 2009, completing its Advanced Photography Programme in 2011.[3] Kganye received her diploma in Fine Arts from the University of Johannesburg in 2016. She is currently working on a Masters in Fine Arts at the Witwatersrand University.[4]

Career and work

Lebohang Kganye lost her mother when she was twenty years old. Her mother was her main connection to her extended family.[5] A few years later, after she had completed her studies at the Market Photo Workshop, Kganye started to explore her family stories by looking into old photo albums and recording oral stories narrated by her family members.[6] Through cross-dressing and performance, Kganye attempts to recreate moments in her family history she had not herself experienced. Her work aims to juxtapose different temporalities and transform photography as a meeting place between generations. Roland Barthes' eulogy to his late mother and reading of photography as overlapping past and present in Camera Lucida inspired Kganye's practice.

The spelling of Kganye's surname is another component of the artist's work.[7] The apartheid regime forced black South African families to move to designated areas away from city centres. Black South African surnames were often recorded incorrectly or misspelt by law officials.[8] The spelling of Kganye's surname changed from Khanye to Khanyi, and eventually, Kganye.[8] As Kganye explains, by revisiting her family journey, she discovered that identity could not be traced: "it is an invention, constructed of true, half-true and untrue narratives, hopes, dreams and fears".[8] Kganye's practice incorporates animated films, installations and large-scale sculpted papers and cut-outs as ways to re-experience the past and question the fabricated nature of history and memory.[9] As the artist explains: "a large part of history and memory is in fact fantasy."[10]

Photography

Lebohang Kganye's work deploys photography, self-portraiture and archives to engage notions of affiliations, memory and fiction. The artist explores history by creating imaginative sceneries where real and fictional characters coexist.

In B(l)ack to Fairy Tales (2011), created during her studies at the Market Photo Workshop, Kganye stages scenes drawn from The German Grimm Brothers fairy tales and Disney.[11] As the artist writes: "As a girl, I identified with fairy tale characters such as Snow White. Our annual primary school plays were about fairy tales, and I'd say, I'm Snow White and want to be her. My black skin and location became an increasing disjuncture with the fantasies I believed in."[11] Covering her body with black paint and dressed in childhood inspired outfits, she attempts to stress the disjunction between her childhood fantasies and experience growing up in black South African townships.[11][12]

Kganye was the recipient of The Tierney Fellowship in 2012 and exhibited Her-Story and Heir-Story, two photographic series combined under the overall title "Ke Lefa Laka" ("It's my inheritance," in Sesotho) at the Market Photo Workshop.[6] Working under the mentorship of the visual artist Mary Sibande and curator Nontobeko Ntombela, Kganye explores her family story through re-performance, digital juxtapositions and photocollages.[3] Her-Story, explains Kganye, is a way to "reconnect" with her late mother.[9] Using pictures of her late mother found in old family albums as a reference, Kganye dresses up with her mother's clothes, adopts her mothers' poses and is photographed by her sister in the exact locations displayed in the original snapshots.[6] She then digitally juxtaposes her contemporary images to her mother's. This series of double exposures attempts to annihilate differences between the present and the past .[7] As the artist explains, in Her-Story, she "(her mother) is me, I am her. There remains in this commonality so much difference, and so much distance in space and time. Photographs present us not just with the "thereness" of the object but the "having been there," thus having the ability to present past, present, and future in a single image."[9] Ke Lefa Laka (2013) was awarded the Jury Prize at the Bamako Encounters Biennale of African Photography in 2015 and the Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize in 2016.[10]

Cuttings

Besides the artist's family story, Lebohang Kganye's work explores the political and economic history of South Africa.

In Heir-Story (2013), Kganye unpacks her family's journey of migration during apartheid.[10] As Kganye explains: "The project evolves around how my family landed in Johannesburg – how they ended up in the city from the farmlands. But it's really a relatable story. There are stories of migration from around the world. It's not a foreign story."[10] Heir-Story focuses on Kganye's grandfather. Dressed in his suit, a typical garment in her family photographs, and stepping into his shoes, Kganye places herself in an installation made of large-size cardboard cut-outs of enlarged photos from her old family albums.[13] Kganye never met her grandfather who died before she was born.[13] Heir-Story, the artist writes, allows her to "enact these stories to construct a visual narrative, in which we (her grandfather and herself) meet".[13] In a series of six scenes, Kganye revisits her grandfather's displacement during the apartheid era. He was the first member of the family to move from the farmlands of the Orange Free State to Transvaal.[10] Kganye recorded stories narrated by her family members to help her recreate each scene.[8] As she explains: "I'm reimagining the scenes through what I've been told."[10] Kganye is the only figure shot in colour. She photographs herself interacting with life-size black and white flat-mannequins of the characters related to her in family stories and photo albums, and in doing so, creates a juxtaposition between the present and the past.[10] Heir-Story was exhibited together with the series Her-Story in the exhibition Ke Lefa Laka at the Market Photo Worksop.[14]

Kganye experiments with installation and sculpture. Her grandfather, the central patriarchal figure in her family, is a recurrent character in her creative practice. In Reconstruction of a Family (2016), she borrows archival elements from her photo albums to construct enlarged cardboard cut-outs.[9] She inserts black silhouettes of characters from her family photo albums into a human-scale white box and places her grandfather at the centre of the stage.[9] Reconstruction of a Family focuses on the family story of Kganye's mother, their successive displacements during the apartheid era and their creation of temporary homes across the country.[15] As Kganye explains: "A big difference compared to my previous series on this same process is that the characters here are reversed—the background is white, the silhouettes are black. The characters no longer have faces. They become anonymous."[9] By placing figures from different generations in the same scene, Kganye engages the theme of memory and death.[9]

From 2016-onwards, Lebohang Kganye produces the series titled Dirithi.[16] Using the family album as a primary material, Kganye selects family figures and transforms their photographic representations into anonymous and enigmatic silhouettes.[17] Dirithi, as Kganye explains, evokes the passing of family figures and stresses the capacity of photography to act as a bridge between the dead and the living. According to the artist: "photography is a ghost, an existence in transition, hovering in a duality of time. Silhouettes resonate with me because of this play".[17]

Theatrics

Lebohang Kganye's practice engages theatre and literature. In her series Tell Tale (2018), she stages the stories of the villagers narrated in Athol Fugard's play Road to Mecca and Lauren Beukes' book Maverick.[18] Placing silhouette cut-outs of characters in miniature theatre sets, Kganye figures her own interpretation of the tales.[18] As she writes: "Tell Tale confronts the conflicting stories, which are told in multiple ways, even by the same person – a combination of memory and fantasy. The work does not attest to being a documentation of a people but presents their personal narratives, which they share over a cup of tea, homemade ginger ale or the locally brewed beer."[18] Tell Tale (2018) presents villagers interacting with ordinary objects, their "prized possessions".[18] In these theatre sets, Kganye attempts to highlight the capacity of oral stories to pass from one generation to the next and "perform ideals of a community".[18]

Animation

Lebohang Kganye has been working with films, animating the life-size flat-mannequins of characters taken from her family albums with light and shadows.[9] In 2014, Lebohang Kganye turns her series Heir-Story (2013) into the animated film Pied Piper's Voyage.[19] In 2017, she animates her series Reconstruction of a Family (2016) in the film Ke Sale Teng.[20] The medium of film is a way for the artist further to explore the fluctuating character of memory and history.[10] As she explains: "Through the use of silhouette cutouts of family members and other props in a diorama, the film confronts the conflicting stories, which are told in multiple ways, even by the same person."[20] In Pied Piper's Voyage (2014) and Ke Sale Teng (2017), Kganye explores the malleability of oral narratives.[9]

Installation

Kganye works with a variety of medium and scales, alternating between life-size and monumental installations. The installation Mohlokomedi wa Tora ("lighthouse keeper") in 2018 presents the story of her grandfather in life-size sceneries made of cardboards and cut-outs standing up in the exhibition space.[21] Organising archival elements around a light positioned in the centre of the room, the artist creates a shadow play theatre and invites visitors to walk in and interact with each scene.[21] Kganye uses stories told by her aunt and her grandmother, defined by the artists as "the keepers of light" to create the photographic arrangements.[21] In Mohlokomedi wa Tora, Kganye highlights her matrilineal lineage and the women in her family as keepers of memories.[21] As the artist explains, the work aims to stress the power of oral stories to shape vivid and collective imaginaries.[21]

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • Ke Lefa Laka, Market Photo Workshop Gallery, Johannesburg, 2013
  • Focus: African Perspectives, Armory Show, Afronova Gallery, New York, 2016
  • Festival Africolor, Université Paris 13, Paris, 2016
  • Tell Tale, The Photo Workshop Gallery, Johannesburg, 2018
  • Mohlokomedi wa Tora, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, South Africa, 2018
  • a ppr oc he: Lebohang Kganye, Le Molière, Paris, 2019
  • Camera Austria Award for Contemporary Photography, Lebohang Kganye, Award Ceremony, Graz, 2019.
  • The Stories We Tell, George Bizos Gallery at Apartheid Museum, Johannesburg, 2020

Group exhibitions

  • Rememory, William Goodenough House, London, 2012
  • Short Change, My Joburg, La Maison Rouge Gallery, Paris, 2013
  • Photoville, Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, 2013
  • Apartheid and After, Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, 2013
  • OFF THE WALL, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, 2014
  • The View From Here, Tiwani Contemporary, London, 2015
  • Telling Time, Bamako Encounters Biennale of African Photography, Bamako, 2015
  • Cities and Memory, Photo Biennale, Brandts Museum, Odense, 2016
  • L'Autre Continent, Artistes, Femmes, Africaines, Le Havre, 2016
  • Recent Histories, New Photography from Africa, Walther Collection Project Space, New York, 2016
  • In Plain Sight: Social Life in South Africa and Romania beforeand after 1989, Aparte Gallery of George Enescu University of Arts, Iasi & Borderline Art Space, Iasi, 2016
  • Give me Yesterday, Fondazione Prada Osservatorio, Milan, 2016
  • Le jour qui vient, AFRICA NOW, Galerie des Galeries, Galeries Lafayette, Paris, 2017
  • Les Territoires du Corps, Video Programme, Art Paris Art Fair, Grand Palais, Paris, 2017
  • Recent Histories, New Photography from Africa, Walther Collection, Ulm, 2017
  • Digital Africa (Tokyo), YaPhoto@Arakawa Africa, OGU MAG gallery, Tokyo, 2017
  • RESIST(E) – Printemps photographique Afrique de Sud, NegPos, France, 2017–2018
  • Sans tambour ni trompette – Cent ans de guerres, Le Parvis centre d'art, Parvis, France, 2017–2018
  • Tell freedom, by all means necessary, Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, The Netherlands, 2018
  • Africa is No Island, MACAAL, Marrakech, 2018
  • 17th DongGang International Photo Festival 2018, Gangwon-do, Yeongwol-gun, Korea, 2018
  • ReCreation, Non-Work: Occupied by Leisure Time, Fotograf Festival #8, Fotograf Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic, 2018
  • Not the Usual Suspects, IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 2018–2019
  • Un Air de famille – parce que les fantômes disparaissent au lever du jour, H2M, Bourg-en-Bresse, France, 2018–2019
  • L'Afrique n'est pas une île, Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou, Benin, 2018–2019
  • Recent Histories, Contemporary African Photography and Video Art from The Walther Collection, Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, NL, 2018–2019
  • Gifts, 25 years of Open Society Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Cape Town, 2018–2020
  • The Bricks that Build a Home, The Migratie Museum, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2018
  • Africa State of Mind, Impressions Gallery, Bradford UK, 2018
  • Remembrance, Rose Gallery, Santa Monica, 2018
  • Sans Tambour, Ni Trompette, Cent ans de Guerres, Faux Mouvement, Metz, France, 2018–2019
  • Who's Looking at the Family, Now?, Photo50 at London Art Fair, London, UK, 2019
  • Beyond Boundaries: LensCulture Discoveries in Contemporary Photography, Aperture Gallery, New York, 2019
  • Coda Paper Art 2019, Coda Paper Museum, Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, 2019
  • Africa State of Mind, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, 2019
  • The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture, Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto, 2019
  • Africa State of Mind, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol UK, 2019–2020
  • Crossing Night: Regional Identities x Global Context, MOCAD, Detroit USA, 2019–2020
  • Alpha Crucis – Contemporary African Art, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway, 2020
  • Afterglow, Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan, 2020
  • BLANKSPACE: Home as a Parish, Hangar Online (digital), 2020
  • Unexpected, Festival Images Vevey, Vevey, Switzerland, 2020
  • APhF – Athens Photo Festival, Athens, 2020
  • Home, Paper Biennale, Museum Rijswijk, Rijswijk, Netherlands, 2020
  • Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize Exhibition, Porto, Portugal, 2020
  • Imagens Resolutivas, FIF_BH – International Festival of Photography of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2020
  • The Power Of My Hands, Museum of Modern Art, Paris, 2020

Awards

  • SA Taxi Foundation Art Award, Top 5, Multiples, Lizamore and Gallery, 2017
  • Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize Recipient, Image Afrique Festival, 2017[10]
  • Sasol New Signatures Award, Winner, 2017
  • Art Photography Awards 2018, LensCulture, Juror's Pick, 2018
  • Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize, Winner, 2019
  • Tokyo International Photography Competition 6th edition, Winner, 2019
  • Camera Austria Award, Winner, 2019
  • Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, Visual Arts Finalist, 2020

Collections

Kganye's work is held in the following permanent collections:

Publications

  • Apartheid and After Publication, Huis Marseille, 2013
  • Ke Lefa Laka, Tierney Fellowship Publication, Market Photo Workshop, 2013
  • My Joburg Publication, Fage, 2014
  • Eyes on, Eyes from Africa, Book on emerging photography, OFF the Wall Editions, 2015
  • Telling Time, Bamako Encounters Biennale Publication, Kehrer, 2015
  • L'autre Continent Publication, Muséum du Havre, 2016
  • ELSE Publication, Musée de l'Elysée Lausanne, 2016
  • Recent Histories: Contemporary African Photography and Video Art from the Walther Collection, Steidl / The Walther Collection, 2017
  • Sasol New Signatures, Catalogue, 2017
  • 35 Years: Trailblazers, Lizamore and Gallery, Catalogue, 2017
  • Being a Photographer in Africa, the ten years of Afrique in Visu, Éditions Clémentine de la Féronnière, 2017
  • 144/2018 Camera Austria International, Camera Austria, 2018
  • Tell Freedom, Kunsthal kAde Amersfoort, 2018
  • Objective #20, Objective Press, Oslo, 2019
  • The Journey | New Positions in African Photography, Kerber, 2020
  • Africa State of Mind: Contemporary Photography Reimagines a Continent, Thames & Hudson, 2020
  • Thuis/Home – PAPIER BIËNNALE/PAPER BIENNIAL, 2020
  • Unexpected. Le hasard des choses, Festival Images Vevey catalogue, 2020

References

  1. ↑ "Lebohang Kganye", Contemporary And.
  2. ↑ "About Lebohang Kganye", Lensculture.
  3. 1 2 "Alumni", The Market Photo Workshop.
  4. ↑ "About", Lebohang Kganye official website.
  5. ↑ "A celebration of black womanhood in South Africa Collective memories", Huck Magazine.
  6. 1 2 3 Rory Tsapayi, "Healing through family snapshots – Lebohang Kganye's Ke Lefa Laka: Her-story", Daily Maverick, 11 May 2020
  7. 1 2 "A Daughter's Ghostly Re-Creations of Her Late Mother's Old Photographs", The New Yorker.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "THE FAMILY HISTORY OF LEBOHANG KGANYE", Africanah.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Lebohang Kganye Creates Immersive Installations from a Mix of Memory and Fiction", Whitewall.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Lebohang Kganye unpacks her family's journey of migration", Design Indaba.
  11. 1 2 3 "B(l)ack to Fairy Tales", Context, Lebohang Kganye official website.
  12. ↑ "The Danger of A Single Story, Chimamanda Adichie", Ted Talks.
  13. 1 2 3 "Ke Lefa Laka: Heir-story, Photo. 2013–2014", Context, Lebohang Kganye official website.
  14. ↑ "Ke Lefa Laka – a solo exhibition by Tierney Fellow Lebohang Kganye", The Market Photo Workshop.
  15. ↑ "Reconstruction of a family, Lebohang Kganye", Photographic Museum of Humanity.
  16. ↑ "Dirithi", Lebohang Kganye official website
  17. 1 2 "In conversation with LEBOHANG KGANYE", Fields Store
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tell Tale, 2018", Context, Lebohang Kganye official website.
  19. ↑ "Lebohang Kganye", Pro Helvetia
  20. 1 2 "Ke Sale Teng, Animated Film (2017)", Context, Lebohang Kganye official website.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Intraparadox: Interview with Lebohang Kganye", Mmutleak.
  22. ↑ "Kganye, Lebohang - Walther Collection". www.walthercollection.com. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  23. ↑ "Re palame tereneng e fosahetseng, from the series Reconstruction of a Family - 29751". Chazen Museum of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  24. ↑ "Ke ile ka tswela pele ka ho tereka a ntse a bua, from the series Reconstruction of a Family - 29752". Chazen Museum of Art. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
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