Sitha Maliwa:
In a bold affirmation of African creativity and cultural storytelling, Absa has unveiled a powerful new series of gallery exhibitions across the continent, spotlighting the voices of the 2023 Absa L’Atelier Ambassadors. Titled “Seven Voices, Five Nations,” the initiative is an ambitious and unprecedented celebration of emerging African talent. Spanning multiple countries and venues, it offers seven artists the rare opportunity to stage solo exhibitions that draw deeply from personal, cultural, and historical narratives.
Now in its 39th year, the Absa L’Atelier stands as one of Africa’s most prestigious visual arts development platforms. Renowned for its commitment to nurturing young artistic talent, it offers mentorship, funding, international residencies, and crucial professional exposure. This year’s initiative expands the platform’s vision even further, turning the continent itself into a gallery of voices – each distinct, each urgent, and each rooted in the belief that art is more than aesthetics. It is memory. It is identity. It is storytelling.
The series launched with a deeply moving exhibition by Bulumko Mbete, the recipient of the 2023 Gerard Sekoto Award. Her solo show, “Like the sky, I’ve been too quiet,” opened on 24 May 2024 at Gallery Momo in Johannesburg and runs through 27 June. Mbete’s work is a sensory and emotional journey through memory, inheritance, and the quiet strength of ancestral connection. She draws inspiration from a 1997 road trip her grandfather took across South Africa, reimagining the journey through clay sculpture, sound installations, and naturally dyed textiles. The result is a meditative exploration of remembering – not only the factual history, but the feelings, gestures, and silence that live within it.
The exhibition features standout works such as Sojourning, a collaborative sound installation with artist Kamil Hassim that reconstructs her grandfather’s travels through the oral histories of her mother and aunt. Another piece, In Our Mother’s Gardens, draws from the 2021 documentary of the same name, delving into the emotional landscapes of Black womanhood and generational memory. Reciting Memory, a series of tactile ceramic forms, explores the link between the hand, the earth, and remembrance, offering a physical and spiritual communion with history.
Mbete’s recent residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, awarded as part of her prize, has enriched her practice further. Her time abroad allowed her to blend traditional techniques with experimental storytelling, culminating in an exhibition that feels both rooted and transcendent. Following her Johannesburg debut, Mbete will present a re-staging of the show in September at the Willem Humpries Art Gallery in Kimberley, South Africa, continuing her exploration of familial and geological memory in a new context.
Beyond Mbete, the series travels across five nations and features six other artists, each bringing a unique voice to the collective narrative. In Lagos, Nigeria, Badru Taofeek will present work that captures the chaotic beauty of urban life through layered textures and rhythmic visual forms. Emmanuel Idowu, also exhibiting in Lagos, offers a vibrant, symbolic exploration of African identity, transformation, and the search for belonging in the modern city.
In Ghana, Gandor Collins reflects on the country’s artistic legacy and its evolving dialogue with the present, while Edward Lawerh examines the tension between tradition and digital modernity through innovative media. Adelheid Franciwicz, showing at AVA Gallery in Cape Town, investigates themes of displacement and the fragile architectures of home, offering an introspective lens into identity and place. In Uganda, Joe Gayi uses the landscapes and cultural motifs of his homeland to craft images of profound sensitivity and depth, inviting viewers into the quiet, powerful rhythms of East African life.
What sets this series apart is not only the caliber of the artists but the infrastructure of support behind them. Each exhibition is fully sponsored by Absa, ensuring the artists have the resources, visibility, and professional curation needed to realise their creative visions at the highest level. It is a rare and vital investment in the future of African art.
“At Absa, we believe there’s more than one side to every person,” the company said in a statement. “These exhibitions aren’t just showcases of talent – they are platforms for identity, storytelling, and cultural exchange. We see your story. And it matters.”
This philosophy lies at the heart of the entire initiative: that true opportunity begins with recognizing and valuing the human stories behind every creative ambition. By offering these seven artists a stage, Absa is doing more than sponsoring exhibitions – it is cultivating a cultural legacy that places African narratives, in all their complexity, at the centre of global conversation. As the 2025 Absa L’Atelier Exhibition Series unfolds, it becomes clear that this is more than a celebration of visual art. It is a celebration of Africa itself: dynamic, diverse, deeply rooted, and endlessly forward-looking. Through sculpture, sound, paint, and presence, these artists are not only telling their stories—they are reshaping how the continent sees itself, and how the world sees Africa. – @NewsSA_Online
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