Image credits: © Andile Buka 


The Whole Universe is Full
Curated by: Nthabiseng Mokoena
Artists: Keneilwe Mokoena, Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa

UNDERLINE show
Museum of African Design
12-15 September 2019
More info here
At the 2019 UNDERLINE show, Nthabiseng Mokoena presented The Whole Universe is Full, a group show of drawings, digital prints, and sculptural installation by Keneilwe Mokoena and Mmabatho Grace Mokalapa. Through comparing works by these two artists, the exhibition took a look outward to the expanse of the cosmos and peers inward to the phenomenon of existing in the universe.

Independent Network for Contemporary Culture & Art





Open call project ︎

Art
After
Baby Vol.2



Siviwe James
Ubuhle Ngaphaya Kwameva
Opening Sunday 2 February 2025 at 10am
Victoria Yards, Lorentzville, Johannesburg

Phumelele Kunene
In My Element
Opening Sunday 2 March 2025 at 10am
Victoria Yards, Lorentzville, Johannesburg
INCCA is pleased to announce the two incredibly talented artists selected from our Art After Baby (AAB) open call – Siviwe James and Phumelele Kunene. Each artist will hold their own solo exhibitions in February and March 2025 at Victoria Yards, Lorentzville, Johannesburg. We look forward to revealing more and platforming their powerful work to our network in the coming weeks.

The second edition of AAB is again supported by the National Arts Council South Africa (NAC) Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP 5). AAB is an ongoing project initiated by INCCA in 2023 that supports those who are trying to juggle art-making with motherhood, care-giving or have been impacted by loss. This is one of the few projects in South Africa that acknowledges that artists are often “zero-hour workers” with a sporadic and unreliable income, and that many women carry the responsibility of being primary caregivers without the financial cushion to continue their practice.

The selected artists both create deeply personal work that reflects not only their positions as caregivers and artists, but also how they have navigated loss, which has impacted their roles as mothers and created new, unexpected paths for them as creatives.

The overall aim of AAB is to confront what remains a taboo subject, and to find pathways for the accepted applicants to participate in an industry often still dominated by men and/or privilege, and also to explore how art-making itself can be a cathartic salve for the many challenges of motherhood, caregiving and/or trauma and loss. AAB aims to provide artists with a short period of breathing room to focus on their work, and motivates those who are battling to juggle a career in the arts to find spaces and avenues to continue producing. In addition, we hope to establish routes and approaches for others in similar positions.

Previous recipients include artists Ditiro Mashigo and Naledi Chai.
 





Explore Previous AAB projects and texts below
︎︎︎ Next