In his first solo exhibition in the Netherlands, artist Moshekwa Langa (1975, South Africa) turns his eyes towards the county of his birth, and especially to his hometown of Bakenberg in Limpopo province, which did not appear on official maps during the apartheid era.
Langa makes drawings, collages, photographs, paintings, videos and installations. His personal history is a common thread in all his work. He grew up in South Africa in the era of apartheid – the system of racial separation that existed from 1948 to 1990 – and his poetic work focuses on themes like displacement, alienation and identity. These topics emerge in artworks inspired by maps and street plans, sometimes organic and abstract, and sometimes peppered with language.
Langa regularly returns to South Africa to work, and especially to his hometown of Bakenberg in Limpopo province, which did not appear on official maps during the apartheid era. It is Bakenberg which forms the backdrop to Where Do I Begin, a video work that will be at the centre of the exhibition at KM21. Langa will also be showing new work made specially for the exhibition, including a series of large works drawn in charcoal.
More information: Moshekwa Langa | KM21
