Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
28 Jul 2015 - 02 Sep 2015
This year’s prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Visual Art was awarded to Kemang Wa Lehulere. This annual award includes sponsorships towards an exhibition which starts its country wide tour at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown before traveling on to Nelson Mandela Bay.
In History will break your heart, Kemang Wa Lehulere continues his current exploration of marginalized South African artists. In his award exhibition, he creates a dialogue between his own work and the work of veteran fine artists Ernest Mancoba, Gladys Mgudlandlu and writer Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo. Wa Lehulere’s used the medium of video, installation and found artifacts (including works on paper by Mgudladlu which were purchased on auction) to tell the stories of these three artists and in doing so highlights the importance of their contribution to art and writing in South Africa. Wa Lehulere’s exhibition imparts back to these forgotten artists the deserved acknowledgment that they deserve.