Journal

Undiscovered Canvas is delighted to announce the successful collaboration between artist Nthabiseng Boledi Kekana X David Krut Projects X Undiscovered Canvas.

In the tapestry of human history, the relationship between women and food has been woven with threads of controversy, temptation, and societal expectations. From the mythical exile of Eve to the modern pressure on women to make the kitchen their second home, the intersection of femininity and culinary endeavours is a canvas upon which society projects its desires, fears, and biases.

However, the story of Eve is just one chapter in the complex relationship between women, food, and religious narratives. Across various cultures and belief systems, women have been intricately entwined with culinary symbolism, often serving as vessels for both sin and salvation.

Cradling a candle and matches, Kekana steps through air thick with Thandiswa Mazwai chanting Thongo Lam. She kneels in a corner of the room, flicks the match aflame, and sets the flame over the candle. The flickering light, steady on the floor, illuminates more than what the eye can see. Kekana sits with it, listening. This practice of prayer has been the hallmark of her time at the Makwande Art Residency in Nice. She ends her first studio experience in full circle - with good company. The certainty in her identity as an artist and the depth of her offering in her latest collection - Di Thapelo Tsa Barapedi - cast a long shadow over the Alexandra artist who landed here 6 weeks ago.

Makwande Art Residency's recent collaboration with designer Stephanie Savary - 12 Robes, translates Lesego Seoketsa's captivating painting into an exclusive artisan-made silk jumpsuit. The original artwork 'Never Too Much' was painted by Seoketsa during her Makwande Art Residency in Mandelieu La Napoule, France 2022.

It is a mighty feat to gather one’s roots, to pull yourself out of firm soil in pursuit of creating work far beyond our consciousness and time. Lesego Seoketsa’s residency journey with Makwande Art Residency is the time-lapse of a blooming garden. Oh, how lush, how beautiful.

The African vernacular experience is a tapestry of language and its dialects, familial cultural norms and their tribal nuances, the pursuit of greatness anchored in the gravitas of communal duty. It is on this tapestry of intersectional culture, in a west London gallery that my social axis is tilted.