Taking up a scholarship at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, Phillemon Hlungwani had to face the difficult transition from life in an impoverished rural village, Giyani in Limpopo, to the loud and busy world that awaited in the overcrowded township of Alexandra in Joburg. After washing taxis each morning, Hlungwani would then walk every day to Saxonwold to pursue his studies. Some twenty years later Hlungwani is now a very successful artist who also tutors at Artist Proof Studio in Newtown. 

In his latest exhibition Ntsako Wa Xibelani, Hlungwani celebrates the Xitsonga culture of his home village while also speaking to the complex histories and suppression of African traditional cultures over the years, placing a particular focus on women as the protectors of culture. The exhibition of charcoal drawings depicts an unfolding day in Giyani, that leads toward a big event which in particular celebrates the beauty of the Xibelani, a brightly coloured traditional garment typically worn by Xitsona women.

Artist walkabout Sat May 25 at 11:00.