Kemang Wa Lehulere

Winner of the Baloise Art Prize 2013.



The judges’ report was glowing in its praise of Wa Lehulere, who is now one of the leading representatives of South Africa’s young generation of artists: “In his work Kemang Wa Lehulere explores questions of collective memory and seeks to uncover the traces of South African history. To this end, he not only uses the devices of revealing and writing down but also of wiping out text and pictures. His wall-sized drawings, installations, performances and photographs establish a link between the trauma and myths of South Africa’s past and contemporary social issues. Lehulere’s works may be read as an archive, which demonstrates the process of forgetting and, like a collage, simultaneously opens avenues to new narratives that encourage multiple interpretations.”



Wa Lehulere describes his varied art techniques as follows: «Bringing text into my work was a way of channeling different thought processes into one channel of energy. I really began developing an interest in writing, and also in literary fiction and short stories. I then began to think about how I could incorporate these into various mediums I was working with, for example I started writing performance scripts, and also used writing to document performance without capturing an image, by rewriting the experience. (…) Usually, the figures I develop are devoid of any gender or race, so they become these collective bodies. I try to go against markers of identity, but I am also very cautious to talk about these things, because I don’t want to be trapped in identity politics.»



The works on paper are heavily influenced by Wa Lehulere’s experiences in performance art. His ink drawings are full of suspense and movement, but also function as a storyboard, almost like a diary.



Martin Schwander